Harrison in Boone County, Arkansas — The American South (West South Central)

The Original Harrison High School

Photographed By Duane and Tracy Marsteller, May 21, 2023

1. The Original Harrison High School Marker

Inscription. Designed by architect Harry C. Schwebke & built by R.D. Pollard, the Romanesque style brick building was the first free 4 year high school in Boone County. Opening in 1912 the school served as a high school until 1952 when it became the junior high. Renovations in 1952-54 changed the building style to a Prairie/international mix. Notable graduates were John Paul Hammerschmidt, Bill Stiritz (past Ralston Purina Chairman), James H. Jones (Superdome financer), Don Glass (cartoonist & Betty Boop creator) and Gracie Pfost (1st US Congresswoman). The building now houses the Boone County Heritage Museum.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture • Education. A significant historical year for this entry is 1912.

Location. 36° 13.737′ N, 93° 6.751′ W. Marker is in Harrison, Arkansas, in Boone County. Marker is at the intersection of South Cherry Street and West Central Avenue, on the right when traveling south on South Cherry Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 124 S Cherry St, Harrison AR 72601, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. 1893 Queen Anne House Bed & Breakfast (about 500 feet away, measured in a direct line); Capitol Café & Oklahoma Tire (approx. ¼ mile away); The Lyric (Plaza) Theatre (approx. ¼ mile away); The People's National Bank

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(approx. ¼ mile away); The Old Dime Store (approx. ¼ mile away); The Montgomery Ward Building (approx. ¼ mile away); Boone County War Memorial (approx. ¼ mile away); The Lyric Theater (approx. 0.3 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Harrison.

Regarding The Original Harrison High School. • Hammerschmidt (1922-2015; 1938 graduate) served 13 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives (1967-1993), retiring the year Bill Clinton — who lost to Hammerschmidt in 1974 — became President.
• Stiritz (1934-; 1952 graduate) headed several well-known consumer-brands companies during a lengthy business career, including Ralston-Purina, Post, Nestlé and Energizer.
• Jones (1930-1998; 1948 graduate) helped finance the Superdome in New Orleans as head of the Bank of Commerce, He also was a founding director of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. after loaning money to Sam Walton to buy the Bank of Bentonville in the 1960s.
• Dan Glass (-1935) was an “inbetweener” (low-level or beginning animator) at the studio of Betty Boop creators Max and Dave Fleischer for two years in the 1930s. Glass' death from tuberculosis

Photographed By Duane and Tracy Marsteller, May 22, 2023

2. The Original Harrison High School Marker

(which some co-workers attributed to poor working conditions) was a key factor leading up to a 1937 employee strike at the studio, the first such labor action in the animation industry.
• Pfost (1906-1965), born Gracie Bowers, became the first woman to represent Idaho in Congress in 1953. Born in Harrison, her family moved when she was five years old to near Boise, where she dropped out of high school at 16 to work as a milk analyst at a local dairy. She served five terms in Congress.

Also see . . . Harrison High School (PDF). National Register of Historic Places nomination for the former school building, which was listed in 2007. (National Archives) (Submitted on June 6, 2023, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)

Credits. This page was last revised on June 14, 2023. It was originally submitted on June 6, 2023, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 168 times since then and 39 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on June 6, 2023, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.