Downtown Bentonville

Downtown Bentonville
Downtown Bentonville
District
	Confederate monument at the center of the town square (removed in 2020)
	Downtown Bentonville Location in Arkansas Downtown Bentonville Downtown Bentonville (the United States)
	Coordinates: 36°22′19″N94°12′25″W / 36.37194°N 94.20694°W
Area
• District	1.5 sq mi (4 km2)
• Urban	21.2 sq mi (55 km2)
• Metro	3,213.01 sq mi (8,321.7 km2)
Population (2000)
• District	4,479
Time zone	UTC-5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
Website	http://www.downtownbentonville.org/

Last updated October 25, 2023

Downtown Bentonville is the historic business district of Bentonville, Arkansas. The region is the location of Walmart Home Office; city and county government facilities; and most of Bentonville's tourist attractions for the city and contains many historically and architecturally significant properties.^[2] Downtown measures approximately 1.5 square miles (3.9 km²) and is defined as the region between Tiger Boulevard to the north, Highway 102 (AR 102) to the south, Walton Boulevard (U.S. Route 71B) to the west and J Street to the east.^[3] Similar to other central business districts in the US, Downtown has recently undergone a transformation that included the construction of new condos and lofts, renovation of historic buildings, and arrival of new residents and businesses. Upon opening of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art the increased tourist traffic related to the museum has made Downtown Bentonville one of the state's most popular tourism destinations.^[4]

Master plan

In the early 2000s, Bentonville adopted a University of Arkansas study that outlined a renovation of the downtown area. Input meetings were held in 2003 with residents and merchants communicating their visions to city administration. Committees selected identified the vision and implementation strategies. In 2004, the Master Plan went into effect.^[5] The Master Plan for rehabilitation of Bentonville's downtown includes creating gateways to the district, adding public art, trees, street furniture, parking, and trails while removing overhead utilities and unsightly areas. The plan also suggests maintaining historic architecture and restricting future constructions.^[3]

Crystal Bridges

Alice Walton led the Walton Family Foundation's development of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, a premier museum dedicated to American art and artists. The museum includes walking trails and educational opportunities in addition to displaying over 450 works covering five centuries of American art.^[6] The museums is the most popular in the state, with 604,000 visitors in 2012, its first year.^[7] The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building was designed by world-renowned architect Moshe Safdie.

Trails connect Crystal Bridges to the Bentonville Square while giving tourists an opportunity to explore the outdoors in the Ozarks. A total of six trails feature educational opportunities to learn about native Arkansas plant life as well as public art.

Bentonville Square

The Bentonville Square (sometimes Public Square) is a town square in Bentonville that includes the several historically and architecturally significant properties surrounding Public Square Park. The Square is anchored by the Benton County Courthouse on the east side and Walmart Visitor's Center on the west side.

Confederate Soldier Monument

The Bentonville Confederate Monument, installed in the center of Square Park, was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1996.^[8] This monument was removed to a privately owned plot of land in 2020.

Benton County Courthouse

The Benton County Courthouse has been the home of Benton County government since it was built by Albert O. Clark in 1928. The Classical Revival structure features keystones, round-topped windows, and the inscription "Sovereignty rests with the people" in a large concrete block above the main entrance.^[9] The structure was added to the NRHP in 1988, along with many other historical structures in Benton County.^[8]

Bogart Hardware Building and Roy's Office Supply Building

Bogart Hardware Building

Roy's Office Supply Building

The Bogart Hardware Building (112 E Central) and Roy's Office Supply Building (110 E Central) were built c. 1885 on the south side of the Bentonville square. The original appearances of the buildings has remained intact more than any neighboring structure on the square. The Bogart Hardware Building's original corbelled brick cornice remains in good condition. Roy's Office Supply Building, built with Italianate style, was constructed with two different storefronts in order to accommodate two distinct tenants. Even the original floor remains intact. Together, these two structures have retained the largest amount of original storefront that was typical of the Bentonville square at the turn of the century. Both structures were added to the NRHP in 1988.^[8]

Hotel Massey

Hotel Massey is a former hotel in downtown Bentonville, built in 1910 in the Renaissance Revival architectural style. Occupying an important corner in Bentonville, Hotel Massey replaced the Eagle Hotel, which had stood on the site since 1840. Home to many notable businesses on its first floor, the building is considered an important historic landmark by the community. The hotel's architectural style is also uncommon in Arkansas, and especially the Ozarks. Due to its dual significance, Hotel Massey was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.^[8]

Terry Block Building

The Terry Block Building was a commercial building on the west side of the Bentonville square built in 1888. Built by Colonel William A. Terry, the building was the largest on the square and communicated a message of the prosperous 1880s economy. Terry owned and operated a dry goods store and was president of the Benton County Bank, also located in the building.

