Van Winkle's Mill into the Twentieth Century. It is unclear who was running the mill between Peter's departure in 1880 and his death in 1882. It is quite possible that either Jack Steele or Peter himself (or perhaps both) managed to keep abreast of mill operations from Fayetteville. Following Peter Van Winkle's death in 1882, however, Van Winkle's Mill slowly faded into the distance as the twentieth century marched on.

Temperance attempted to claim the Van Winkle home as a homestead in probate court, while John Steele returned to Van Hollow to manage the mill operations for a year. Her claim was denied, however, and the estate sold the Van Hollow property (including the mill) to neighbor and son-in-law J. A. C. Blackburn.

It seems clear that Blackburn saw himself as the heir to the Van Winkle and War Eagle legacies local histories give him the "Lumber King" title once used to describe Peter (Goodspeed 1889:132). Still, the Blackburn operation was brief, as he and his second wife moved from the Van Winkle home to the town of Rogers in 1890 when he combined operations with that of his own War Eagle Mill. In 1902, Tom Blackburn bought the machinery and equipment of the combined mills and shipped them to Danville, Arkansas. After 1890, Blackburn attempted to sell the mill and all property associated with it. Blackburn had difficulty finding a buyer-possibly due to a national depression that began in 1893-until 1903, when Edgar Conable bought all of Blackburn's land, said to have equaled 8,000 acres. No information to confirm this purchase was discovered in the Benton County deed books (possibly due to the fact that one deed book is missing for this time period).

What can be confirmed, however, is that Edgar Conable opened a post office in Section 22 of Township 19 North, Range 28 West in 1903. Interestingly, Conable was the leader of a religious utopian group called the Pathfinders who believed in the power of mind over matter. Conable's stay at Van Hollow was short-lived, as the post office closed only six months later in 1904. Apparently, Conable lost ownership of the hollow upon default of payment.

By all accounts the mill was no longer functioning during WWI when, spurred on by the high price of scrap metal, a group of workers dynamited the giant flywheel of the mill apart "so it could be carted away as scrap iron" (Arkansas Democrat, August 2, 1959; Mitchell 1969:17). Erwin Funk relates the most detailed and colorful account of the event:

Between 1916 and 1929, Roscoe Hobbs purchased the Van Winkle land. Hobbs was the owner of the Ozark Tie Company (later the Hobbs Western Tie and Timber Company), which manufactured railroad ties and provided timber "for a variety of wood products manufactured in the cities of Rogers, Siloam Springs and Fayetteville" (Miller and Eastin 1984:32). Hobbs owned the old Van Winkle land until his death in 1965.

Despite the early date of the purchase, however, the hollow appears to have been silent between the two World Wars, and the next indication of occupation began in 1944 when Vernon T. West and his wife reoccupied the house and set up a less substantial saw mill for the Hobbs Western Tie and Timber Company. This saw mill ran until 1960 when the Wests moved their operation to a nearby hilltop property to take advantage of the new highway transportation networks.

Construction of the 228 foot high dam that would impound Beaver Lake began in 1960 and was completed in 1966. The damn was built "for flood control, to generate electric power, to supply water and to provide recreational opportunities" at a total cost of $46,200,000.00 to be off-set by future hydropower sales (Miller and Eastin 1984:51).

The impoundment of Beaver Lake resulted in the flooding of a substantial amount of the northern portion of Van Hollow and uncertainties about the final water level was most likely partially behind the relocation of the West family.

The house again stood derelict another decade, until after the death of Roscoe Hobbs. In 1969, as the Van Winkle home was no longer structurally sound, the large, spacious home was finally demolished before the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism took over the property. Harvey and Bernice Jones purchased the Van Winkle house in 1969, had it systematically dismantled, and used its materials to build a centerpiece at Har-Ber Village, their public resort in eastern Oklahoma.

In his will, Hobbs stipulated that the land should not be sold until 1977, and at that time, the State of Arkansas should be given the first opportunity to purchase it. In 1978, the 11,644 acres of the Roscoe C. Hobbs Estate attracted the attention of Arkansas State Parks, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and the Department of Arkansas Natural and Cultural Heritage who thought that with "proper resource management" it could "provide wildlife habitat, recreation and natural areas for the benefit of all Arkansans" (Miller and Eastin 1984:4). In January of 1979, the Nature Conservancy purchased the property to hold until the State of Arkansas could appropriate funding. One month later, Governor William J. Clinton signed Act 128 which authorized the state expenditure of $3,250,000 to purchase the land now known as the Hobbs State Park and Conservation Area.