Adversity Made Area?s Centennial Club Stronger in Toughest Times

1871 • Fayetteville

Arvest Bank was originally chartered in Fayetteville in 1871 as Stark Bank. On Jan. 2 of that year, William McIlroy bought into Denton Stark’s concern by investing $5,000.

In 1875, Stark overextended himself and depositors demanded their money. Eventually McIlroy ended up with the institution and named it the William McIlroy Bank.

One of the main offices of the bank is still located in downtown Fayetteville, on the original site. The bank moved into new offices behind the main building in 1972. It made room for an addition in 1977 by demolishing the old building and bringing the front lobby back up to the Center Street.

Jim Walton, owner of Arvest Holdings Inc. in Bentonville, bought McIlroy Bank & Trust Co. in 1986 from the McIlroy family.

Arvest, with $7 billion in assets, is now the oldest bank in Arkansas with 202 offices extending into Oklahoma and Missouri.

First National Bank of Fort Smith

1872 • Fort Smith

Initially chartered as the National Bank of Western Arkansas, this bank changed its name to First National Bank of Fort Smith in 1888 after a competing “First National” folded.

In 1909, the bank began construction on an eight-story building at Sixth Street and Garrison Avenue, where it still operates.

Only seven presidents have served in its 132 years. Sam T. Sicard, vice president of commercial lending, said his father, grandfather, great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather have all served as bank president. Sam M. Sicard, “Sam T.’s” father, has held the position since 1977.

First Bank Corp., the bank’s holding company, was formed in 1989. The National Bank of Sallisaw in Oklahoma, Citizens Bank & Trust Co. of Van Buren, and other financial businesses have been added to the fold over the years.

First National boasts $671.2 million in assets, 12 full-service locations and 275 employees.

Wiederkehr Wine Cellars Inc.

1880 • Altus

Johann Andreas Wiederkehr arrived in the Arkansas River Valley in 1880 and founded what’s become the oldest commercial American vineyard east of the Rockies. He was following promises of a horticultural paradise, and the Swiss farmer’s first products were sacramental wines made for church mass.

Weiderkehr Wine Cellars Inc. has been there ever since. Weinkeller Restaurant, originally Johann Weiderkehr’s hand-dug wine cellar, is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

The founder’s grandson, and company chairman, Al Weiderkehr, helped write the bill that in 1965 became Arkansas Act 120, allowing public restaurants to serve alcoholic beverages. The Weiderkehrs received permit No. 1.

Fourth-generation winemakers Dennis and Gary Weiderkehr are Al Weiderkehr’s nephews and executives at the company. At the last Arkansas State Fair wine competition, Wiederkehr won 19 gold medals and 13 silvers, plus eight of 11 Best of Show grand awards.

Post Familie Vineyards & Winery

1880 • Altus

The Post Familie Winery is Arkansas’ largest wine producer. The now fifth-generation family business was started by Jacob Post, who found his way from Germany in 1872, through Ellis Island and Indiana to the Ozarks where he arrived in 1879.

He initially took a job with the railroad, which was trying to get industry sparked in the River Valley. Soon, Post was selling wine. The business was handed down to Joseph Post, his son James Post and his son Matthew Post, who had 12 children including nine who now work at the winery.

Another Joseph Post, a great-great-grandson of the company founder and today’s vice president of sales, said Prohibition crushed Arkansas wine country during the 1920s. His great-grandmother, Katherine Post, was even arrested in 1929 for selling wine from her restaurant.

The family survived Prohibition by selling sacramental wine, which is still a strong segment.

Altus had 42 wineries in its heyday, but by 1934 there were only 23. That group of wineries organized a cooperative in 1935 and the Post Winery name became dormant. By the 1947 vintage, James and Matthew Post bought out the co-op and brought back the Post name. In 1978, it changed to Post Familie.

Post processes 80 percent of the grapes that go into Arkansas wine, which in 2003 meant about 500,000 gallons. Last year, it also won more than 100 medals — including 40 gold — at national and regional contests.

