The Osage would leave their settlements to hunt in present-day Benton County for months at a time before returning to their families.

[9] Osage was renamed Bentonville in honor of Thomas Hart Benton, a senator from Missouri who strongly supported Arkansas statehood.

[10] Two years after Arkansas received statehood in 1836, thousands of Cherokee people from Georgia passed through Benton County as part of the Trail of Tears route to the Indian Territory in what is now Oklahoma.

Although no Civil War battles were fought inside Bentonville, the city was occupied by both armies and saw almost all of its buildings burned.

The city began to rebuild about a decade after incorporation on April 3, 1873, with many of these Reconstruction Era buildings today serving as the oldest structures in Bentonville.

[9] Most of the town's most prominent citizens were charter members of the Klan chapters, including mayor Lee Seamster, his successor Tom Curt, the Benton County sheriff and several deputies, and Circuit Judge William A. Dickson, as well as half of the aldermen on the city council.

[9] In the 1920s and 1930s the county developed a reputation as a leader in poultry production that continued into the World War II years, and which the area still maintains today.

This single store eventually led to the creation of Walmart, the world's largest retailer, which still strongly influences the community today.

[17] The late twentieth and early twenty-first century has seen a dramatic reduction in the manufacturing sector in Bentonville, corresponding with an increase in tourism and entertainment focused on the natural setting and outdoor opportunities of the area as well as the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, which opened in 2011.

The Metropolitan Statistical Area does not consist of the usual principal-city-with-suburbs morphology; instead Bentonville is bordered to the east by Rogers, the north by Bella Vista, and the west by Centerton.

The Walmart "Home Office" now includes more than 20 buildings throughout Bentonville, specifically along Walton Boulevard (US 71B) in the western part of the city.

Bentonville is home to a growing entrepreneurial scene, with co-working spaces and startup incubators being added quickly over the last 5 years.

[34] Bentonville's culture is a combination of a southern city, small town, global business hub, and the surrounding Northwest Arkansas metro.

Bentonville shares many of the characteristics commonly given to Arkansas as a Southern state, yet it has also absorbed minor cultural influence from the Midwest and West.

The "hillbilly" stereotype given to the Ozarks and Appalachians is largely a derivative of the difficult topography, tendency to settle in clusters, and mostly cashless self-sustaining economy found in those regions.

Bentonville's large proportion of Southern Baptist and Methodist adherents does, however, reflect a trend often associated with the Deep South.

[36] Due to Walmart's prominence in the city, Bentonville is also an international focal point for retail suppliers and other supporting businesses.

According to the Bentonville-Bella Vista Chamber of Commerce, over 1,250 suppliers have offices in Northwest Arkansas in an attempt to secure or retain Walmart's business.

[38] The game was played on a baseball field in Bentonville not well suited for typical cricket, so the players adopted new rules.

The city has a league with 18 teams and a host of fans, mostly derived from the thousands of Indian natives drawn to Bentonville by Walmart software and IT jobs.

[45] The statue was removed from the square in September 2020 and relocated to the new privately held James H. Berry Park in July 2023.

The largest park surrounds Lake Bella Vista and includes a popular perimeter fitness trail and disc golf course.

[48] Memorial park features the Melvin Ford Aquatic Center as well as baseball, basketball, tennis, volleyball, skateboard, softball and soccer facilities.

The Northwest Arkansas Razorback Regional Greenway, a 36-mile (58 km) primarily off-road mixed use trail connecting the Northwest Arkansas region, runs through Bentonville near Bentonville High School, the Walmart Home Office, and Crystal Bridges on its way to Lake Bella Vista to the north.

Public art and sculptures line the trail, which passes through Compton Gardens on its way to the museum's southeast entrance.

[59] The Bentonville District Court handles criminal, civil, small claims, and traffic matters within the city limits.

The Bentonville Public Library System consists of one central library, located at 405 S. Main Street, which provides residents with access to print books, publications and multimedia content, as well as a satellite location at the Bentonville Community Center in the southwestern section of the city.

This fully controlled access, four-lane expressway is a discontinuous piece of a route ultimately planned to connect Kansas City, Missouri to New Orleans, Louisiana.

[65] The Bentonville Municipal Airport and Louise M. Thaden Field is owned by the city and serves general aviation.

The City of Bentonville owns and operates a municipal water system that provides services to industrial, commercial and residential customers.