overtaxed mental or physical labor would also be restored to full strength and vitality in just 30 days. Mount Nebo was a retreat for men and women wearied in body and soul. It was also touted as a place to get away from mosquitoes that carried malaria and yellow fever which were more prevalent during that time due to the large areas of wetlands. A boardwalk extended from where the visitor's information center is today to Sunset Point. Boardwalks also led to Gum Springs and Darling Springs where guests could sit and muse in the gazebos. During the busy season carriages and stages likewise shuttled between Sunrise Point and Sunset Point along Grand Avenue and bicycles were so numerous they were a hazard. By the 1890s, two large hotels with 100 rooms each and a normal school graced the mountain along with many homes. There was also a bowling alley, ballroom, post office, telephone exchange, and a stable of riding horses. Decline and conversion to state park The Summit Park Hotel was completely destroyed by fire on Sunday, May 18, 1918, marking a start in the mountain's decline as a resort. The hotel was never rebuilt, and local interests in Dardanelle proposed the establishment of a state park. Arkansas was then in the early stages of acquiring land for parks, and it was not until 1928 that the park was formally established; it was the state's second park, after Petit Jean State Park. A significant portion of the land acquired by the state in the early days came through the seizure or donation of land on which taxes were delinquent. The park had no facilities until 1933. During the period following the burning of the hotel and the development of the state park, the small Mount Nebo community continued to exist. In 1924, the local women, fed up with what they saw as the local (all-male) leadership's lack of action on improving the situation on the mountain, organized politically, and an all-female slate of candidates swept the local elections in April of that year; this marked the first recorded instance of a municipal government in Arkansas that was completely run by women. Although conditions were slightly improved during their administration, the general economic decline did not change. Civilian Conservation Corps development When the Civilian Conservation Corps was established in 1933, the state designated Mount Nebo State Park as one of