Historical markers around Bella Vista share significance
The following article originally appeared in the Jan. 15, 2014 Weekly Vista.
As you drive around Bella Vista, perhaps without realizing it, you pass a number of historically significant sites. Only a few of them are marked; the rest you can learn about from reading local history or visiting the Bella Vista Historical Museum. One excellent source of information is the book by Gilbert Fite, From Vision to Reality: A History of Bella Vista Village 1915–1993, which can be purchased at Allen’s Food Market and at the museum. (Newly published in 2021, Images of America Bella Vista is another good source of information about the history of Bella Vista and is for sale at the museum.)
The few historical markers that are visible in Bella Vista are there thanks to the early efforts of the Bella Vista Historical Society, which was created in 1976 as an outgrowth of the national Bicentennial celebration. With the help of a $1,000 donation from Cooper Communities, the markers were purchased from a firm in Pennsylvania.
Plans were made for a dozen markers, but only seven were ordered and erected. The Benton County Daily Democrat on June 10, 1981, reported the first marker being placed for Dug Hill in Town Center. Next came markers for the Hay Bluff, then the Sunset Hotel. Unfortunately the marker for the Sunset Hotel mistakenly stated that the hotel was opened in 1930 instead of 1929, an error discovered too late to be corrected.
Evidently some citizens objected to a marker being erected at the Hay Bluff site, which local farmers had named the Indian Bluffs, since it was thought to be of archaeological importance. Eventually that marker was placed at Town Center as well, stating that the Bluff was located 7/10 of a mile north. Due to its weather-beaten state, the marker was moved in 2013 to the Bella Vista Historical Museum.
The fourth marker was erected in front of Wonderland Cave on March 30, 1982. The Society’s March/ April 1992 newsletter reported that a fifth marker was placed in 1982 at Crystal Cave, and said the sixth marker “stands near the no. 4 tee on the old Linebarger 9-hole Bella Vista Golf Course near Lake Bella Vista. The marker is located at the state information center on U.S. Hwy 71, 500 yards north of where the no. 4 stood from 1921 to 1948.” (Editor’s Note: That tee box was moved to the Bella Vista Museum in 2020. The historical marker still stands at the south end of the Highway Welcome Center parking lot on 71 across from Lake Bella Vista.)
The last of the seven markers was placed at Cunningham Corner. All but one of the markers are still standing in their original location or are on display at the Historical Museum. The marker is missing for Wonderland Cave up on Dartmoor Road east of Cooper School.
For more information about the history of Bella Vista, visit the Bella Vista Historical Museum at 1885 Bella Vista Way (Highway 71 & Kingsland). Admission is free and masks are required. Regular hours are Thursday-Sunday, 1-5 p.m. Call 479-855-2335 or visit bellavistamuseum.org.