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| Doctors to grocers on south side |
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| Question: A phone call received this week wanted to know what businesses had once occupied the building now housing "Second Hand Rose" and the names of other businesses along the south side of the Harrison Square. |
 Answer: The south side of the Harrison Square has a very long business history. Today's column cannot possibly name all the various businesses that existed through the years, but will attempt to identify a great many of them.
The 1916-1917 City Directory lists the following occupants and street numbers: Coffman and Towers (100) grocers; Chas. Cooke (100 ½) attorney; Shouse and Rowland (100 ½) attorneys; Hale Hardware (104-106); Shinn & Hudgins (106 ½) attorneys; Dr. J. E. Andrews (106 ½) dentist; Crump & Crump (106 ½) attorneys; Coffman & Kirby (108) druggists; Vacant (110); Luther Taylor (110 ½) real estate; alley; G. L. Glines (112) jeweler; W. T. Ruble (114) general merchandiser and alderman; Nicholson and Sons (116) grocers; Roy W. Milum (120) dry goods and county collector; Peoples Bank (122); Michael Orr (122 ½) contractor; Dr. Tilden P. Fowler (122 ½) physician.
An earlier picture postcard of the area shows Spot Cash Grocery, Palace Drug Store owned by W. H. Watkins, Magness-Keesee Hardware, Wilson Meat Store and Capps Brothers Grocery. A 1924 photo, accompanying this article, shows a group of residents standing in front of City Grocery during a time when high waters from Crooked Creek had overflowed its banks. City Grocery had earlier been called Coffman and Towers Grocery, and Spot Cash Grocery at another time.
By 1935, Carr Cash Grocery occupied 112 West Stephenson, and John G. Sugg had bought out Glines Jewelry at Number 116. Martin-Rogers Dry Goods became a favorite trading place for purchasing work clothes, and Heuer Show Store, with its Weather-Bird trading stamps, was "the" place to buy shoes for the family. City Drug Store - now Sims Drug - has been a well-known fixture on the south side for years, even though it no longer has the wonderful old soda fountain that so many remember. |
| Peoples Bank, on the southwest corner, became quite famous in 1921 when Henry Starr tried to rob the bank. This attempted robbery was ended by W. J. Myers, bank president, who shot the wounded bandit, thus ending Starr's wild career. Pictures and memorabilia from that robbery are on display in the Heritage Museum. |
| Many residents remember Heuer's "Man on the Street" KHOZ radio program, and the clean medicinal smell of Red Coffman's Drug Store, where hand-dipped ice cream was a nickel a dip - good memories of a time gone by. |
| The Heritage Museum, located on the corner of South Cherry Street and Central Avenue, strives to preserve the history of our area for generations to come. The museum is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Admission is only $2 for adults, with children free when accompanied by an adult. |
| This column appears Fridays in the Harrison Daily Times. Mail questions to Boone County Heritage Museum, P. O. Box 1094, Harrison, AR 72601. Marilyn Smith can be contacted at bchm@windstream.net |
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