Kyle Kellams: It's Wednesday. It's time to talk with Becca Martin Brown for the feature we call “The Other Way”. Becca, welcome back to Ozarks at Large.
Becca Martin Brown: Hi, Kyle. This is history, so it's one of my favorite things. No, I didn't live through all of it. Let's not be rude.
Kellams: Well, and it's just — this is especially a history that you're kind of fascinated with.
Martin Brown: I really am. We're going to talk about a driving tour of old Bella Vista, and I have memories of Bella Vista way back in mumble years ago. And I'm just fascinated by it. So we're going to talk to Dale Phillips with the Bella Vista Historical Museum about this tour.
Kellams: All right. Let's give Dale a call.
And we have reached Dale Phillips. Dale, welcome to Ozarks at Large.
Dale Phillips: Thank you. Pleasure to be here.
Kellams: I'm here with my friend and colleague Becca Martin Brown.
Martin Brown: So first tell me about you and how you got involved with the Bella Vista Historical Society.
Phillips: My background is that of a park ranger historian for our National Park Service. I've worked at many historical sites around the nation, and when we retired to Bella Vista, the Historical Society was a natural fit for me to continue my interest in history and in interpretation and visitor services.
Martin Brown: And that's been how long ago?
Phillips: About nine years.
Martin Brown: Well, we're delighted you're here. I want to get people to come out to your driving tour of Bella Vista that's happening on March 28. What can you tell me about how it will function?
Phillips: It's a car caravan. And we start at the Bella Vista museum about 8:45 in the morning, and we travel to several of the sites related to the beginning of Bella Vista, the beginning of the resort period, including two of the properties that are owned by the Historical Society, and using primarily photographs and knowledge of what took place at those sites, talk to folks about what happened there and give an idea of what was there at one time.
Kellams: You mentioned, Dale, that you're going to go to these two properties owned by the Historical Society. Now, what was on these properties then? And what do they look like now?
Phillips: Well, the first one is Summit, which was a community center, school, church on the east side that was its own little community from after the Civil War until Bella Vista would come into creation. There's a cemetery there. The remains of the schoolhouse are still there. We talk a little bit about these smaller communities that developed, Dug Hill is another one as an example, even though there's not enough time to visit on this tour. That developed when the resort existed in what is today the southern part of the city of Bella Vista. The other one is the water tank that was part of the water supply system for the resort that was completed in the late 1920s. And it's quite an imposing rock structure that you can't miss when you drive past it.
Kellams: What's so interesting about the history of Bella Vista is there are — maybe not a day or a week, but there are significant periods in this city's history where it kind of had one purpose or one central theme, and then another, and then another.
Phillips: That is exactly correct. It went through different — when Lucas and I wrote our book about Bella Vista, we divided it into chapters aligning with those different time periods. And we're pretty much coming to the Cooper period's conclusion now, and we're entering into a new period led by Blue Crane and Runway Group.
Martin Brown: What do you want people to know about Bella Vista, even if they don't take this tour? What do you want them to know about Bella Vista if they're one of the new people moving here?
Phillips: The very thing you just pointed out: the different periods of development, going all the way back to the Native Americans when they used this area for hunting and fishing. And then of course the trauma of the Civil War period, and then basically the repopulating of the area after the Civil War, and because of its remoteness, the Bakers and then the Linebargers and then Mr. Keith, utilizing the natural beauty of the area to form a resort, recreational summer community that the Coopers then expanded on, to develop the Bella Vista we know today — the lakes, the golf courses. The theme of recreation and outdoor activity has always been the mainstay. I guess you could say the thread that bound all these different periods together.
Kellams: You know, Dale, you mentioned that you worked at national parks, national sites. And I think we all understand why — understanding more about Mesa Verde or Arches or Zion or Yosemite or Yellowstone, Everglades. We understand why that's important. But sometimes we do, I guess, overlook what's almost literally in our backyard, and that there can be historical value in a place like Bella Vista. You don't have to go to a Zion to get knowledge.
Phillips: Absolutely. Both historically and naturally, we have some wonderful assets here. And the preservation and the interpretation and the long-term usage of those to the benefit of our community and those who visit our community is a very important part of our story.
Martin Brown: Do people need to make reservations for the driving tour?
Phillips: Yes, I do ask, because we go to several different private properties, and I'm limited to the number of people that I can take on to those properties. I limit my tour to about 30, 35 people. And so, yes, I do ask that reservations be made, and they can make those reservations by calling the museum at 479-855-2335.
Kellams: You've already mentioned that there's one property you don't have time to go to on this tour, so I guess there could be tour volume two.
Phillips: Yes. Not only could I expand this one, because most of what I do is here on the east side, there's another tour that my partner, my co-president Xyta Lucas, does, which visits just the cemeteries throughout Bella Vista, many of which folks don't even realize exist. So there is a companion tour that Xyta will be doing again later in the spring for the cemeteries. But yes, I could expand this to a full day if I had folks that were that interested.
Kellams: All right. Well, call the Bella Vista Historical Museum to reserve your spot for the March 28 tour of Bella Vista history. Dale Phillips, thank you so much for your time.
Phillips: You're most welcome. I appreciate your taking an interest. And if anyone is interested, just to add this real quick: I do this usually twice a year, both in the spring and then again in the fall. I try to work it out so they leave before the leaves come out and after the leaves come down, so that the sight lines are a little better.
Kellams: Hey, Becca, thank you as well.
Martin Brown: Thank you, sir. We'll talk again next week.
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