The city of Harrison is the county seat of Boone County, Arkansas, United States. It is named after Marcus LaRue Harrison, a surveyor who laid out the city along Crooked Creek at Stifler Springs.[4] According to 2019 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city was 13,069,[5] up from 12,943 at the 2010 census and it is the 30th largest city in Arkansas based on official 2019 estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.[6] Harrison is the principal city of the Harrison Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Boone and Newton counties.
The community has a history of racism: there were two race riots in the early 20th century and an influx of white supremacist organizations during the late 20th and early 21st centuries.[7] Because of this, a number of sources have called it "the most racist town in the United States".[8][9][10][11][12]
History
Harrison Courthouse Square, listed in the National Register of Historic Places
Precolonial history
Native Americans were the earliest inhabitants of the area, probably beginning with cliff dwellers who lived in caves in the bluffs along the rivers. In later times, the Osage, a branch of the Sioux, was the main tribe in the Ozarks, and one of their larger villages is thought to have been to the east of the present site of Harrison. The Shawnee, Quapaw, and Caddo people were also familiar to the area.
The Cherokee arrived around 1816 and did not get along with the Osage. This hostility erupted into a full-scale war in the Ozark Mountains. By the 1830s, both tribes were removed to Indian Territory.
It is possible that the first Europeans to visit the area were some forty followers of Hernando de Soto and that they camped at a Native village on the White River at the mouth of Bear Creek. It is more likely that the discoverers were French hunters or trappers who followed the course of the White River.[13]
19th century
In early 1857, the Baker–Fancher wagon train assembled at Beller's Stand, south of Harrison. On September 11, 1857, approximately 120 members of this wagon train were murdered near Mountain Meadows, Utah Territory, by a local Mormon militia and members of the Paiute Indian tribe. In 1955, a monument to memorialize the victims of the massacre was placed on the Harrison town square.[14]
Boone County was organized in 1869, during Reconstruction after the Civil War. Harrison was platted and made the county seat. It is named after Marcus LaRue Harrison, a Union officer who surveyed and platted the town. The town of Harrison was incorporated on March 1, 1876.[15]
20th century
In 1905 and 1909, white race riots occurred in Harrison, which drove away black residents and established the community as one of hundreds of sundown towns in the country.[16][17]
The bank robber and convicted murderer Henry Starr was in Harrison on February 18, 1921, when Starr and three companions entered the People's State Bank and robbed it of $6,000.00. During the robbery, Starr was shot by the former president of the bank, William J. Myers. Starr was carried to the town jail, where he died the next morning.[18]
On May 7, 1961, heavy rain caused Crooked Creek, immediately south of the downtown business district, to flood the town square and much of the southwestern part of the city. Water levels inside buildings reached eight feet (2.5 m). Many small buildings and automobiles were swept away. According to the American Red Cross, four people died, 80 percent of the town's business district was destroyed, and over 300 buildings were damaged or destroyed in losses exceeding $5.4 million.[19]
In 1962, Sam Walton opened his second Walmart store in Harrison.[20]
Harrison's Community Task Force on Race Relations[7] was established in 2003 to "promote diversity and respond to racial-bias accusations against the city".[23] City officials have made efforts to counteract organized racist activity with educational forums and billboards promoting tolerance.[24] They also attempted to downplay the city's racist reputation and improve its image by editing the town's Wikipedia article.[23]
In 2014, a peace march and vigil celebrating the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. was held in downtown Harrison, hosted by the Arkansas Martin Luther King Jr. Commission.[25][26] In December of the same year, a dedication was held for a Confederate monument in Harrison.[27]
In 2017, Mayor Dan Sherrell and Boone County Judge Robert Hathaway signed proclamations recognizing June as Confederate Heritage and History Month.[28]
Kevin Cheri, who became the first African-American employed in the area in 1978, received death threats shortly after his arrival, which prompted him to leave the area. He returned in 2007, and in 2019 was recognized by mayor Jerry Jackson when Harrison issued its first-ever Black History Month proclamation.[29]
In June 2020, a group of around 300 gathered in Harrison to protest police brutality in the murder of George Floyd while 15 people armed with rifles and displaying Confederate and American flags looked on.[30]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 11.1 square miles (28.8 km2), of which 11.1 square miles (28.7 km2) is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km2), or 0.26%, is water.[6]
Climate
The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Harrison has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.[32]
Climate data for Harrison, Arkansas (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1891–present)
23.2% of the population was under the age of 18, and 19.0% were 65 years of age or older. Females made up 53.1% of the population, and males made up 46.9% of the population.