Citizens Bank and Trust Co.

1886 • Van Buren

Founded by lawyer B. J. Brown and originally chartered as Citizens Bank, the institution merged with the Van Buren Trust Co. in 1914, creating what is now Citizens Bank & Trust Co.

Keith Hefner, president and CEO, said the bank now has six offices and $224 million in deposits employing 102 people.

Hefner said the bank never missed an interest or dividend payment during the Great Depression. He said there are still some customers who are old enough to remember how the bank held up through the rough times.

Crescent Hotel & Spa

1886 • Eureka Springs

According to newspaper accounts from 1886, the Crescent Hotel was one of the most luxurious resorts in America. The Eureka Springs Improvement Co., owned by Clayton Powell, paid $294,000 for construction. Stone specialists from Ireland were even brought in to assist with the hand-chiseled, dry-fitting of native limestone.

“The Crescent has had two boom times,” General Manager Jack Moyer said. “The first was from 1886 to the First World War, and the second is currently happening.”

Moyer said owners, Marty and Elise Roenigk, are the first to realize the need to recreate the grandness of the hotel.

The Roenigk’s bought the hotel in 1997 and began renovations, which were completed in 2001. Moyer declined to disclose the cost, but estimates run $5 million-$10 million.

Now called the Crescent Hotel and Spa, the business has reduced its rooms from 120 to 72 that occupy its 30,000 SF.

Sparks Health System Inc.

1887 • Fort Smith

Founded as a makeshift hospital with $500 collected from Garrison Avenue Merchants, Sparks Health System Inc. got its start when Rev. George Degen of St. John’s Episcopal Church cared for a stranger injured in the rail yard.

The hospital underwent several changes before forming a new partnership with Triad Hospitals Inc. of Dallas last October.

Incorporated in 1890 as St. John’s Hospital, it moved in 1892 so it could handle up to 19 patients. After a $25,000 gift from the Sparks family in 1908, it was renamed Sparks Memorial Hospital.

Sparks built a new 150-bed facility on S. “I” Street in 1953, and the capacity had to be doubled with a new wing by 1966.

Sparks and the Holt-Krock Clinic established PremierCare Health Systems in 1994. Then in 1998, the hospital acquired the former Holt-Krock Clinic from PhyCor Inc. and established Sparks Medical Foundation, which employed physicians to keep doctors from leaving the area.

In recent years, the hospital has focused on women’s and heart care, and it now has annual revenues in the $200 million range with 2,400 employees.

First National Bank of Berryville

1889 • Berryville

Founded by W.P. George as the Carroll County Bank, this institution received its national charter in 1913, when it was renamed the First National Bank of Berryville. The 115-year-old bank now has $129.5 million in assets, up 50 percent from $86 million at its 100-year celebration.

The bank began an employee stock ownership plan in 1994 and is 33 percent owned by employees. It employs 56 people full time and has six locations in five towns.

New Orleans Hotel

1892 • Eureka Springs

Kara White, manager of the New Orleans Hotel, said good records were never kept on the business, but she’s been able to piece together four different names and 10 owners in its 112-year history.

Known as the Wadsworth Hotel at inception, the hotel was renamed the Allred in 1908 and advertised 60 rooms with a nightly rate of $2.50. The building now has 20 rooms and averages $139-$159 a night.

John Lehman, and his father, Arnold Lehman, bought the business in April of 2002 and have been remodeling it since. The hotel has undergone major renovations, John Lehman said, such as moving the laundry facility and modernizing hot water heaters.

The hotel employs 11 people and leases space to five businesses.

Guaranty Abstract and Title Co.

1894 • Fort Smith

Sam Martin, vice president of Guaranty Abstract and Title Co. in Fort Smith, said the firm has increased its customer base 50-fold since his parents bought the company in 1988. Sue Martin said she and her now late husband, Phillip Martin, added title insurance and real estate closings to its services, and business took off immediately. She is still the president and owner.

