Harrison, Arkansas

Harrison is a city in Boone County, Arkansas, United States. It is the county seat. According to 2007 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city was 13,108. Boone County was organized in 1869, during reconstruction after the civil war. Harrison was platted and made the county seat. It is named after L. LaRue Harrison, a Union officer who surveyed and platted the town. Boone County Regional Airport serves the city.

Harrison is the principal city of the Harrison Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Boone and Newton counties.

Geography
Harrison is located at 36.23722°N, -93.11361°W (36.237247, -93.113703).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.2 sqmi, all land.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 12,152 people, 5,259 households, and 3,260 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,187.5 people per square mile (458.6/km²). There were 5,747 housing units at an average density of 561.6 per square mile (216.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.24% White, 1.00% Black or African American, 0.74% Native American, 0.51% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.62% from other races, and 0.77% from two or more races. 1.53% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 5,259 households out of which 28.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.3% were married couples living together, 10.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.0% were non-families. 33.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.84.

In the city the population was spread out with 22.6% under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 25.8% from 25 to 44, 21.1% from 45 to 64, and 20.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 85.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $27,850, and the median income for a family was $34,009. Males had a median income of $27,934 versus $18,873 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,909. About 11.5% of families and 16.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.5% of those under age 18 and 12.2% of those age 65 or over.

In 1901 and 1905, white mobs drove the entire black population from Harrison. These events were the subject of an "Independent Lens" program entitled "Banished" on PBS in 2008.[5]

Air
Harrison is served by Boone County Regional Airport. Scheduled flights from Harrison to Memphis and Kansas City are offered by SeaPort Airlines.

List Of Highways

 * [[Image:US 62 (1961).svg|20px]][[Image:US 412.svg|25px]] US 62/US 412
 * [[Image:US 65 (1961).svg|20px]] U.S. Highway 65
 * US 65B.svg U.S. Route 65 Business
 * Arkansas 7.svg Arkansas Highway 7
 * Arkansas 43.svg Arkansas Highway 43
 * Arkansas 123.svg Arkansas Highway 123
 * Arkansas 392.svg Arkansas Highway 392
 * Arkansas 397.svg Arkansas Highway 397
 * Arkansas 980(Airport).svg Airport Highway 980

History
Indians were the first inhabitants of the area, the first probably being 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 Indians 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 Indian war in the Ozark Mountains. By the 1830s both tribes were removed to Indian Territory. It is possible that the first white men to visit the area were some forty followers of Hernando De Soto and that they camped at an Indian 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.

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 attacking 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.

The town of Harrison was incorporated on March 1, 1876.

In 1905 and 1909, white mobs drove a majority of the African-American population out of Harrison, and their properties were confiscated. These events were the subject of an Independent Lens program entitled "Banished" on PBS in 2008.

The notorious bank robber and convicted murderer, Henry Starr, met his fate in Harrison on February 18, 1921, when Starr and three companions entered the People's State Bank and robbed it of $6000.00. During the robbery, Starr was shot by the former president of the bank, W.J. Meyers. Starr was carried to the town jail, where he died the next morning.

The Harrison Police Department has had two officers killed in the line of duty, both by gunfire and within a year of one another. The first was officer Ed Williams, killed on a disturbance call on May 25, 1934. The second was Chief of Police Burr Robertson, killed while arresting a murder suspect at the railroad station on March 27, 1935.

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. Many small buildings and automobiles were swept away. According to the American Red Cross, four lives were lost, 80 percent of the town's business district was destroyed, and over 300 buildings were damaged or destroyed in losses exceeding $5.4 million.

The Boone County Courthouse on Courthouse Sq., designed by Charles L. Thompson, and the Boone County Jail are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

Community
Harrison is home to the general office of FedEx Freight and the second Wal-Mart store ever opened, Wal-Mart #2, in 1965. The Boone County Courthouse, completed in 1909, serves as the heart of the downtown district and is central to Harrison's town square.

Harrison serves as the National Park Service's Buffalo National River headquarters. The park was established in the 1970s, and was the nation’s first national river. The river flows for 135 miles and there are over 59 different species of fish in it.

Crooked Creek, a nationally recognized “Blue Ribbon” smallmouth bass fishery flows through Harrison.

Hemmed-In-Hollow Falls, at 209 feet the tallest waterfall between the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachians, is near Harrison. On the same bluff line is Diamond Falls, at 148 feet the second tallest in the state.

The historic Lyric Theatre is now used for plays, community events, old movies and other gatherings. It was originally opened as a movie theater in 1929.

The recently renovated North Arkansas Regional Medical Center is in Harrison. 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.

Education
Residents are served by the Harrison School District. The Harrison High School mascot is the Golden Goblin. Harrison is also home to North Arkansas College (NAC). The Harrison School District has been a member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools since 1936.

Other
Harrison and Boone County have been served by the local newspaper, The Harrison Daily Times since 1876.

Gracie Pfost, first woman elected to Congress from Idaho, was born in Harrison.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has recognized the Harrison Courthouse Square Historic District. It contains a large number of the city's original commercial and governmental structures, including the still-used courthouse in the center of the square, the recently refurbished Lyric theater, and the beautiful 1929 Hotel Seville, which underwent a complete restoration in 2008.

Harrison is given as the address of the Ku Klux Klan on the Klan's website. Thomas Robb, leader of the Klan and the Knights Party, maintains his headquarters near Harrison in the outlying community of Zinc.

Harrison was the home of All-American Offensive Lineman Brandon Burlsworth. He played for the Arkansas Razorbacks in the late 1990s. He was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the 3rd round of the 1999 NFL Draft, but was killed in a car accident eleven days later.

In 2008 F.S. Garrison Stadium was opened after almost six years of fundraising by Kim Rosson and the Goblin Booster Club. Over $7 million was raised for it. Before the first game against Mountain Home on September 12, 2008, it was donated to the Harrison School District.