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| Heritage museum houses Ozarks' history |
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| Question: Former board member Bob Vinyard asked the following question this week: When did the Heritage Museum first open? |
 Answer: The grand old 1912 Harrison High School building served the community well until growth in our town demanded a larger facility. The high school moved to its new location on South Pine Street in 1952. The old building was then "gutted" with extensive remodeling, to be used as Harrison Junior High until the 1987-88 school year. Once again, construction of another new high school allowed the junior high to move to South Pine Street, leaving the historic 1912 building vacant.
As we all know, a building left vacant for a long period of time soon deteriorates, so this offered an opportunity for the Boone County Historical Society to secure a lease on the building for a museum. Fred Hudson related, "Many people had mentioned how badly we needed a museum to house items that would be lost forever unless there was a place to preserve them for future generations. About that time, the Missouri and Arkansas Railroad Museum at Beaver was looking for an organization to assume their assets, so it became more than just coincidence that the building and the railroad museum were acquired about the same time." |
| The Younger brothers' valuable and unique collection of railroad artifacts had been stored for some time, and extensive cleaning had to be done before items could be displayed. Many hours of elbow grease proved that dirt dauber nests, rust and mice droppings are not permanent fixtures, and by August 1989 the museum was nearly ready to open. More than 8,000 volunteer work hours, by seven or eight volunteers, made possible what is now the Boone County Heritage Museum. |
| Sarah Eslinger remembers taking special care as she and Virginia Phillips cleaned beautiful colored glass railroad lanterns and the huge "Lonesome Boy" whistle. Glenn Eslinger, Fred Hudson, Elaine Hudson, Sammie Rose, Glenn Van Ness, Henry Kirby, Marilyn Kirby and Jim Miller all became :experts" on cleaning, sorting, repairing and displaying items - even when things looked as if they were beyond hope. |
 Today, the museum has three floors (10 rooms) filled with memorabilia from the past. Thanks to volunteers who valued our county's history, we have a museum for everyone to enjoy. Soon, one more room on the first floor will open as the meeting room, freeing a large area on the second floor for even more artifacts to be displayed.
Board members of the 2005 Historical & Railroad Society are Norman Rowe, Sue Barger, Fred Hudson, Virginia Phillips, Joyce Lindsey, Marilyn Smith, Dan Layton, Larrie Collier, Jim Milum, J. Troy Massey, Richard Dix, Betty Atchley, John Berry, Pat Brown, J. K. Fancher, Tim Kubat, Ralph Gene Hudson, Mark Fowler, Steve Davis and Don Brazzeal. Volunteers Daphne Haworth, Imogene Hammerschmidt, Merle Vincent, Bob Vinyard, Andi Miller, Averil Davis, Teri Penquite, George Dearing, Marlene Rowe, Jim Breece and Sarah Eslinger work along with board members and the curator to keep everything in tip-top shape. |
| Sarah Eslinger said, "Unless we leave tangible evidence to our young and those yet unborn, how can they know the beautiful and strong heritage that is theirs, because of their ancestors who made the Ozarks a wonderful place to live?" |
| We invite you to visit the Boone County Heritage Museum located on the corner of Central and Cherry. Hours are 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Next week, between June 20 - June 24, bring this article with you for free admission to the museum. |
| 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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