Built in 1985, the Bella Vista Historical Museum offers a walk through the years from when Bella Vista grew from a summer resort to a nationally recognized vacation and retirement village, then into an incorporated city.
The museum, though not a rambling multi-floor building, thoroughly covers the history of Bella Vista from the era when Native Americans lived and hunted in the Ozarks to the present-day city filled with lakes, golf courses, bike and walking trails, restaurants, beautiful houses and condominiums, a library, museum, post offices, numerous churches, hospital and clinics, banks and a school.
Operated by the Bella Vista Historical Society, which formed in 1976, the museum, under the current direction of co-presidents Xyta Lucas and Virginia Reynolds, offers a plethora of historical information, artifacts, exhibits and photos depicting the heritage of Bella Vista.
The museum displays the dedication of Lucas and Reynolds -- and the officers before them, including Carole Harter, who served as the Bella Vista Historical Society president for 18 years -- to the the quality and accuracy of history presented there.
Lucas said the historical society currently has 11 board members and 17 docents.
The museum layout is divided into sections which easily facilitates visitors through the progression of history through the eras, introducing the people who played a role in the planning of Bella Vista.
The sections represent eras dating back to 1915 and the visionaries who played a role in making Bella Vista what it is today -- beginning with the first visionary, a Presbyterian minister, the Rev. William Baker and his wife, Mary.
The Bakers acquired land along Sugar Creek north of Bentonville and planned to create a resort to share with others. They built a dam across Sugar Creek and platted a subdivision. This area was named Bella Vista which is a Spanish name meaning "beautiful view."
Another section in the museum displays the history of the Linebarger brothers and their role in the development of Bella Vista. After the Baker venture, Clarence A. Linebarger and his brothers, Clayton and Forest, bought the Baker holdings to develop their Bella Vista resort. Linebarger went on to operate a successful summer resort in northwest Arkansas, from 1917 to 1952.
Visionary E.L. Keith, followed the Linebargers by buying 450 acres from their estate. For 13 years Keith operated Bella Vista and added an additional 402 acres to his original purchase of 450 acres, and it served the people looking for good, clean, family fun.
The museum continues the progression of the history of Bella Vista to another visionary who is currently more well-known, John A. Cooper Sr. -- the founder of Cooper Communities Inc., which is the company that developed Bella Vista Village. In 1996, the Cooper Room was added to the museum.
Cooper, in the early 1960s, saw the potential for a planned residential destination for thousands of people seeking an active retirement lifestyle and -- building on the things he learned at his first development, Cherokee Village in northeast Arkansas -- he began creating Bella Vista Village.
Cooper purchased the Bella Vista resort from E.L. Keith in 1963. He went on to develop golf courses, the lakes, the Country Club, Riordan Hall, Metfield Clubhouse, Branchwood Clubhouse, Loch Lomond Yacht Club and Marina, Highlands Clubhouse and the tennis courts.. The vision of John Cooper Sr. was carried on by his son, John Cooper Jr.
Eventually, Bella Vista evolved from being a resort and became a city in 2007 covering approximately 40,000 acres and populated with about 27,000 residents.
Exhibits at the museum include photos and artifacts of Bella Vista showing the fun things people liked to do in the early days, with displays of frogging and fishing equipment used in the early days, photos of golfers back then and some old golf clubs.
There is a current exhibit of collected baseball memorabilia covering nearly 50 years, loaned to the museum by Steve Morrow for the summer. The display represents many of the greatest players of all time -- New York Yankees Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle to St. Louis Cardinal greats Stan Musial, Dizzy Dean and Johnny Mize.
Lucas said new items are added to the museum. The gift shop at the museum has a variety of items for sale such as framed posters from the 1930s of the Bella Vista Airport supplied by Jerry Snow of Bella Vista.
Bella Vista Museum Membership is available through the Bella Vista Historical Society for $15 a year for individuals and $25 a year for families.
The Bella Vista Historical Museum can be contacted at [email protected] or 479-855-2335. The website address is: BellaVistaMuseum.org.
The museum is located at 1885 Bella Vista Way, on the corner of Kingsland Road and U.S. Highway 71 -- next door to the American Legion.
Operating hours are noon to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.
Community on 07/20/2016