The Martins acquired the business from Marcus Ristig and Gordon Kelley of Fort Smith and the Lyman Family of California.

At that time, Guaranty just served Sebastian County. An aggressive growth strategy, hinged on adding a cadre of abstract and title services, has helped the firm grow from five employees to more than 30. It reaches all of western Arkansas and into Oklahoma. Guaranty also has branches in Van Buren and Ozark.

Sue Martin said Guaranty, which occupies 15,000 SF at its home office, has more than 600 commercial clients.

Weldon, Williams and Lick Inc.

1898 • Fort Smith

An industry leader in ticket design and printing, Weldon, Williams and Lick Inc. offers a complete array of stock and custom tickets, parking permits, printing and design services.

The business was founded by O.D. “Bud” Weldon, at the time the local editor and business manager of the Fort Smith Weekly Elevator; salesman George T. Williams; and journeyman printer Chauncey A. Lick.

The trio got their big break when the local opera house began ordering tickets through the business. WWL’s first office was a 7,000-SF shop where the Regions Bank Building is located today.

Williams sold his interest in the early 1900s, and Weldon eventually discontinued an active role. That left Lick to concentrate on printing admission tickets for theatrical events.

Lick paid $5,000 in 1906 for a 21,000-SF office and printing facility where the company now stands at 7th and “A” Streets. Thirteen additions later, it’s 190,000 SF and employs 330 people.

Over the years, the firm won such accounts as the Ringling Brothers Circus and the St. Louis Cardinals. In 2001, it recorded more than $38 million in sales. Company President Jim Walcott is only the firm’s fourth top executive in 100 years.

Bank of Gravett

1898 • Gravette

The oldest bank in Benton county opened for business on March 22, 1898. E.T. Gravett and J.T. Edmondson were two of the original seven founders. Total assets are now $218.7 million.

Perhaps one of the most notable quirks of the institution’s history is its name. The Bank of Gravett is located in Gravette, with an “e.” John Meade, president of the bank, said the town was originally spelled without the “e,” but that sometime in the 1920s, postal authorities asked the town to change its name to lessen confusion between it and Gillett, which also ended in double “t.” The town changed its name, the bank did not.

Meade said the bank employs about 50 people and has about a 7,500 customer base with four locations.

Eads Bros. Furniture Co.

1901 • Fort Smith

Founded by Charles and Lewis Eads, the furniture wholesaler has survived the century, a tornado and a fire.

Bill Eads III, great-grandson of Charles Eads and president of the company, said his business has expanded to include manufacturing of bedding products with its Sleep Dynamics division and imported furniture in its Royal Dynamics division. Eads Bros. sells to smaller furniture retail stores in Arkansas, southern Missouri, northeast Oklahoma, Kansas and north Texas.

Bill Eads III runs the company with his father, Bill Eads Jr.

In 1996, Bill Eads III said he was standing on the third floor of the original facility with an insurance adjuster. They were looking at the roof that had been decimated three days earlier by a tornado, when the building caught fire.

He and the adjuster escaped, and the business was already in the transition of moving to their current 100,000-SF facility, so few records were lost.

The firm grosses $5 million-$8 million a year and employs about 30 people.

Bever’s Ace Hardware

1902 • Gentry

Randy Bever is the third generation to run a business his grandfather started in 1902 as the J.R. Bever Company. Initially a fruit, vegetable, feed and seed shop, it’s grown into Gentry’s full-line hardware and appliance store.

Bob Bever bought the business in 1945 when his father, J.R., retired. By that time, the business had morphed into a grocery store and produce brokerage, and Bob renamed the store Bever’s Market. In 1954, Bob bought a hardware business called the Jot ’em Down Store and it added furniture and appliance lines. Bob sold the grocery store in 1964 and concentrated on the hardware concern, eventually buying into the Ace Hardware cooperative in 1976.

In 1985, Randy bought the store from his father. The store now has more than 10,500 SF and grosses more than $1 million.

With hardware, appliances, toys, sporting goods and more, Bever classifies the business as eclectic. “I call it the biggest little store in town.”

