In 2001 Nathan Bentley first started decorating his home in Esko, MN for the Christmas season. For the next two years he continually added more lights to create a larger holiday light display; his home quickly became known as the “House with all of the lights in Esko.” In 2003 Nathan changed his light display from a “drive by” to a “walkthrough” with Santa Claus visiting on weekends.

Since Nathan was going overboard a friend sarcastically started to call it Bentleyville (referencing Dr. Seuss’s town of Whoville). The name caught on with visitors and “Bentleyville Tour of Lights” was born.

In the fall of 2008 Nathan received a phone call from then Duluth City Mayor Don Ness’s Office inviting him to a meeting to discuss an invitation to host Bentleyville Tour of Lights at Bayfront Festival Park in Duluth, MN.   Nathan thought the new location would be a good fit for Bentleyville and accepted the one-year trial invitation. For the next year planning for the large undertaking of moving Bentleyville to a venue 4 times the size of his residence was underway.  Nathan selected a Board of Directors, formed a 501c3 nonprofit organization, and asked his original Bentleyville team of 25 people to help organize and plan for a Christmas light show.