History

Mountain View is the largest city in and the county seat of Stone County, Arkansas, United States. Located in the Ozarks, the city has a rich tradition of preserving folk music and culture. Founded in 1873, the city's economy is largely based on tourism related to its title as the "Folk Music Capital of the World". Mountain View hosts the Arkansas Folk Festival in April, various folk artists at Ozark Folk Center State Park throughout the year, and weekly music gatherings on the courthouse steps that are free and open to the public. The city is also known for outdoors recreation opportunities, including Blanchard Springs Caverns, trout fishing on the White River and the Ozark National Forest.

The town's name is derived from its location in a valley bordered by the Blue Mountain Range of the Ozark Mountains. 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, when towns with southern sympathies were to be renamed or moved altogether.

Mountain View was incorporated on August 14, 1890.

Mountain View was the location of the 1929 trial in the Connie Franklin murder case, in which the "victim" testified.

An EF4 tornado caused major damage to the town on February 5, 2008 in the 2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, the deadliest tornado outbreak in two decades.

History of Mountain View as described in facebook post of Then There Was Arkansas facebook page

Hidden in the hills of the Ozark Mountains in north-central Arkansas is the small town of Mountain View. The town was relatively isolated making it difficult for industry to open shop in this little community. The first paved roads came to Mountain View in the late 1960's. The only way this town would survive its inaccessibility was to attract visitors. The Rackensack Society was formed by musician Jimmy Driftwood and other musical citizens. Their primary purpose was to carry on the tradition of "mountain music" that the area seemed to enjoy and to bring in tourists. There were weekly "pickings" around the town and the heritage of American folk music was alive and well. The Arkansas Folk Festival held its first annual event in 1963. At the time there were less than 1000 citizens in Mountain View. The festival attracted 2500 visitors in its first year. Later, the Ozark Folk Center State Park was established and opened in 1973. In the 1980's a second festival, Beanfest, was initiated complete with an outhouse race. The entertaining folks of this small Ozark town bring in 286,828 visitors and 64 million dollars in revenue annually. Mountain View was the childhood home of actor Dick Powell and famous residents have included Jimmy Driftwood who is known for his songs "Battle of New Orleans" and "Tennessee Stud", and Grandpa Jones, a "regular" of the Grand Ole Opry and the television show "Hee Haw". If you want to hear some great "pickin" by the best "pickers", make your way to Mountain View--it also has great fishing, hiking and exploring!