Arkansas Black takes place in Benton County, Arkansas, over four months in the 1920s. This was a decade of “rags-to-riches-and-back-to-rags.” for many local farmers. At the same time, there was incredible wealth visible at Ozark summer resorts such as the Bella Vista, which was just down the road from the Fitch orchard. It was also an era of Prohibition, corrupt public officials, and speakeasies. Much of the landscape around Bentonville, the Bella Vista Resort and Spanker Creek has changed. Here is what it looks like today.
John Braithwaite House
This Pre-Civil War brick house in Bentonville was home to John Braithwaite, the “discoverer” of the Arkansas Black apple. Legend says that the apple tree was found in a pig sty on his property. Now the house is a private residence in a quiet neighborhood. All apple trees are long gone.
Bentonville Home
This is a home in downtown Bentonville and is similar to the one I imagined for Mr. Suggs.
Confederate Monument
This monument to a generic Confederate soldier stood in the center of Bentonville Square for 112 years until it was relocated in 2020 to a nearby private park.
Lake Bella Vista
Lake Bella Vista was drained in 2015 as part of the reconstruction of the Little Sugar Creek waterway. The creek flows freely through what once was a recreational lake at the base of the resort.
Big Springs
On the property of the former Bella Vista Resort is Big Springs. This was the source of fresh water for the residents and guests and supplied a large concrete swimming pool.
Wonderland Cave
Shortly after the time frame of Arkansas Black, a massive underground limestone cave was developed as a nightclub by the Bella Vista Resort. At one point, they could hold dinner dances inside for 300 guests with a full orchestra and a 30-foot bar. Now it is a struggling tourist attraction. I don’t know if the cave was ever used before 1929 as a speakeasy, but it is possible and makes for good fiction.
Spanker Creek
A mile or so upstream from the former Lake Bella Vista, Spanker Creek joins the Little Sugar Creek. This is the imagined location of the Fitch children’s swimming hole.
Abandoned Orchard
The forest is slowing reclaiming the once cleared land on the Springfield Plateau. This plot, just up the hill from Spanker Creek, probably supported fruit trees at one time. Now builders are quickly developing this area into “country estates” with massive homes.
Post Oak Cemetary
Next to the former orchard is a small family cemetery with headstones dating back to the early 20th century. This is what I imagined as I wrote about the Old Oak Cemetary in Arkansas Black.
Nice to have a “visual” to the reading material, even if much has changed over the years. It would be interesting to know what some of the local old timers (though none from the twenties are likely still around) thought of your settings in Bentonville at that time.
I ran into the curator of the Bella Vista Historical Society Museum, and he had read parts of Arkansas Black. He validated my descriptions of the resort as authentic.