Having grown up in Arkansas, I thought I knew of every lake, river and stream in the Natural State. But in 2017, I found out I was mistaken.
My wife and I had grown up going to various lakes during the summer and considered ourselves “lake people.” Several years into our marriage we began to look for a place on a lake. One day while I was at work at Pinnacle Mountain State Park, my wife called and said our real estate agent had found a home on Lake Norrell. My response was: “Where in the world is Lake Norrell?” She explained that it was in Saline County, about 40 minutes west of Little Rock and 30 minutes north of Benton. Neither I nor any of my coworkers had ever heard of such a place.
Long story short, we made the drive from our home in Sherwood to Lake Norrell and immediately fell in love with the beautiful lake and bought the home. After a couple of years of using the home as a weekend and holiday place, we sold our house and moved to Lake Norrell full-time.
For those who don’t know, Lake Norrell is a 280-acre lake located near the community of Avilla. The lake holds 2.5 billion gallons of water and has about 12 miles of shoreline. It’s owned by Benton Utilities.
Lake Norrell was created by the city of Benton as a backup water source by impounding Brushy Creek. Construction on the earthen dam began in 1953 by Jeffery Lawrence & Tilley of Fort Smith and completed in April 1954.
The dam cost $300,000 to build and was funded in part by a tax approved by Benton residents, in conjunction with a federal appropriation obtained by an Arkansas congressman — William Frank Norrell — for whom the lake is named.
In April 1990, the Department of Health discovered that in 1954, the C.W. Lewis Lumber Co. (co-owned by the chairman of the Benton Utilities Board of Commissioners) had unlawfully sold the original 68 lots around Lake Norrell with septic tanks despite being told this was illegal. The Department of Health decided the resulting pollution left the lake unsuitable as a water source. Therefore, the decision was made to use the water of Lake Norrell solely to keep the Saline River flowing. Around 2005, a local timber company sold much of its property bordering Lake Norrell for residential use.
Today, Lake Norrell is stocked with fish by the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, which also maintains a free public boat launch ramp. All boats are allowed, except for ballast boats, which were recently banned by the city of Benton at the urging of lake residents. Many residents complained the lake’s shoreline was being eroded by the large waves created by the boats. And while there is no official park, swimming and picnicking is allowed near the spillway and launch ramp.
One famous former part-time resident of Lake Norrell was country music legend Charlie Rich. In the 1960s and '70s, Rich had a home near the launch ramp that still stands today. A long-standing rumor is that Rich wrote his hit song, “Behind Closed Doors,” at the cabin. But Rich — a vocalist and piano player — was not a songwriter and never penned an original piece.
But that doesn’t stop me from playing Rich’s songs on my boat radio every time we pass by the old cabin. My personal favorite is “Rollin’ With the Flow,” because that’s what we do at beautiful Lake Norrell.
A sixth-generation Arkansan, Darrell W. Brown is a lover of all things Arkansas. He lives on the subject of today’s column with his wife, Amy, and two beloved Boston Terriers. You can find him on Facebook and Instagram at AllAroundArkansas.
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