Living In The Past takes you back to an important time and place in the history of Harrison, Arkansas. You are looking at the Boone County Heritage Museum. The museum is owned and operated by the Boone County Historical and Railroad Society, a non-profit organization devoted to the preservation of the historical heritage of Boone County, Arkansas.Â
This building was built as the original Harrison High School (and is still known as “the old high school”, even though two more have been built since then). Designed by architect Harry C. Schwebke and built by R.D. Pollard, the Romanesque style brick building was the first free four-year high school in Boone County. Opening in 1912, the building served as the high school until 1952 when a new high school was built on South Pine Street by Crooked Creek. It then became the new Harrison Junior High School. Students were moved into their new schools during the break between the Fall and Spring semesters.
Renovations in 1952 through 1954 changed the building style to a Prairie/international mix. The building served as the junior high school until 1987 when the current Harrison High School was built on Goblin Drive (the school mascot is the Golden Goblin) and the junior high moved into the empty former high school. In 1987, the building became home to the Boone County Heritage Museum. It is currently listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Notable graduates of Harrison High School were former U.S. Congressman John Paul Hammerschmidt, Bill Stiritz (past Ralston Purina Chairman), James H. Jones (Louisiana Superdome financer), Dan Glass (cartoonist & Betty Boop creator) and Gracie Pfost (first U.S. Congresswoman from Idaho). More recently, Harrison graduate Miss Ebony Mitchell was awarded the title of 2022 Miss Arkansas.
Living In The Past was placed here with the permission of the Boone County Heritage Museum. The museum does not own and is not responsible for this geocache or its contents.
A ramp around the corner by the HSD building provides wheelchair access from the sidewalk to the area where the geocache is located. The terrain is relatively flat and grassy, but a wheelchair should not have any trouble accessing the area. There is a little bit of a trick to get it out, but it can be done with a little thought.
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