Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Summer resort documents given to Bella Vista museum
BELLA VISTA — One of the few remaining heirs of the Linebarger brothers, Ann Linebarger Boyd, granddaughter of C.A. Linebarger Sr., recently donated a box of old papers belonging to the Linebarger brothers papers to the Bella Vista Historical Museum.
Included in the donation was a document dated Dec. 1, 1928, listing the value of all “Physical Assets and Improvements” of the Bella Vista Summer Resort, which the Linebargers opened in 1917. The categories listed were Engineering, Surveying and Platting; Clearing, Landscaping, Cleaning; Grading and Building Roads; Water Works System; Golf Course; Electric Light Lines; Lake; Lodges; Hotel Cottages; Pavilion; Saddle Horse Barn, Carpenter Shop, Plumbing Shop, Public Garage, Filling Station, Public Toilets; Swimming Pool; Telephone Lines; Office Building; and Sunset Hotel, for a grand total of $406,049.
The document describes Bella Vista in glowing terms. One portion, titled “Inestimable Assets,” stated “Over 640 acres in Bella Vista proper, approximately 540 acres of which has been surveyed, staked and platted in beautiful owner homesites, is the major portion of which has been extended water mains, electric light lines, and graded roads … .”
Another section of the document talks about “The Big Spring, The Cavern and Spring Park.” That would be the area just east of Lake Bella Vista, where in the 1950s, later owner E.L. Keith built a Trout Farm. It reads as follows, “This wellknown, picturesque, cool spot is a magnet that has drawn thousands each summer, even long before the advent of Bella Vista or the automobile.
“The Big Spring bursts out of the solid rock cavern, with an approximate flow of two million gallons daily, at a temperature of 55 degrees. Surplus from the intake of the Water Works System forms Spring Branch, which meanders thru cold, shady Spring Park and children’s playgrounds, thence into warming pools and on into the swimming pool for an abundant circulating flow of fresh, clear, invigorating water.”
The document goes on to state, “The natural charm and beauty of Bella Vista is unusual and advantageous. The wide valley, north and south, thru the center of the Resort permits desirable space and centralized location for the main highways, the golf course which is also used for Aviation Field, the Lake, Pavilion, Pool and other recreational and business centers. Bordering and overlooking the valley on both sides are nine distinct mountains or hills which offer a variety of choice of homesites for summer homes … The geographical location of Bella Vista is a tremendous asset enjoyed by Bella Vista alone … accessible to two great railway systems, accessible from all directions over splendid auto highways, within a night’s ride by Pullman, a day’s drive by auto or a few hours by plane from a prosperous population that runs into many millions including such cities as St. Louis, Springfield, Kansas City, Joplin, Wichita, Topeka, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Muskogee, Dallas, Ft. Worth, Memphis, Shreveport, Texarkana, Ft. Smith, Little Rock and many other cities …
“We have owned, developed, and operated Bella Vista from its start little more than ten years ago. We have a splendid and profitable patronage.
Bella Vista today is a strong, healthy, going concern, frankly at the threshold of a great future and opportunity to make big money. As evidence of our faith in that statement, we have over the past 24 months spent over one hundred thousand dollars in the preparation of new land into homesites, extension of roads, water mains, light lines, the building of our new office, and many other improvements, (including) the erection of the new Sunset Hotel now nearing completion, which is the finest resort hotel of the Ozarks.”
The document was prepared because the two older brothers, C.C. Linebarger and F.W. Linebarger, had stated their desire to “permanently retire from all active business on account of their health,” so the Linebarger brothers decided to put the Bella Vista Summer Resort on the market. The document states, “The offer to sell Bella Vista has been submitted but to a very limited few, and for obvious business reasons we request and thank those few not to ‘broadcast’ this fact. As set out above, Bella Vista is growing and developing profitably and will continue to do so …. .”
They evidently didn’t receive an offer they felt was acceptable at that time, but C.C. Linebarger did retire at the end of 1929, selling his share in the resort to his two brothers, F.W. and C. A. Linebarger. The Linebargers proceeded with opening the big Sunset Hotel in 1929, and in 1930 they opened an underground night club in the Big Cave which they renamed Wonderland Cave. The nightclub attracted more than just summer visitors, it also attracted students from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, and during World War II, soldiers from nearby Camp Crowder in Missouri. But still the Linebargers struggled during the 1930s and 1940s because of the impact of the stock market crash, the Great Depression and World War II.
When F.W. Linebarger became critically ill in the early 1950s, C.A. Linebarger Sr. and his son C.A. Linebarger Jr, who by then was part of the team, decided they had to sell the resort right away. F.W. died in June 1951, shortly before the resort was sold to E.L. Keith in 1952. Keith maintained ownership until he sold it to John Cooper Sr. in January 1964. Cooper bought the farms along U.S. 71 between Lake Bella Vista and the Missouri state line, opening Bella Vista Village as a retirement village in 1965. He gradually expanded east and west to the size Bella Vista is today. It remained an unincorporated village until 2007, when it became the incorporated City of Bella Vista. Today retirees make up only about 30% of Bella Vista’s population.