Welcome to the historic Norfork Hotel/General Store building. This building was completed in 1908 making it 100 years old! It was originally built as a hotel for the railroad and occasional travelers who passed through this area. Crews and passengers spent the night here and local folks spent their honeymoon in this hotel.The large upstairs room was a General or Mercantile store and the lower room was a new car showroom and a gasoline station in the early days of the automobile. Over time, the building has served as a shoe store, a grocery store, a restaurant, an auto repair garage, and as apartments. This building has been witness to most of the history of Norfork. It is one of the oldest buildings and has always served as a public building of sorts. There are numerous stories about the old building which are currently being documented. The current owner bought the building in 1999 in very bad condition. Since that time, I have slowly and lovingly restored it and this is still a work in progress. If you have stories and history about this building, I would like to share them with you and include them in my research. Most recently, in 2006, the building was the scene of a shootout, a man from back east had just shot and killed Officer Sell in Gassville Arkansas. This story is well documented but it is interesting and somehow fitting that the final moments played out directly in front of this building. This building was started around 1906 after the builder obtained a special permit to build adjacent to the old Liberty Bank. A clause in the title as recorded in the Abstract included this permit clause many years after the building was completed. The building itself is a large (6500sq ft) structure build of native stone and masonry. It was build by craftsmen using the tools and know-how typical of that day. It was quite an achievement during its day and it is still a substantial structure today. The outside is of native stone including substantial use of a unique, native sponge rock. It was built with at least three different sections: A General Mercantile Store, An automobile dealership with a repair shop, and a 12 room hotel upstairs. Over the years it has been used, or parts thereof, as a residence, restaurant, shoe store, apartments, garage, post office, and a variety of other things. One interesting story tells us that all of the local gents enjoyed having their morning coffee in the restaurant. This was during prohibition but the restaurant served a special coffee “royale” with a little something extra in it. After several cups of coffee, some of the locals had difficulty walking or moving around. A local man would cross the river every morning in his John boat carrying an earthenware jug with him. Folks thought he was coming to get kerosene (coal oil) for his cabin. Actually, he was bringing the “royale”. From the legends, he produced some pretty good stuff! The beautiful, aged wood used in the building is from the virgin cut of the timber in this area. The beams used between the first and second floor are a full 20 foot, 12” beams of solid, white pine that has cured into a hard-as-rock timber. --By J.D. King—builder and long-time owner. Sid Richardson long time owner --Last used in the 1940’s during the construction of Norfork Dam.

PROPERTY NUMBER: 03027-90670        PRICED AT: $225,000.00

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