BENTONVILLE -- The city of Bentonville has planned a host of events to celebrate its 150th anniversary this year.
The website bentonville150.com has been established for the sesquicentennial.
"It's our community's 150th birthday, and we want our residents, businesses, community organizations and neighbors to help us celebrate," Mayor Stephanie Orman said.
In the early days, agriculture and fruit production were the backbone of the local and regional economy, according to a city webpage that details the city's history.
Cindy Acree, a Bentonville native and City Council member, remembers when Bentonville was a rural farming community.
"There were lots of dairies and orchards around Bentonville," she said. "We went to the Co-Op on A Street to get grain and supplies for the animals. We rode with Papa in his 1954 pickup truck to take milk cans to the Kraft plant."
She remembers the downtown square as a busy place.
"Blacks and LaFever were clothing stores," she said. "We had the Bank of Bentonville, the credit union, Roy's office supply, Overstreet's Jewelry, Rose Drug, Applegate's Drug store and Walton's, then Walmart. We actually shopped downtown. We had one junior high and high school. We were a small town with a rich history."
The city was further defined by Sam Walton and the founding of Walmart, which made the city recognized across the world.
"Walmart exploded and with that came people from all over the world. Bentonville is very cosmopolitan now," Acree said.
Arts were infused into the city with the opening of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in November 2011, the Bentonville Film Festival in 2015 and The Momentary in 2020.
Sesquicentennial events will be held throughout the year. A native tree and plant sale at Compton Gardens will be March 27 through April 1, according to the city. Bentonville resident Dr. Neil E. Compton was a leader in preventing damming on the Buffalo River, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas.
Other events include the State of the City address April 6, a multicultural festival April 29, the burying of a Bentonville time capsule May 3, the July Fourth fireworks display and a historic poker run Sept. 30, according to the event website.
There also will be an airshow and the Lighting of the Square, but dates have not been set for those events.
The public library will host several activities throughout the year, as well.
The library, with the Bentonville History Museum, will debut a "Memory Lane" kit titled "Remembering Bentonville." The museum opened last month.
On Monday, all ages can participate in an art contest to design a Bentonville-themed commemorative library card. Submissions are due by March 6. The winning design will be unveiled this summer.
"We are looking for colorful designs that celebrate Bentonville's 150th anniversary," library Director Hadi Dudley said.
During the week of April 3, the library will feature "Happy Birthday Bentonville" stories, and a Bentonville-themed Tiny Art Show will be displayed throughout the month, Dudley said.
The library this summer will host city leaders to participate in story times that celebrate the community. Later in the year, activities will include crafts from 1873, special displays and a "Bentonville Bingo" reading activity. The library will also debut a new American Girl doll from Bentonville in 1873, Dudley said.
People can leave a short, one-paragraph story of a favorite Bentonville memory to share. If the city chooses your story, you will receive a commemorative 150th anniversary item. Memories can be left on the anniversary website.
Acree remembers her mother, father and grandparents lived on the Beeman farm, 2 miles west of town where the Orchards subdivision is today.
"We farmed 80 acres with large peach and apple orchards," Acree said. "Elm Tree and Third streets were dirt roads. I used to ride my horse on Third Street and pick blackberries along the fence rows of the pastures that lined the street."
Arkansas gained statehood Sept. 15, 1836. Benton County was named for U.S. Sen. Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri, who worked to achieve statehood for Arkansas, according to the city website.
Bentonville was selected as county seat of Benton County upon Arkansas' acceptance as a state. The town was not laid out and platted until Nov. 7, 1837, according to the city.
The Benton County Court heard and granted a petition for incorporation on Feb. 12, 1873, according to a timeline from the city.