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| Museum preserves history of flood |
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| Question: The following question was posed by a visitor to the museum this past Tuesday: When the Flood of 1961 occurred, classes in the Harrison School System had not completed their current year of studies. What happened? Did students have to return and finish the year? |
| Answer: Harrison's greatest disaster occurred early Sunday morning, May 7, 1961. A wall of water 12 to 14 feet high, from raging Crooked Creek, came over the levee and resulted in 80 percent of the business district being destroyed. Damage estimates were set at more than $5 million and no one had flood insurance. |
| Three days after the flood, Harrison Superintendent Omar Stevens announced that all Harrison schools would be closed for the remainder of the school term. Stevens listed four reasons for not reopening schools following the disastrous flood: |
| Indefinite information on the water supply and no guarantee as to when water would be available. |
| Psychological effect on teaching and learning process as a result of the disaster. |
| Part of the high school curriculum would have to be suspended because of loss of the agri building; including damage to other facilities; the loss of eight school busses; and the bus maintenance shop. |
| Utilize school cafeteria to feed volunteer workers. |
| Harrison schools had received the highest rating in 1960 from the North Central Association and some were worried that closing the schools for the remainder of the year might effect the standing, but this was not the case. NCA officials said the rating would not be lowered if the 1961-62 term operated a full nine months. |
| Stevens contacted colleges and universities and was advised that seniors would have no problem in meeting qualifications for entry. He was also assured by state officials that there would be no reduction in state aid and added there would be no problem in connection with federal funding since Harrison had been declared a disaster area. |
| Had the school year been extended until June, teachers who had scholarships to attend summer college classes could not have attended. It was noted that many teachers and students were working in the cleanup work, doing their part to get the town up and running once again. |
| It is hard to imagine what the area behind the High School (now the Harrison Junior High) looked like in 1961. Those of us familiar know the agri building stood just north of the football field and several homes lined the street where the parking is now located. Many of those homes were washed from their foundations - completely destroyed - with parts of the homes jammed against the old Willow Street Bridge. |
| In all, a total of 331 buildings were destroyed or damaged in this flood. This included 37 commercial buildings that required major reconstruction; 142 with major damage and 43 more with minor damage. Twenty-nine residences were destroyed - 431 with major damage; 37 with minor damage - and a total of 109 families were deeply affected. |
| The Heritage Museum is home to a large file of newspaper columns, written following the flood, along with many photos made by amateur photographers. The file also includes personal stories of those who were rescued after spending harrowing hours in the dark, muddy waters. |
| Please stop by and take some time to look over the story of the May 7, 1961 Harrison Flood. |
| The museum is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Admission is only two dollars for adults. Visit our website at www.bchrs.org and discover Harrison's hidden treasures. |
| 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@alltel.net |
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