The median income for the period 2007–11 for a household in the city was $33,244, and the number of people living below the poverty level was 15.1%. The median value of owner-occupied housing units was $108,700.[39]
Economy
Harrison is home of the general office of FedEx Freight, a leading Less-Than-Load (LTL) freight carrier. Arkansas Freightways, later renamed to American Freightways, was combined with Viking Freight to become FedEx Freight in February 2001.[40]
Hot air balloons from across the United States attend this annual two-day eventCrawdad Days (2008) at Crooked Creek, an annual festival
Harrison hosts the annual Arkansas Hot Air Balloon races each September, Crawdad Days Music Festival each May, a Harvest Homecoming festival each October, and Christmas celebration in December.[citation needed]
Museums and other points of interest
Spanish Revival (Mission) styled historic hotel (opened in 1929) in downtown Harrison, Arkansas.
The Lyric Theatre in downtown Harrison hosts plays, concerts and films.
Ozark Arts Council
The Ozarks Arts Council is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization established in 1996 with the mission "To enrich lives by promoting the arts in Harrison and North Arkansas through exhibitions, performances, and education."[43] It provides administrative support and distributes financial and in-kind donations to its member organizations:
The Theatre Company
Northark Drama
Twentieth Century Club
Woman's Book Club
Ozark Children's Choir
The historic Lyric Theatre is managed by the Ozark Arts Council. Originally opened as a movie theater in 1929, it is now used for plays, community events, old movies and other gatherings.[44]
Hemmed-In-Hollow Falls, at 209 feet (64 m) the tallest waterfall between the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachians, is located 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Harrison near Compton.[47] On the same bluff line is Diamond Falls, at 148 feet (45 m) the second tallest in the state.[48]
Harrison has two stations of its own, including KXMP-LD and K26GS-D (both in Harrison proper). Harrison KTKO-TV 8.1, also known as TKO 8, provides coverage for local events including Goblin Sports, Harrison City Council meetings, and Boone County Quorum Court meetings.[52] It is an affiliate of the Me-TV Network showing a wide range of classic television programming.[53] K26GS is a This TV affiliate and also provides local programming to Harrison. KWBM, a Daystar affiliate, is also licensed to Harrison, however its offices are in Springfield, while its transmitter is located in Taney County, Missouri. KWBM leases part of its signal to Springfield Fox affiliate KRBK, in order to relay reliable Fox TV coverage to Harrison and the southern portions of the Springfield TV market.
Harrison is part of the Springfield, Missouri, television market, and receives stations from Springfield, including: KYTV (NBC), KOLR (CBS), KSPR (ABC), KOZL (MyNetworkTV), and KRBK (Fox).
It was also featured in a BBC TV show in the UK named Miriam's Big American Adventure, hosted by Miriam Margolyes.
Infrastructure
Transportation
A segment of the route between Seligman, Missouri and Harrison, Arkansas was operated as the Arkansas & Ozarks Railroad from 1948 to 1960.[54]
Faye Della Wilson Copeland, born in Harrison, along with her husband Ray became the oldest couple sentenced to death in the U.S.
George J. Crump, Confederate officer, state legislator, lawyer, and U.S. Marshal
John Paul Hammerschmidt, U.S. representative, 1967–1993, author of the law preserving the Buffalo National River as a free-flowing stream and adding it to the National Park System in 1972
^"Station: Harrison, AR". U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1991–2020). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
^"Station: Harrison Boone CO AP, AR". U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1991–2020). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
Froelich, Jacqueline; Zimmerman, David (Summer 1999). "Total Eclipse: The Destruction of the African American Community of Harrison, Arkansas, in 1905 and 1909". Arkansas Historical Quarterly. 58 (2): 133–159. doi:10.2307/40026338. JSTOR40026338.
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