A Ft. Smith Landmark Legacy: John Bell Jr.

Remembered as a source of inspiration, a catalyst for social change, and a great example of civic pride, John Bell Jr. overcame the physical challenges of cerebral palsy to become one of Western Arkansas’ most popular artists. Born in 1937, he graduated with a degree in art from the University of Arkansas in 1966. While mostly known for his incredible collection of paintings focused on historic Fort Smith, he also produced artworks based on other subjects, including Subiaco Monastery and Van Buren. Bell’s physical challenges and confinement to a wheelchair gave him insight to design accessible parks and public buildings in Fort Smith – yet another important part of his legacy.

Bell passed away in 2013 at the age of

76. In 2021, his daughter, Lisa Bell Wilson, donated 50 original artworks, sketches, notes, correspondence, and other related materials to the Regional Art Museum in Fort Smith. The museum recently created the John Bell Jr. Legacy Society with the purpose of protecting and preserving the artworks, while educating the community and remembering Bell’s life.

This past summer, the Regional Art Museum held its first Landmark Lessons program on the art of John Bell Jr. Local historian Chuck Girard focused on Bell’s work covering historic Fort Smith. In August, Tom Wing, assistant professor of history at the University of Arkansas Fort Smith and director of the Drennen-Scott Historic Site, featured five paintings Bell produced with Van Buren as the subject. In September, Wilson continued the Landmark Lesson series and spoke about her father and the visual record he left us.

Bell researched and produced a set of five paintings of Van Buren. As was the case with all of his work, he spent a great deal of time studying the locations he was going to paint. His attention to detail is something historians give him high marks for, while also making his artworks a collection of valuable and significant snapshots of the past. Not only was Bell a gifted artist in the mechanics of painting, he also left us with a sense of what the locations looked like in the past. To understand his choices for the Van Buren paintings, some context on the history of the community is needed.

The land that became Van Buren was included in Crawford County, established in the territorial days of 1820. Thomas Martin and James Phillips were early settlers on the future townsite, but it was Thomas and David Phillips who claimed the acreage in 1830. John Drennen and David Thompson put up 11,000 dollars and some land in Chicot County to purchase the site from the Phillips in 1836. Drennen and Thompson platted the streets and developed the town, which was incorporated in 1845. The town witnessed the Trail of Tears, the Gold Rush, and served as a crossroads for the eastwest and north-south lines of the Butterfield Stage. From 1851-71, the Federal Court for the Western District of Arkansas shared space with city and county courts in the Crawford County Courthouse. The town was occupied by both armies during the Civil War and saw the federal court move to Fort Smith in 1871. In 1876, the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad was completed to Van Buren, changing the once thriving river town into a railroad community. In 1882, the Frisco Railroad completed a line from St. Louis to Van Buren and eventually to San Francisco. A five-car rail ferry was replaced by a bridge in 1886, which remains to this day. In the 1890s, public water and electrical

service came to town. In 1901, work began to build Frisco Depot at the top of Main Street, where Logtown Hill road enters downtown. In 1908, Main Street was paved with bricks, and in 1912 a pedestrian bridge linking Van Buren and Fort Smith was completed. This bridge was destroyed by the flood of 1943, replaced after World War II, then replaced again in 1969-71 by the current bridge. Van Buren has always been linked to transportation, first as a river town, then serviced by rail, and today with trucking on Interstate 40, which runs through the middle of the town to help move agricultural products and natural resources while promoting trade and commerce.

In 1992, Bell chose the Frisco Depot as his first painting of Van Buren. The building was in operation as a passenger depot from 1902 to the 1960s. Bell chose to represent the structure in the 1940s by the automobiles he included in the artwork. Important architectural details that Bell included are a faithful representation of the Mediterranean-style: the red tile roof, wide eaves, and triangular braces under the eaves.

In 2004, Bell returned his focus to Van Buren for two paintings. The stately King Opera House and a view up Main Street, from south to north. Both paintings are set around the turn of the century, with the King Opera House artwork including a street scene that includes carriages and early automobiles. The building that housed the King Opera House was built in 1891 but was not opened as an entertainment venue until 1901. Traveling Vaudeville acts made up most of the performances, with local productions performed in the building as well. A balcony was added in 1905, shortly before a fire damaged the structure. By the 1920s, motion pictures replaced live theater, and the building was converted to show movies. Having fallen into disrepair, the old opera house was restored in the 1990s.

Main Street was considered the heart of the city and saw parades from Civil War times through two world wars, even showing off the amazing Crawford County Strawberry Harvest. Originally dirt, the street was paved with bricks, which can still be seen (and felt) today on some of the side streets. The artist’s perspective closely matches a familiar historical photo with the Frisco Depot seen at the top of the avenue.

In 2005, Bell chose one of the most popular and recognizable buildings in Van Buren, the Crawford County Courthouse, as his subject. Completed in 1842 on land donated by John Drennen, the Crawford County Courthouse still serves the county today. As previously stated, the building housed the Federal Court for the Western District of Arkansas, which later became famous for Judge Isaac C. Parker. A few hangings occurred in Van Buren, and Wyatt Earp was held in the jail until he escaped and got on the right side of the law out West. Arsonists burned the building in 1877, but the four outer walls were decreed sound and the structure was rebuilt in 1878. A clock tower replaced the original copula, and in 1905 the side wings and a portico were added. Bell’s painting shows the courthouse post-1905, as the side wings and portico are included in his artwork. Bell included a gazebo that is documented as being on the site. The Hebe Statue and Confederate Soldier monuments are also part of Bell’s composition.

Bell chose Van Buren as a location for one final painting in 2006. “Trolley Days,” the name he chose for the artwork, depicts a turn of the century trolley and an early automobile in front of the iconic Crawford County Bank building. Completed in 1889 in the Queen Anne-style, Bell clearly shows the distinctive corner turret, terra cotta and brick detailing, and patterned, slate shingles. The Crawford County Bank was Van Buren’s first bank to open after the tragedy and disruption of the Civil War.

The historic legacy of John Bell Jr. is in capable hands at the Regional Art Museum in Fort Smith. His artworks will be preserved and protected for years to come, offering educational opportunities, and a chance to see what once was in our communities.

For more information on the John Bell Jr. Legacy Project, go to: fsram.org/john-bell-jrlegacy-project