Lost Bridge Village (Benton County)

Lost Bridge Village is a recreation and retirement community in northeastern Benton County. Originally, the name Lost Bridge referred to a bridge over the White River in Benton County. The Ozark Mountains of the 1920s and 1930s constituted a maze of valleys and canyons. Travel was difficult, as rural dwellers had to cross the ridge tops and descend the opposite slope to reach their destination. For the Pine Log and Glade agricultural communities in northeastern Benton County, rutted wagon trails and variable weather limited travel. Interest in good roads increased in the 1920s, with locals seeking a reliable road to Garfield (Benton County), as well as a bridge to Eureka Springs (Carroll County). Their hopes were pinned on a bridge to cross the White River.

County records show a plan in 1922, but it was 1928 before bids were let. The Luten Bridge Company of Knoxville, Tennessee, won the lowest bid of $24,125. Construction materials were unloaded at the Garfield railroad station and moved over a rough, narrow wagon road to the building site in Fish Trap Hollow.

In the summer of 1929, the arched cement bridge was finished. It was approximately 318 feet long and had a sixteen-foot roadway that stood thirty-five feet above the White River. The west end of the bridge was firmly anchored to a bluff, but construction stopped at the east end with a thirty-six-foot drop to the valley floor below. There were no approaches, except by ladder, for five years. For that reason, it became known as the Lost Bridge. The 1929 stock market crash had restricted money, manpower, and machinery, and only in 1934 were bridge approaches built and the road to Eureka Springs completed.

On May 7, 1943, a flood rose nineteen feet above the bridge floor and swept the bridge away. Four years later, the county replaced it with a low-water bridge.

After years of flooding in several states, the Flood Control Act of 1954 developed a comprehensive plan, and Beaver Dam and Lake was one of five multi-purpose projects constructed in the White River Basin for control of floods, generation of hydroelectric power, public water supply, and recreation. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began construction in 1960 and completed work in 1966.

Eminent domain allowed the Corps of Engineers to remove private property for public purposes, compensating landowners before razing buildings. When the dam was completed, the water covered much of the former Glade and Pine Log communities. Longtime residents sought homes elsewhere. As word of the beautiful new residential lake grew, the area attracted travelers when Lost Bridge Road, now State Highway 127, was rebuilt in 1969.

Lost Bridge’s rebirth began in 1967 with the filing of protective covenants in Benton County that would pave the way for a 1,000-acre resort located on Beaver Lake. Eugene Maier and Sherwood Crane purchased the original development from the Calvin Gainer Corporation. Lost Bridge Village would become a retirement community with full services: paved streets, water, electricity, phone, waste collection, and recreational facilities. In 1971, the Lost Bridge Village Community Association Inc. was formed. The community included the tallest mountain in Benton County, Whitney Mountain, at 1,808 feet.

In 1971, a private airstrip, swimming pool, and recreation center were added. In 1973, the developers completed construction of the Lost Bridge Village Lodge (Whitney Mountain Lodge) and a sales-administration building (Lost Bridge Village Hall).

The developers purchased 1,300 acres known as Posy Mountain Ranch from the Harry McCoy Co. in 1973, and the associations merged. In 1975, after completing the water and sewer facilities for selected subdivisions, the Lost Bridge Village Community Association and the Benton County Road Department resurfaced the streets in the Utility District. Double tennis courts were constructed in 1976.

In 1978, village residents helped establish the Northeast Benton County Fire Department (NEBCO). The Lost Bridge Village Lodge (Whitney Mountain Lodge) was sold in 1984 to Western Development Corp. In 1985, a new swimming pool replaced the original.

In 1978, the Lost Bridge Property Owners Association purchased the former sales office from the developers. In 1990, Whitney Mountain Chapel was built by Joe and Bobbie Phillipe, and Lost Bridge Chapel rented the facility and began services in December 1992. In 1994, the name was changed to Lost Bridge Community Church. In 2002, Luther Black purchased Whitney Mountain Lodge. In 2023, the population of Lost Bridge Village population was over 300 with a median age of 63.9 years.

For additional information:
Benton County Heritage Committee. History of Benton County, Arkansas. Rogers: Benton County Heritage Committee, 1991.

Mahurin, Wanda. The History of Garfield, Arkansas, 1874–1996. Ozark, MO: Dogwood Printing, 1996.

Lost Bridge Village Community Association. https://lbvca.com/ (accessed August 22, 2024).

Patricia Lucille Heck
Glade Community Historical Society