ANSWERS: 1
  • Bonnerville was established at the time of the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Memphis Railroad began operation in Craighead County in 1883. The railroad company wanted to establish a station to serve the large Big Creek Farming community. Mr. Alfred Bonner, a well-to-do farmer, offered to donate land for the railroad station and post office if the town was named after him. Since Mr. Bonner also owned a good deal of the virgin timber in the Cache River Valley he realized the importance of locating a railroad station in the area. When the town first started, it consisted of a small grocery store, a depot, several churches, section houses, a few small houses, tents, and a sawmill. The town became one of Craighead County's most important business centers for the time. The first stores were located in the Jim Rains building, where a saloon was conducted, and W.R. Benix commissary. The Bonnerville post office which had been in operation unofficially since October 4, 1883, was discontinued on February 5, 1884 after the application to establish the post office was denied by postal authorities in Washington, D.C. The application was denied due to confusion caused by the other similarly named towns of Banner and Booneville. In the official notice from the Postal Department there was reference to the "late Bonnerville" and in the same handwriting the name Bono had been written in. After much discussion by local residents, the town's name was changed from Bonnerville to Bono. Postal authorities approved of the new name and the Bono post office was established on November 20, 1884 with Mr. James M. Fisher in charge as postmaster. The railroad continued to use the name of Bonnerville to identify the station until the railroad lines were acquired by Frisco lines in 1901, and in 1909 the station name was changed to Bono. Bono was later incorporated in 1916. Elvis Presley came to the Bono school district's gym to play a concert in the 1950's. The show was organized by Barbara Smith and Betty Craft, both of whom were high school students at the time. Rumor has it that the concert was so wild that Elvis stomped a hole in the gym floor with his boot. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bono%2C_Arkansas

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