I can see clearly now

The bluff high atop Spring Street is known as Lovers’ Leap and shelters Harding Spring below. Back in 1879, photographer J. Emmett Harding came to town to take souvenir photographs of visitors here to take in the cures. Harding staked his claim by building a small dwelling near the spring. The rocky ledge was leveled, a boardwalk and wooden stairway added so visitors could reach the top of the bluff and the rocky ledge and trail you trekked.

The most famous healing story connected to Harding Spring is that of Jennie Cowan. Blinded by an illness as a teenager, she and her family came seeking a cure. After months of using the famous Basin Spring water without success, she began using Harding Spring water instead. According to local tradition, her sight was soon restored, and her joyful cry — “I can see!” — caused a sensation among those who came to Eureka Springs looking for cures, miracles, and second chances.

Long before Harding Spring was a photo op, it was called Lover’s Leap, with a tale that too many bluff towns can claim. In this romance-and-folklore story, two young lovers forbidden to marry became part of this tragic story.

The overlook itself has long been part of Eureka’s scenic identity, with views, old photographs, and dramatic hillside homes that seem to defy setting. Today, Harding Spring is quieter than it was in Eureka’s boom days, but the vistas from this vantage point make a promise that another adventure awaits just below the next bend.