Mountain View is the largest city in and the

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 ...

of Stone County, Arkansas, United States, located in

the Ozarks The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, as well as a small area in the southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover ...

. The city's economy is largely based on tourism related to its title as the "Folk Music Capital of the World". The city is also known for outdoors recreation opportunities, including Blanchard Springs Caverns,

trout Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...

fishing on the White River and the Ozark National Forest.

History

The town's name is derived from its location in a valley bordered by the Blue Mountain Range of the Ozark Mountains. Mountain View was incorporated on August 14, 1890. Prior to the founding of Mountain View in 1890, the town of Riggsville, established in 1819 by Thomas Augustus Riggs, existed immediately to the east remaining until after the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, when towns with southern sympathies were to be renamed or moved altogether. An EF4 tornado caused major damage to the town on February 5, 2008, in the

2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak The 2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak was a deadly tornado outbreak which affected the Southern United States and the lower Ohio Valley on February 5 and 6, 2008. The event began on Super Tuesday, 2008, Super Tuesday, while 24 states in t ...

Geography

Mountain View is located at (35.864886, −92.108497). 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 6.8 square miles (17.7 km), of which 6.8 square miles (17.7 km) is land and 0.15% is water.

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Mountain View has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 2,877 people, 1,273 households, and 540 families residing in the city.

2000 census

As of the census of 2000, there were 2,876 people, 1,287 households, and 792 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 1,450 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 96.97%

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 ...

, 0.94% Native American, 0.03%

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 ...

, 0.31% from other races, and 1.74% from two or more races. 1.70% 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 1,287 households, out of which 23.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.7% were married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.4% were non-families. 35.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.13 and the average family size was 2.72. In the city, the population was spread out, with 20.2% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 20.7% from 25 to 44, 26.3% from 45 to 64, and 25.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47 years. For every 100 females, there were 81.1 males. For every 100 females aged 18 and over, there were 80.3 males. The median income for a household in the city was $19,302, and the median income for a family was $27,589. Males had a median income of $20,000 versus $16,790 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,375. About 10.2% of families and 17.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.1% of those under age 18 and 11.7% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

The local economy is largely tourism-based. Numerous hotels and restaurants exist to serve travelers who come to visit the nearby Blanchard Springs Caverns, in Fifty-Six, Arkansas, The

Ozark Folk Center The Ozark Folk Center is an Arkansas living history state park located in Mountain View, Arkansas, dedicated to preserving and presenting Ozark cultural heritage and tradition to the public. History The University of Arkansas Cooperative Ext ...

State Park, an
Loco Ropes
Treetop Adventure Park. Many others seek the world-renowned trout fishing of the White River, or the excellent camping, hiking and mountain-biking that can be found in the Ozark National Forest. A few live music and variety shows, such as the White River Hoedown, also entertain travelers by mixing contemporary country,

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

and

bluegrass music Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Bluegrass has roots in African America ...

with a bit of local humor. However, the majority of visitors to Mountain View come to attend one of the two major

festivals A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

held here every year, and to enjoy the impromptu

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

jam sessions that occur around the courthouse square. The remainder of the local economy consists mostly of agriculture, specifically the farming of livestock, primarily cattle and

chickens The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

. Large-scale industrial activities in the area are overall nonexistent, excepting a few small manufacturing companies. The Stone County Iron Works, a nationally known company that produces iron furniture, fixtures and housewares, is headquartered in Mountain View. Recently, the city has seen expansion of its personal aircraft maintenance and repair industry. Stone County, along with four of six neighboring Arkansas counties, is a

dry county In the United States, a dry county is a county whose local government forbids the sale of any kind of alcoholic beverages. Some prohibit off-premises sale, some prohibit on-premises sale, and some prohibit both. The vast majority of counties n ...

Arts and culture

Annual cultural events

Local

play an integral part in Mountain View's economy and culture, and the city is widely known throughout the country for its hospitality, uniqueness and relaxed pace of life. As such, thousands of people travel to Mountain View each year to attend one of these events and get a taste of Ozark Mountain culture. Often lodging must be secured a year in advance of the two major festivals. Some local estimates say that the city's population has grown to as much as 100,000 during past festivals, though this is likely an exaggeration. Average festival attendance tends to fall between 40,000 and 60,000. In April, the city hosts the Arkansas Folk Festival. A highlight of this festival is an old-fashioned "home-town" parade, which brings out

school band A school band is a group of student musicians who rehearse and perform instrumental music together. A concert band is usually under the direction of one or more conducting, conductors (band directors). A school band consists of woodwind instrum ...

s, patriotic

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in an job, occupation or Craft, field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in the military, armed forces. A topic o ...

s groups, show horses, and decorated floats. Numerous folk

craft A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale pr ...

