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Raise your hand: Have you ever had a birthday party at Putt-Putt Golf and Games in Longview? Have you ever gone on a first date there? Have you ever stood at the prize counter and exchanged your tickets from the Skee-Ball games?

For more than 40 years, the Barnhart family and their entertainment-based business have been a part of the fabric of Longview. Now, current owner Steve Barnhart, whose parents opened Putt-Putt in 1981, is hoping to find someone to purchase the miniature golf course and continue operating what has been a popular attraction in Longview.

In the meantime, the business remains open.

"I hope someone buys it that wants to get it back to its former glory, keep it as a nice, family friendly place, and just give it the TLC that it needs," Barnhart said. 

In fact, continuing to operate the business is a stipulation for the sale, he said.

Lindsey Farnham, owner and broker of Blue Sky Realty Group, said the property is listed at $500,000. She made a Facebook post this past week about the property being for sale. Her post and others people's posts about the property have generated hundreds of comments. On Wednesday, she'd already received one offer and was expecting another that day. 

"I had 16 (calls on it yesterday) and probably 24 or 25 messages," she Wednesday.

Many of the social media comments in response to her post include memories of Putt-Putt, with some people expressing hope that someone revitalizes it.

"So the community as a whole wants it, and I think there are enough investors in the area who see that," Farnham said. "I don't think it will take long at all to get it sold."

While researching the property's value for the listing, Farnham found three other Putt-Putt's for sale in Texas. None of them are in operation. 

The Barnharts' business venture grew out of their love for the game. Putt-Putt was founded in 1954 in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

"Every time we'd go on vacation, we'd all always play Putt-Putt," Barnhart recalled.

His parents, Hugh and Mary Barnhart, were married for 59 years before Mary's death in 2021. Hugh died in 2023.

Barnhart said his parents wanted to start a business and decided Putt-Putt would be a good addition for Longview. At the time, one similar business operated in the city ÐÔÊӽ紫ý” South Green Street Miniature Golf. 

Barnhart has spent most of his life working at his family's Putt-Putt.

"The neat thing for me, especially as it got on in time, was just seeing kids that had their parties here bringing their kids in to have parties here," he said. "We'd have grandparents, parents of kids, you know, just whole generations."

Putt-Putt, which has two courses, a game room and batting cages, has always been "very popular," he said.

"The biggest issue is whether it's going to rain or not too much. We had one year that it rained pretty much every weekend from .... late February through July, and that's pretty destructive," Barnhart said. "Yeah, as long as you don't get too much rain, it's good."

After that, COVID-19 was the biggest challenge.

In 2020, the Barnharts had been saving money to upgrade the facility ÐÔÊӽ紫ý” redo the back course, add new obstacles and redo the game room. After the pandemic's arrival and the business shutdown that followed, the family ran through the money as the Barnharts tried to survive the closure. 

His parents died soon after that, and Barnhart developed health problems that have left him disabled.

"The idea was to get the place looking nice again and keep it going myself, but I realized I'm just no longer physically able, which is kind of a kick in the head when you realize you just can't do the things you used to," he said.

"It's been sad for me, because I have customers that they get aggravated, they get mad. I understand it," Barnhart said, saying people have complained about the business's condition. "Yeah, I'm sorry, believe me, it's not intentional. If I could get out there and still do it, I would, but we just got wiped out."

The decision to sell the family business after more than four decades was "difficult" Barnhart said.

"I don't want to see it go away," he said. "I want to see it just go to someone that can take care of it and make it pop up great again."

Farnham said this family's labor of love now needs to become another family's labor of love.

"I think it won't be a problem trying to find a buyer," she said, then turning to speak to Barhart. "But that's only because of the Barnhart family. Y'all had it for so long, and so many people know this is an iconic place for Longview."