The building was last owned by Walmart and operated as a retro 1950s soda fountain and ice cream parlor, as part of the Walmart Museum. In October 2023, the building was razed as part of a renovation of the museum complex.^[10]

Events

Downtown Bentonville plays host to many annual events, including Winter Wonderland in December and Independence Day events in July. Pickin' on the Square, a gathering of local musicians playing country, blues, and bluegrass music, and the Bentonville Farmer's Market both take place weekly between May and October. "First Fridays" takes place April through November include different themed events sponsored by downtown businesses. Beginning in 2015, Bentonville has hosted the Bentonville Film Festival each May.

Parks

Downtown Bentonville currently contains five parks.

Square Park, 1 acre (0.40 ha)
Dave Peel Park, formerly the JayCee Park 2 acres (0.81 ha)
Train Station Park, 1 acre (0.40 ha)
Bogle Park, 0.8 acres (0.32 ha)
Town Branch Park, 0.78 acres (0.32 ha)

Related Research Articles

Moshe Safdie is an architect, urban planner, educator, theorist, and author, with American, Canadian, and Israeli citizenship. He is known for incorporating principles of socially responsible design in his 50-year career. His projects include cultural, educational, and civic institutions; neighborhoods and public parks; housing; mixed-use urban centers; airports; and master plans for existing communities and entirely new cities in North and South America, the Middle East, and Asia. He is most identified with designing Marina Bay Sands and Jewel Changi Airport, as well as his debut project, Habitat 67, originally conceived as his thesis at McGill University.

Benton County is a county within the Northwest Arkansas region with a culture, economy, and history that have transitioned from rural and agricultural to suburban and white collar since the growth of Walmart, which is headquartered in Benton County. Created as Arkansas's 35th county on September 30, 1836, Benton County contains thirteen incorporated municipalities, including Bentonville, the county seat, and Rogers, the most populous city. The county was named after Thomas Hart Benton, a U.S. Senator from Missouri influential in Arkansas statehood.

Bentonville is the 9th most populous city in Arkansas, United States and the county seat of Benton County. The city is centrally located in the county with Rogers adjacent to the east. The city is the birthplace of and world headquarters location of Walmart, the world's largest retailer. It is one of the four main cities in the three-county Northwest Arkansas Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is ranked 105th in terms of population in the United States with 546,725 residents in 2020, according to the United States Census Bureau. The city itself had a population of 54,164 at the 2020 Census, an increase of 53% from the 2010 Census. Bentonville is considered to be one of the fastest growing cities in the state and consistently ranks amongst the safest cities in Arkansas. It is included in the Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Rogers is a city in Benton County, Arkansas, United States. Located in the Ozarks, it is part of the Northwest Arkansas region, one of the fastest growing metro areas in the country. Rogers was the location of the first Walmart store, whose corporate headquarters is located in neighboring Bentonville. Daisy Outdoor Products, known for its air rifles, has both its headquarters and its Airgun Museum in Rogers. The city houses a popular shopping center, the Pinnacle Hills Promenade, and a music venue, the Walmart AMP, that has housed performances by big-name artists and local performers alike.

Alice Louise Walton is an American heiress to the fortune of Walmart as daughter of founder Sam Walton. In September 2016, she owned over US$11 billion in Walmart shares. As of October 2022, Walton has a net worth of $59 billion, making her the nineteenth-richest person and the second-richest woman in the world according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index. In the spring of 2023, Forbes estimated her fortune at $56.7 billion and moved her to third on the list of the richest women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bentonville High School</span> Public school in Bentonville, Arkansas, United States

Bentonville High School (BHS) is a public high school in Bentonville, Arkansas, United States. Founded in 1910, the school provides education for students in grades nine through twelve. It is one of two high schools of the Bentonville School District.

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is a museum of American art in Bentonville, Arkansas. The museum, founded by Alice Walton and designed by Moshe Safdie, officially opened on 11 November 2011. It offers free public admission.

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Highway 72 is a designation for two east–west state highways in Benton County, Arkansas. A western route of 26.32 miles (42.36 km) runs east from Highway 43 at Maysville to U.S. Route 71B (US 71B) in Bentonville. A second route of 12.67 miles (20.39 km) begins at Interstate 49/US Route 71 (I-49/US 71) in Bentonville and runs northeast to US 62 near Avoca. The route is one of the original Arkansas state highways.