vendors and many impromptu performances of live

are also part of the celebration. During the spring, summer and fall, anytime the weather is nice, people from all over will gather in and around the courthouse square to play and listen to music. Bluegrass mostly, but a wide array of folk, swing, country and gospel can be heard performed by local townsfolk as well as pickers from hundreds of miles away. A few dedicated musicians play only the old-time tunes that have been passed down through generations. During the fourth weekend of October, thousands attend the Arkansas Bean Fest and Great Championship Outhouse Races. Early Saturday morning, nearly one ton of pinto

beans A bean is the seed of some plants in the legume family (Fabaceae) used as a vegetable for human consumption or animal feed. The seeds are often preserved through drying (a ''pulse''), but fresh beans are also sold. Dried beans are tradition ...

are cooked in large, antique iron kettles that are set up along the west side of the

courthouse A courthouse or court house is a structure which houses judicial functions for a governmental entity such as a state, region, province, county, prefecture, regency, or similar governmental unit. A courthouse is home to one or more courtrooms, ...

square. Promptly at noon, a couple thousand pounds of pinto beans and

cornbread Cornbread is a quick bread made with cornmeal, associated with the cuisine of the Southern United States, with origins in Native American cuisine. It is an example of batter bread. Dumplings and pancakes made with finely ground cornmeal are st ...

are served to the gathered crowd. The festival continues with the famous

Outhouse An outhouse — known variously across the English-speaking world otherwise as bog, dunny, long-drop, or privy — is a small structure, separate from a main building, which covers a toilet. This is typically either a pit latrine or a bucket ...

Race. Local teams (and anyone who else who wishes to haul in an entry) push outhouses built on wheels (similar to a go-kart) in a series of races. The overall champion receives the coveted Golden Toilet Seat Trophy. Handmade

crafts A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale pr ...

and

play an integral part in this festival as well. Other local festivals included the Mountain View Bluegrass Festival, held in both mid-March and mid-November; An Old-Fashioned

Fourth of July Independence Day, known colloquially as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States which commemorates the ratification of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing th ...

; and Mountains Music & Motorcycles in August. The town gets into the holiday spirit each year by lighting downtown buildings for Christmas open house events, and an annual Christmas tree lighting on the first Saturday in December. The

plays host to several events throughout the year, including live concerts by well-known artist such as the

Old Crow Medicine Show Old Crow Medicine Show is an Americana (music), Americana string band based in Nashville, Tennessee, that has been recording since 1998. They were inducted into the Grand Ole Opry on September 17, 2013. Their ninth album, ''Remedy (Old Crow Med ...

and Del McCoury, the Arkansas State

Fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

Championships, and workshops teaching

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

dulcimer The term dulcimer refers to two families of musical string instruments. Hammered dulcimers The word ''dulcimer'' originally referred to a trapezoidal zither similar to a psaltery whose many strings are struck by handheld "hammers". Variants of ...

, and other folk

Education

The city hosts a satellite campus of Ozarka College, a two-year institution whose main campus is located in Melbourne, Arkansas. The city is also home to the main campus of the Mountain View School District, a

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

that also maintains campuses in

Timbo, Arkansas Timbo is an unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Stone County, Arkansas, Stone County, Arkansas, United States. It is in the Ozarks, Ozark Mountains region of the northern part of the state and is near the town of Mountain View, Arka ...

and Fox, Arkansas. The school district boundaries are the same as those of Stone County, Arkansas.

Notable people

Jimmy Driftwood James Corbitt Morris (June 20, 1907 – July 12, 1998), known professionally as Jimmy Driftwood or Jimmie Driftwood, was an American folk music, folk-style songwriter and musician, most famous for his songs "The Battle of New Orleans (song), ...

(1907–1998),

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

songwriter and musician; born in

near Mountain View. * Missy Irvin (born 1971), Republican member of the Arkansas State Senate from Mountain View *

Dick Powell Richard Ewing Powell (November 14, 1904 – January 2, 1963) was an American actor, singer, musician, producer, director, and studio head. Though he came to stardom as a musical comedy performer, he showed versatility and successfully transform ...

(1904–1963), singer, actor, film producer, director and

studio A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater. The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to study or zeal. Types Art The studio of any artist, esp ...

boss (co-founder of

Four Star Television Four Star Television, also called Four Star International, was an American television production company. Founded in 1952 as Four Star Productions by prominent Hollywood actors Dick Powell, David Niven, Charles Boyer and Joel McCrea, it was ...

); born in Mountain View. * Harold M. Sherman (1898-1987), author, psychic researcher, and producer; resided in Mountain View

Gallery

File:Mountain View Flag.jpg, Mountain View Flag File:Mountain View Courthouse.jpg, Mountain View Courthouse File:Mountain View Courthouse with Veteran Memorial.jpg, Mountain View Courthouse with Veteran Memorial File:Lackey General Merchandise and Warehouse 001.jpg, 1924 stone commercial building File:Downtown Mountain View, AR 018.jpg, Washington St Park File:George W. Lackey House 001.jpg, 1915 home of Mountain View businessman and civic leader File:Dew Drop Inn 001.jpg, ca. 1920 Craftsman hotel File:Stone County Civil War Marker.jpg, Stone County Civil War Marker

References

External links

*
Mountain View Arkansas Chamber of Commerce
Portal style website, Government, Business, Library, Recreation and more {{authority control Cities in Stone County, Arkansas Cities in Arkansas County seats in Arkansas