A Few Caches in Harrison Today 9/6/2010

Today was our day to do a few more caches so we drove into Harrison about 10:30 to our first cache located in the local hospital parking lot. Our next cache was at the Boone County Courthouse in the town square.

The Harrison Courthouse Square Historic District is known by residents simply as "the Square". The Harrison Courthouse Square Historic District includes the 1911 Boone County Courthouse, two pharmacies, several clothing stores and restaurants, and a Marine Corps museum. The District also has a bank and the Lyric Theater. The District is the site of several annual festivals, including Crawdad Days and the Fall Festival. Several war memorials stand on the Courthouse lawn. The Square is known as the site of the shooting of famous outlaw Henry Starr. That a look at the historic marker next to the fron door of the courthouse and then the No Smoking sign right under it. You will see that the first courthouse was a wooden structure and was burned down under suspicious circumstances.....no wonder they have a no smoking sign.

Henry Starr (1874–1921) was an American outlaw: specifically, a horse thief and train robber. He was also convicted of murder once, of U.S. Deputy Marshal Floyd Wilson on December 13, 1892. Henry Starr claimed in court to not have known he was a U.S. Marshal and only to know that a man had opened fire on him without provocation. Distantly related to Belle Starr, he was the last in a long line of Starr family criminals. Twice sentenced by Judge Isaac Parker to hang for murder, he managed to escape the noose due to technicalities and went on to form a gang that terrorized and robbed throughout northwest Arkansas around the turn of the century. He was imprisoned in 1915, wrote his memoirs and even portrayed himself in a silent movie, 'A Debtor to the Law' in 1919. He was killed by W.J. Meyers with a .38 caliber Winchester rifle (1873 model) while attempting to rob a bank in Harrison, Arkansas, in 1921.

The original Lyric Theater was located on the west side of the Harrison Square. It was purchased in 1919 by D.E. and Lulu Garvin Fitton, who operated it as a theater for silent movies. As talking movies became more prevalent, Fitton realized the Lyric could not accommodate this new invention.
J.W. Bass, a builder from Detroit, built the Lyric Theater that is standing today and created a state-of-the-art theater for “talkies”, which he leased to the Fittons. Broadway by Universal Pictures, the first talking picture shown in Harrison, opened on November 7, 1929.
The building continued to operate as a theater until 1977, when it was closed to make way for a new theater in the Ozark Mall. After sitting empty for over ten years, the building was put up for sale in 1988. At one point, the Harrison Daily Times considered purchasing the Lyric and razing it to create more parking. When she found out, Glenna Ragan, owner of Holt Memorial Chapel, purchased the theater to save it from the wrecking ball, and used it occasionally to host events.
In 1996, Ozark Arts Council president Jim Gresham began exploring ways that the Lyric could be used for the performing arts, and on April 9, 1999, after an extensive fundraising effort, the OAC was able to purchase the Lyric Theater for $150,000.
At the time of purchase, the roof leaked, there was no air conditioning, the heat was from a 1929 steam boiler, holes dotted the walls, the wiring was insufficient, and the stage was too small for performances.
The first performance, by Albert & Gage from Austin, Texas, took place on April 24, 1999, on an inadequate stage with temporary lighting and a sound system borrowed from Gus Smith of Guitar Smith’s music store. The first play, The Foreigner, was held May 21-23, 1999 and the actors had no dressing rooms, no bathrooms and no wing space. Costume changes were made in corners or stairwells, and the actors took bathroom breaks by running out the back door, across the alley and into a bathroom at the Harrison Daily Times building. A makeshift curtain was made from a camouflage parachute from a surplus store.
A number of local businesses and individuals donated money, time and materials toward the restoration, which included installing four ten-ton heating/cooling units on the roof; building a new stage, dressing rooms, bathrooms, and a sound and light booth; rewiring the entire theater; installing a new ceiling in the lobby; renovating the balcony, which had been condemned; building light towers and grids; installing a new sound system; and dimantling the old boiler, which required the removal of 16 tons of metal. The murals on the walls were water streaked and full of holes as well as badly faded, so local artists patched the holes and restored the murals to their original glory.
In 2000, Ken Bailey, former Executive Director, and Jim Gresham, the original OAC President of the Board, were awarded the Governor’s Award for Arts Community Development for their work on the Ozark Arts Council and the Lyric. In 2001, the Ozark Arts Council was awarded both the Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Main Street Harrison awards for Community Commitment. In 2002, the Lyric Theater won the state wide Main Street Arkansas award as the Best Building Rehabilitation Over $500,000.
In late January 2006, an addition was built on the back of the theater, which includes space for building sets; storage for sets, props, costumes and tools; as well as a mezzanine space for meetings.
In December 2007, the stage was expanded, a new sound system installed, and a new sound booth built.

Our next cache was in Crooked Creek Park which is a nationally recognized “Blue Ribbon” smallmouth bass fishery which flows through Harrison. Next was a cache outside the Boone County Historical and Railroad Society Building which is also the building where the old Harrison High School was located c1912. Our last cache was in Capps AR, just outside of Harrison, at a old schoolhouse located next to the Capps Cemetery. After we finished our last cache it was back to the coach for the rest of the afternoon and I watched TV while Mom read.

Well that's about all for today from Harrison so until tomorrow we love and miss you all. Mom & Dad Dori & Dick