The beautiful area at War Eagle is the oldest community in Benton County and one of the most scenic and historic areas in Arkansas. A trip east from Rogers, across the Arkansas 12 bridge to the War Eagle and Hobbs State Park-Conservation Area, is a real treat with much to do and see. The War Eagle Mill and Bridge and the natural attractions of Hobbs provide one of the most popular venues for tourists and locals alike. So, what is the story of this popular destination?
The mills
Long before Rogers was incorporated, there was a thriving community at War Eagle. Peter Van Winkle moved to Northwest Arkansas in the 1840s. After several successful businesses in Fayetteville, he went into the lumber business across the White River, east of present day Rogers, on what is now Hobbs State Park. He built a steam-powered mill, and at the outbreak of the Civil War, owned an empire with thousands of acres of timber. (This later became the state park and conservation area.)
When war threatened Northwest Arkansas in 1862, Van Winkle buried $4,000 in gold on his place, and moved his family and some possessions to Texas. He returned to Arkansas after the war, and found his home and mill burned and the gold gone. Van Winkle was a man with great resolve and ingenuity. He rebuilt his home and business in Van Winkle Hollow and built a huge saw and grist mill with a large 150-horsepower steam engine.
It was a major engineering feat just to get the components to his site. Three enormous boilers were fabricated in St. Louis and shipped by barge down the Mississippi River and up the Arkansas River to Van Buren. (The railroad arrived in Rogers in 1881.) Then the boilers were hauled by oxen over the mountains. There were few roads or bridges, so paths had to be chopped out of the wilderness and bridges created to deliver them to the site. The mill required a huge 24-foot flywheel that was cast in sections and shipped to the nearest railroad access at Rolla, Mo. From there, it was pulled over the mountains by wagon with 12 mules. With much hardship, the flywheel sections finally arrived and were assembled into one solid wheel by Van Winkle.
The mighty mill with its huge steam engine powered a circular saw, a lathe, two planers, two rip saws, one shingle machine and two molding saws. The mill was the only steam-powered in the area and produced lumber, shingles, moldings, balusters, windows, doors and cabinets.
Much of Northwest Arkansas was destroyed during the war, and the Van Winkle Mill provided lumber not only to rebuild here in Arkansas, but to the surrounding states. When the University of Arkansas was established in 1871, lumber from the mill was used to build Old Main, the school's first permanent structure.
Van Winkle was the first great entrepreneur in Northwest Arkansas. The nearest railroad was 150 miles away, so he built roads and ferries to transport his products. In 1880, the mill produced 1,300,000 board feet of lumber in one year alone. When Van Winkle died in 1882, the business continued to be run by his son-in-law, J.A.C. Blackburn, who became known as the "Lumber King of Northwest Arkansas." In 1889, Blackburn owned 17,000 acres of land, but most was depleted of timber. The mill closed in 1890, and its parts were plundered in 1919 just after World War I. A group of men took dynamite and blew the 24-foot flywheel into pieces and sold them for scrap.
Blackburn pursued other business interests, and after many attempts, sold the land in 1928 to Rosco Hobbs. The land renewed itself and produced many thousands of railroad ties for Hobbs' business, the Ozark Tie Co. Hobbs died in 1965, and most of his land was sold to the State of Arkansas in 1979, which later became Hobbs State Park -- Arkansas' largest state park with 12,056 acres.
A short distance away from the Van Winkle Mill was the War Eagle Mill, first built by Catherine and Sylvanus Blackburn in 1835. This water-powered mill was washed away in a flood in 1848, but Blackburn rebuilt, and this two-story mill provided flour and meal to the area until the Civil War. Blackburn -- like his neighbor, Peter Van Winkle -- took his family to Texas for safety during the war. All five of his sons joined the Confederate Army. Two days before the Battle of Pea Ridge in 1862, the Confederates burned the War Eagle Mill to keep it from falling into Union hands. After the war in 1872, J.A.C. Blackburn -- Blackburn's son and Peter Van Winkle's son-in-law -- built the third War Eagle Mill with a cast iron water-powered turbine that ground grain and drove a sawmill. During this period, J.A.C. Blackburn owned and operated both the Van Winkle Mill and the War Eagle Mill.
