09/03/2026
The Town Time Forgot - talk about an intriguing headline. And the photo was equally interesting. What was the story behind them?
The photograph was supplied to the Benton County Historical Society by Virgil Talbot, author of “Bloomfield: The Town Time Forgot,” and was simply identified as “Bloomfield, Ark., taken about 1900.” But another source, West of the Tracks: Northwest Benton County, identified the scene as Mitchell’s Mill at Double Springs.
Now we had two names… So was it Bloomfield or Double Springs?
Let’s back up a bit. The story takes place about 2½ miles outside present-day Gentry along what is now Highway 12. And it started way back in 1850, when the area was surveyed and identified as Double Springs. It "was the only town between Maysville on the north and Cincinnati on the south" on what was then known as Round Prairie.
The small community grew quickly. R.B. Mitchell opened the first store, Dr. J.H. Neagle built the first house on the northeast side of the square, and David Chandler opened a hotel. Chandler would also serve as Double Spring’s first postmaster when the post office was established in 1851 (and in the state legislature sometime around 1872 - Chandler would prove to be a very busy man!)
Around 1870, George Washington Mitchell arrived with plans to establish a town. He enlisted David Chandler to lay out the community—including a public square. (Yep, the same guy - he had also previously served as the county surveyor.)
In 1875, Double Springs officially became Bloomfield when the post office changed its name.
For a time, the newly dubbed Bloomfield thrived. There was a hotel, general store, blacksmith, post office, the local orchards bloomed and thrived, a Masonic Lodge was built, plays were put on by The Orchard Home Talent Dramatic Club.
But then the railroad arrived in 1893—and missed the town by a couple of miles. A spur was built to connect Bloomfield with the railroad, but it wasn't enough to stop families and businesses from moving to Gentry. Then the fruit industry died and the Great Depression hit - and Bloomfield became the town time forgot.
P.S. For the curious. We used A.I. to enhance the image due to the original being so degraded. However, A.I. isn't good with words and made a hash of the verbiage on the wagon and railroad car to the right. On the other hand, it did a great job of bringing out many details that would otherwise be missed. So - we decided to provide you with both versions.
Sources:
-Virgil Talbot, “Bloomfield: The Town Time Forgot,” The Benton County Pioneer, Vol. 28, Nos. 3 & 4, Summer and Fall 1983
-Marge Hadley, West of the Tracks: Northwest Benton County
-Wikipedia entry for “Bloomfield, Arkansas”
-Arkansas Genealogy website, “Bloomfield”
-Benton County History, January 3, 2022 facebook post
-Genealogy Trails website, “Benton County, Arkansas Post Offices”
