The following is a reprint from the July 11, 1939, issue of the Bella Vista Breezes, published by the Linebarger Brothers who opened the Bella Vista Summer Resort at Lake Bella Vista in 1917.
B.V. is a city of seven hills
In the beginning, when the only settlers in Benton County were a few hardy pioneers and the only travel past what is now Bella Vista were freighters on the old road passing by on the hills and those going north to the Salt Lakes, the (area) was called just Cave Springs.
Gradually, the county developed ... families came in, settled, farmed, raised children ... and the town of Cave Springs sprang up in the south-central part of the county.
Natural distinction of the folk of the day led them to call (this area) North Cave Springs. The new little village (in the south part of the county) became South Cave Springs.
Today, Cave Springs is the biggest broiler raising capital of the biggest broiler raising county in the U.S., and Bella Vista is the tourist center of one of the largest playgrounds in the country, the Ozarks.
(In Bella Vista) the resort to the west of the highway rests on Louisiana, Suits Us, Cedar Crest and Hill Crest Mountains, while on the east are Mt. Pisgah, Center Mountain, and North Mountain.
Named by the various tourist colonies, cliques and groups that have sprung up, the mountains are the larger spots. Others claim their natural distinction also, such as Lake Shore Drive, Tulsa Row, Inspiration Point, Wonderland Cave Drive, Hidden Springs Valley. ...
And still undeveloped are many of the resort's natural wonders. There's Cold Cave near Blue Hole, Suits Us Cave, the Hidden Springs, the bridle paths going past Crystal Cave on the same old road the pioneer freighters followed. ...
And though 20 years old this summer, Bella Vista is only the name for a scattering assortment of cottages, offices, hotels and unnatural barricades, resting on the face of natural attractions ... the hills, the caves ... that have been always (and) will remain forever.