Oldest Companies in Northwest Arkansas

Local Rank — Business Name – City
State Rank — Type of Business — Year Founded

1 — Southwest Times Record — Fort Smith
2 — Daily newspaper — 1832

2 — Hanby Lumber Co. — Berryville
8 — Lumber company — 1856

3 — Press Argus-Courier — Van Buren
9 — Semi-weekly newspaper — 1859

4 — Northwest Arkansas Times — Fayetteville
10 — Daily newspaper — 1860

5 — Star Tribune — Berryville
15 — Weekly newspaper — 1870

6 — Arvest Bank — Fayetteville
20 — Commercial bank — 1871

7 — First National Bank of Fort Smith — Fort Smith
23 — Commercial bank — 1872

8 — Harrison Daily Times — Harrison
32 — Daily newspaper — 1876

9 — Eureka Springs Times-Echo — Eureka Springs
46 — Weekly newspaper — 1879

9 — Madison County Record — Huntsville
46 — Weekly newspaper — 1879

11 — Post Familie Winery — Altus
49 — Winery — 1880

11 — Wiederkehr Wine Cellars — Altus
49 — Winery — 1880

13 — Greenwood Democrat — Greenwood
64 — Weekly newspaper — 1883

14 — Benton County Daily Record — Bentonville
71 — Daily newspaper — 1886

14 — Citizens Bank and Trust Co. — Van Buren
71 — Commercial bank — 1886

14 — Crescent Hotel & Spa — Eureka Springs
71 — Hotel — 1886

15 — Sparks Health System Inc. — Fort Smith
82 — Hospital system — 1887

15 — The Morning News — Springdale
82 — Daily newspaper — 1887

19 — First National Bank of Berryville — Berryville
93 — Commercial bank — 1889

20 — New Orleans Hotel — Eureka Springs
106 — Hotel — 1892

20 — The Herald-Leader — Siloam Springs
106 — Semi-weekly newspaper — 1892

22 — Gravette News Herald — Gravette
108 — Weekly newspaper — 1894

22 — Guarantee Abstract and Title Co. — Fort Smith
108 — Title insurance agency — 1894

24 — Bank of Gravett — Gravette
121 — Commercial bank — 1898

24 — Weldon Williams & Lick Inc. — Fort Smith
121 — Printer — 1898

26 — Eads Bros. Furniture Co. — Fort Smith
135 — Wholesaler — 1901

27 — The J.R. Bever Co. — Gentry
142 — Retailer — 1902

Sources: The companies, Arkansas Press Association, Arkansas Hospital Association, local chambers of commerce, Arkansas Secretary of State corporate filings, American Short Line and Railroad Association. —

Research by Carl D. Holcombe, Deborah Horn and Jeffrey Wood

Statewide Top 10
Ranked by year founded

Rank — Business Name — City — Type of Business — Year Founded

1 — Rose Law Firm — Little Rock — Law firm — 1820
2 — Southwest Times Record — Fort Smith — Daily newspaper — 1832
3 — Stinson’s Jewelers — Camden — Retailer — 1847
4 — Mount St. Mary Academy — Little Rock — Private educational institution — 1851
5 — University of the Ozarks — Clarksville — Private educational institution — 1852
6 — Post-Dispatch — Dardanelle — Weekly newspaper — 1854
6 — The Daily Citizen — Searcy — Daily newspaper — 1854
8 — Hanby Lumber Co. — Berryville — Lumber company — 1856
9 — Press Argus-Courier — Van Buren — Semi-weekly newspaper — 1859
10 — Northwest Arkansas Times — Fayetteville — Daily newspaper — 1860
10 — White County Record/Searcy Sun — Judsonia — Weekly newspaper — 1860

Sources: The companies, Arkansas Press Association, Arkansas Hospital Association, local chambers of commerce, Arkansas Secretary of State corporate filings, American Short Line and Railroad Association. — Research by Carl D. Holcombe and Deborah Horn