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The Benton County Courthouse is a courthouse in Bentonville, Arkansas, United States, the county seat of Benton County, built in 1928. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. The courthouse was built in the Classic Revival style by Albert O. Clark and anchors the east side of the Bentonville Town Square.

The Bentonville Train Station is a former train station in Bentonville, Arkansas. Built in 1925 on Main Street, the train station served a short connector line that connected Bentonville to the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway (Frisco) to the east in Rogers, and the Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad to the west in Gravette. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1988.

The culture of Arkansas is a subculture of the Southern United States that has come from blending heavy amounts of various European settlers culture with the culture of African slaves and Native Americans. Southern culture remains prominent in the rural Arkansas delta and south Arkansas. The Ozark Mountains and the Ouachita Mountains retain their historical mount. Arkansans share a history with the other southern states that includes the institution of slavery, the American Civil War, Reconstruction, Jim Crow laws and segregation, the Great Depression, and the Civil Rights Movement.

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Northwest Arkansas (NWA) is a metropolitan area and region in Arkansas within the Ozark Mountains. It includes four of the ten largest cities in the state: Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers, and Bentonville, the surrounding towns of Benton and Washington counties, and adjacent rural Madison County, Arkansas. The United States Census Bureau-defined Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers Metropolitan Statistical Area includes 3,213.01 square miles (8,321.7 km²) and 576,403 residents, ranking NWA as the 100th most-populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. and the 13th fastest growing in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bentonville Confederate Monument</span>

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References

↑ "Appendix B Downtown Demographics - Block Group Level" (PDF). Bentonville Master Plan. City of Bentonville Planning Department. Archived from the original (pdf) on October 1, 2013. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
↑ "About Us". Downtown Bentonville, Inc. Archived from the original on January 21, 2013. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
1 2 "Chapter 5 - The Master Plan" (PDF). Bentonville Master Plan. City of Bentonville Planning Department. p. 45. Archived from the original (pdf) on October 15, 2011. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
↑ "Arkansas tourism officials optimistic about 2013 growth". The City Wire. December 20, 2012. Archived from the original on March 6, 2013. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
↑ "Chapter 1 - Purpose and Study Area" (PDF). Bentonville Master Plan. City of Bentonville Planning Department. Archived from the original (pdf) on October 1, 2013. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
↑ Reynolds, Chris (October 14, 2012). "Crystal Bridges art museum is reshaping Wal-Mart's hometown". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
↑ Bartels, Chuck (November 12, 2012). "600K visitors later, Crystal Bridges turns 1". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved January 11, 2013.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
1 2 3 4 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
↑ Wilcox, Ralph. "A Reference Guide to the Architectural Styles of Arkansas" (PDF). Arkansas Historic Preservation Program. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 4, 2011. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
↑ "Questions surround Walmart Museum project". KFSM-TV. 2023-10-24. Retrieved 2023-10-24.

External links

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[1] "Appendix B Downtown Demographics - Block Group Level" (PDF). Bentonville Master Plan. City of Bentonville Planning Department. Archived from the original (pdf) on October 1, 2013. Retrieved January 11, 2013.

[2] "About Us". Downtown Bentonville, Inc. Archived from the original on January 21, 2013. Retrieved January 11, 2013.

[plan-3] 1 2 "Chapter 5 - The Master Plan" (PDF). Bentonville Master Plan. City of Bentonville Planning Department. p. 45. Archived from the original (pdf) on October 15, 2011. Retrieved January 11, 2013.

[4] "Arkansas tourism officials optimistic about 2013 growth". The City Wire. December 20, 2012. Archived from the original on March 6, 2013. Retrieved January 11, 2013.

[5] "Chapter 1 - Purpose and Study Area" (PDF). Bentonville Master Plan. City of Bentonville Planning Department. Archived from the original (pdf) on October 1, 2013. Retrieved January 11, 2013.

[6] Reynolds, Chris (October 14, 2012). "Crystal Bridges art museum is reshaping Wal-Mart's hometown". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 11, 2013.

[7] Bartels, Chuck (November 12, 2012). "600K visitors later, Crystal Bridges turns 1". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved January 11, 2013.^{[ permanent dead link ]}

[nris-8] 1 2 3 4 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.

[9] Wilcox, Ralph. "A Reference Guide to the Architectural Styles of Arkansas" (PDF). Arkansas Historic Preservation Program. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 4, 2011. Retrieved January 11, 2013.

[10] "Questions surround Walmart Museum project". KFSM-TV. 2023-10-24. Retrieved 2023-10-24.

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