Bull Shoals is a city in Marion County,

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

, United States, founded in 1954. The population was 1,952 at the 2020 census. Primarily a retirement and vacation center, Bull Shoals is bordered in three directions by the clear, deep, man-made

Bull Shoals Lake Bull Shoals Lake is an artificial lake or reservoir in the Ozark Mountains of northern Arkansas and southern Missouri, United States. It has hundreds of miles of lake arms and coves, and common activities include boating, water sports, swimming, ...

History

The town was created by real estate developers C. S. Woods and C. S. Woods Jr. and was officially established in 1954.

Bull Shoals Dam Bull Shoals Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the White River in northern Arkansas in the United States. The dam lies on the border of Marion and Baxter Counties, and forms Bull Shoals Lake, which extends well northwest into Missouri. Its main p ...

is the threshold into the town from the southeast. Bull Shoals Dam and the town of Bull Shoals developed together. The developers bought several tracts of the former Newton Flat settlement when they learned that the government planned to build a flood-control and power-generating concrete dam at the site. Construction of the dam took four years, from 1947 to 1951, resulting in one of the largest dams built in the nation at that time.

Geography

Bull Shoals is located in northeastern Marion County and is bordered on three sides by Bull Shoals Lake, with the main channel of the lake, on the White River, to the southeast and northeast, and a long arm of the lake formed by the inlets of Jimmie Creek and Moccasin Creek on the northwest side of the city. The southeast border of the city, in the White River, is the Baxter County line. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , of which , or 1.39%, are water. Arkansas 178

Highway 178 is the only highway and only major road in and out of Bull Shoals, which the highway enters just off the Bull Shoal Dam, which begins the Bull Shoals Lake from the White River, near the Arkansas-

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

border. Highway 178 leads east to Midway and south the same distance to Flippin. Yellville, the Marion

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

, is to the southwest of Bull Shoals, and Mountain Home is 15 miles to the southeast.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 1,952 people, 951 households, and 572 families residing in the city.

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 1,950 people, 1,014 households, and 650 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 1,226 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 98.05%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.30%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.45% Native American, 0.25% Asian, 0.10%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.10% from other races, and 0.75% from two or more races. 1.05% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. There were 1,014 households, out of which 11.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.4% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 5.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.8% were non-families. 32.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 20.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.96 and the average family size was 2.39. In the city, the population was spread out, with 11.6% under the age of 18, 4.2% from 18 to 24, 16.1% from 25 to 44, 30.0% from 45 to 64, and 38.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 59 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.2 males. The median income for a household in the city was $27,139, and the median income for a family was $34,219. Males had a median income of $23,125 versus $16,950 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $17,636. About 9.1% of families and 12.6% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 27.2% of those under age 18 and 9.3% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Students from Bull Shoals attend the Flippin School District, which operates Flippin High School.

Culture

Bull Shoals has been honored as an Arkansas Volunteer Community of the Year for five years. Liquidforce and Brostock 2010 chose Bull Shoals as the location of their professional

wakeboarding Wakeboarding is a water sport in which the rider, standing on a wakeboard (a board with foot bindings), is towed behind a motorboat across its wake and especially up off the crest in order to perform aerial maneuvers. A hallmark of wakeboarding ...

tournament in July 2010 and June 2011. Surf the Bull, an annual grassroots

wakesurfing Wakesurfing is a water sport in which a person surfs the wake that is created by the boat. Wakesurfers ride without rope, they use it only to be pulled by the boat from the water. After getting up on the wake, typically by use of a tow rope, t ...

event and competition, is hosted by Bull Shoals Lake Boat Dock and presented by several members of the wakesurfing community every summer in late July/early August. The lake has also hosted numerous professional bass and walleye fishing tournaments over the years. Additionally, the city co-hosts the annual HillBilly Chili Cookoff selecting Arkansas' Best Chili to compete internationally in the International Chili Society competitions.

Government

Bull Shoals has a mayor/council form of government with six council members. The current mayor of Bull Shoals is Michael Savu. The previous mayor was Bruce Powell, a retired

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

policeman. Incoming District 17 Arkansas State Senator Scott Flippo is a businessman in Bull Shoals but resides in his native Mountain Home.

Notable people

* Loren P. Thompson,

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

state legislator and resort owner, lived in Bull Shoals; Thompson also served as mayor of Bull Shoals.Loren Thompson-obituary
/ref>

References

External links

Bull Shoals Lake White River Chamber of Commerce
{{authority control Cities in Arkansas Cities in Marion County, Arkansas Populated places established in 1954 1954 establishments in Arkansas