BELLA VISTA -- The Bella Vista Historical Museum recently received two 100-year-old slot machines that were used at the Bella Vista Summer Resort at Lake Bella Vista during the 1920s.
The Linebarger brothers opened the summer resort in 1917 and kept it running every summer for more than 30 years. One brother died in 1951, and the resort was sold in 1952 to E. L. Keith. Since Keith didn't want dancing or gambling in his resort, the slot machines were not part of the sale.
The second brother died in 1961.
The remaining brother, C. A. Linebarger, who died in 1978, held a large auction of personal and resort items on Aug. 5, 1971, but no one was interested in buying the two slot machines. His granddaughter Carole and her husband transported them to her sister Charity's home in California, where they remained for more than 50 years until last fall when Charity offered them to the museum and had them shipped back.
Chris Hendrix of the Hot Springs Gambling Museum, which has 100 slot machines in its inventory, verified from photographs that these two machines were manufactured in the 1920s. He said the green one was made by the Caille Brothers Co. of Detroit and the gray one by the Mills Novelty Co. of Chicago.
The slot machines at the Bella Vista Historical Museum are now on permanent display in the Linebarger Room. They could be made operable again, but museum staff have decided to leave them as is, for display only.
The museum, located at 1885 Bella Vista Way near the corner of U.S. 71 and Kingsland Road, is open Wednesday through Sunday from 1-5 p.m. with free admission. For more information on the museum call 479-855-2335 or visit the museum's website at bellavistamuseum.org.
Manufactured in the 1920s by the Mills Novelty Co. of Chicago, this slot machine was played at the Bella Vista Summer Resort during the time of the Linebarger brothers ownership. (Submitted Photo/Bella Vista Historical Museum)