It is interesting to note that Peter Van Winkles' other son-in-law, Capt. J.B. Steele, was an officer in the Confederate Army. After the war, Steele went to work at the Van Winkle Mill as a machine operator. He married Mary Van Winkle and managed several family businesses. In 1882 -- one year after Rogers was founded -- the Steeles built the finest house in Rogers at 303 S. Arkansas St. (This home still exists across from Jiffy Quick.) It was said that all of the lumber and millwork (from the family mill) was perfect and free of any defects. Steele was instrumental in the forming of Rogers -- serving as mayor three terms, justice of the peace and office holder of several major businesses including, Rogers Canning Co., Rogers Milling Co., and wholesale and retail lumber businesses.
By 1900, the Blackburn mill at War Eagle was unused and in disrepair. It was sold in 1903 to A.E. Crossman, who improved the mill and replaced the timber dam with a concrete dam that is still there today. This mill ground grain until it burned in 1924. The site remained vacant until it was restored in 1973 by Leta and Jewell Medlin and their daughter Zoe Cawood. The fourth War Eagle Mill is a replica of the 1873 mill, and today is the only working grist mill in Arkansas and the only undershot water-powered mill in the United States. In 2004, the mill was acquired by Elise and Marty Roenigk, who also owned the Crescent and Basin Park Hotels in Eureka Springs. Today, the mill still grinds grain just like its predecessors did before the Civil War.
The bridge
In the early 1900s, War Eagle was a thriving community with a post office, stores, lumber and grist mills, and a school. However, the only ways to cross the War Eagle River were ferries and low-water river crossings. In 1907, the ferry was replaced with a modern 182-foot steel bridge that cost $4,790. This historic bridge by the mill is still used today for both foot and auto traffic, and is a major attraction.
The White River also had to be crossed to reach Rogers, and the Arkansas 12 bridge was completed just three years previously in 1904.
The stores
J.A.C. Blackburn built a store near his War Eagle Mill about 1873 to serve the growing community. This store was the center of the community and remained virtually unchanged for almost nine decades. Blackburn sold the general store in 1882 to J.K.P. Stringfield. The store -- later known as Ledbetter's Store -- also served as the post office and meeting place. When the store burned in 1961, the store was owned by Claris and Will Sharp, with Claris serving as the postmistress. The War Eagle Post Office closed in 1967.
Across the road from the Ledbetter store was another general store built by Garland Cook about 1900. The last proprietor of this store was Port Stafford, and it closed about 1959. This store building still exists today and is owned by Lucy and Bill Sharp. If you look above the porch, you can still see the section that was scorched by the disastrous fire of Ledbetter's Store in 1961. The War Eagle Mill is the only operating store in the area today.
The Blackburn home
Across the bridge from the Mill is the historic two-story home built in 1832 by Catherine and Sylvanus Blackburn. Even though the mill was burned during the Civil War, their home was occupied as headquarters by both a Confederate general and later a Union general, and thus, was spared. The Blackburns lived in this home until their deaths. When Catherine Blackburn died in 1890, Sylvanus instructed his sons to dig her grave large enough for two people. He died five days later and was buried in the same grave with his wife.
The Blackburn home and farm has had several owners through the years. In the 1920s and 1930s, the home served as the War Eagle Hotel and was a popular Ozark resort. In 1953, the home and farm was acquired by Blanche and Lester Elliott. In 1954, the first War Eagle Fair was held on the farm, with artists and craftsmen offering their hand-made treasures. This fair grew in popularity so much, that today the fall fair has more than 260 vendors and hosts more than 125,000 visitors.
Credits: "Photo of the month -- Log from Old Main and the Van Winkle Mill," undated paper compiled by the Rogers Historical Museum; "Ozark Industry: The Van Winkle Saw Mill 1857-1890," thesis by Robin Faith Bowers, May 2003; "War Eagle River, Rich in History, Scenic Beauty" by Jo Ann Graham, Ozark Life Country, date unknown, from web site: beaverlake.com/wareagle/warmill.
NAN Our Town on 12/08/2016