Bentonville is the ninth-largest city in Arkansas, and the county seat of Benton County. The city is centrally located in the county with Rogers adjacent to the east. Settlers lived in the Bentonville area as early as 1830, but the town was originally known as Osage. The town was later renamed Bentonville for Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri, who strongly supported statehood for Arkansas (Horton, 2009). Bentonville, once primarily an agricultural community, has grown into a thriving business and tourist community. Between 1990 and 2000, the county’s population grew fifty-seven percent, largely driven by a 900-percent increase in Latino immigration to the area. Also boosting the county’s economy is Walmart Inc., headquartered in Bentonville. As the world’s top retailer, it is not only the county’s but the world’s largest employer. Supporting their Walmart Inc. accounts, many large and small businesses have moved in, bringing thousands of new residents from across the country (Lord, 2017).
Citations
Horton, Larry. (2009, Nov. 14). Bentonville Real Estate Company. Retrieved from bentonville123.com.
Lord, Allyn. (2017, Dec. 18). Benton County. Retrieved from encyclopediaofarkansas.net.
How it all Began 