Eager Entrepreneurs, City Squabbles, Roaring Saloons and Tough Guys An aerial photo of downtown Texarkana taken around 1928 to 1930 shows the major intersections of Pine Street, State Line Avenue, Olive and Broad streets. Photo courtesy Texarkana Museums System. http://www.texarkanagazette.com/display/inn_feature/feature01.txt Texarkana is a city with its own unique history. But aside from the obvious notoriety it enjoys with its bi-state connections, the downtown area is also filled with wonderful tales. Many of the buildings that housed those early residents are gone, making way for places like the Bi-State Justice Building, parking lots, and now, the Broad Street Park. Those early residents were a hardy lot of railroad men, cowboys and loggers, businessmen and immigrants who were bright, ambitious, and lusting for a way to make their fortunes. The era smiled on the noveau riche, and the area offered ample opportunity to those willing to take a chance in the fledgling city. Businesses sprang up long State Line Avenue, but Broad Street quickly became the hot location because of its proximity to the railroad tracks. An early immigrant to the city was Anthony L. Ghio, a native of Genoa, Italy. Ghio was a businessman with a solid fortune when he came to Texarkana. He opened a shop at the corner of Maple (now Main) and Broad, selling whiskey and cigarettes. The structure was in an ideal location, near the tracks and next door to the Paragon Saloon. In 1882, Ghio decided he had outgrown his original structure and razed it, erecting a new brick building. But the new building was to be marked by tragedy. On July 13, 1882, a violent storm erupted, and an estimated 40 to 50 men sought shelter in the Paragon. As they reveled in the shelter of the saloon, the storm intensified. Ghio's building collapsed onto the Paragon, showering bricks and scaffolding on the saloon patrons. A few people were killed instantly, but the rest were trapped beneath the wreckage. Rescuers arriving on the scene found a grisly sight. Coal oil lamps used to light the Paragon Saloon had overturned, setting both the wreckage and the victims afire. One man trapped in the rubble reportedly sent rescuers away, shouting, "There isn't time! Go back!" He then pulled out his pistol and shot himself. There were few survivors of the carnage. Ghio rebuilt the structure, and the second floor of the new building became the Texarkana Opera House. Saloons were "men only" affairs in those days, and men drank whiskey and beer, smoked cigars and gambled at games like craps, keno, blackjack and poker. A 1906 city directory boasts at least six saloons and two liquor stores on the street. Later in the century, the Women's Christian Temperance Union and the Prohibitionists targeted the establishments, as they did across most of the country. But there was morality in the early days as well. In 1881, contemporary newspapers decried the moral decay of the city. Citizens held a mass meeting to reach some sort of game plan to rid the city of undesirable characters. Apparently they reached a consensus, because at least one citizen was carried from his house to the city limits and told not to return. Disease was also a problem in the early days, and posses to enforce quarantines were as much a standard as police and firemen. A clipping from 1881 worried that a "bad case of small pox" had been seen on the streets, and although the carrier was arrested and quarantined, the city feared an epidemic. The city fathers missed some undesirables, though, much to the chagrin of John Smith, a laborer. In early 1882, Smith was shot outside of a saloon by Tom Barry, a cowboy. An angry crowd abducted Barry and attempted to hang him, but the sheriff intervened and Barry lived to stand trial. Doctors didn't seem to worry about the Broad Street activities, however, as the Northeast Texas Medical Association convened within the city for its annual meeting. The city has carried on its medical tradition since those early days with some of the best medical coverage in the Four States Area. As the century turned, the city gained in stature. A 1911 visit from President William Howard Taft saw crowds gathered from around the region for a glimpse of the nation's leader. But the year had its own problems. The Courier reported a brouhaha over bricks when a move to lay a "double track" downtown was under way. The double track would have meant twice as much traffic for the area, but the problem was over the ownership of the bricks removed to lay the track. Did they belong to the street car operator, Texarkana Gas and Electric, or did they belong to the city of Texarkana, Ark.? No one seemed to know, and tempers flared, leading the newspaper to suggest, "Let's start some kind of racket and chunk each other until all the bricks on East Broad Street have been thrown out of the way." Neither the company nor the city fathers heeded the advice, and the next move was for residents to sign a petition asking for some settlement. The controversy was settled in late November of that year, with a Solomon-like ruling giving half the bricks to each. But that led to other questions. When the bricks were removed-where were they supposed to be laid? The settlement came when the bricks were finally laid in alley ways on Fifth Street to make pedestrian crossings. Some of those same bricks are still evident today. The brick war satisfied, city fathers were ready for some new strife. That same year, streetcar men received a raise in wages, their second in six months, receiving a princely $75 to $85 per month. That didn't seem to pacify them, because they went on strike within the month. The strike was passionate, with "pistols flourished and blows exchanged." The Texarkanian urged both sides to remain temperate, but in early November, the fray almost resulted in bloodshed. A protesting streetcar man, J.W. Cooper, and Texarkana Gas and Electric Assistant Superintendent William Dunn reached a confrontation. Dunn pulled a pistol on Cooper, plunging the barrel of the pistol into Cooper's abdomen and firing twice. Fortunately, the gun misfired both times, and Dunn was later prosecuted for the incident. Later, a street car bearing streetcar men brought in to replace the strikers was returning home when it was fired upon by an unknown sniper. No one was injured, and despite pleas from local newspapers, and no one was convicted of the crime. The strike was finally settled in late November. Today, although the street cars are gone, their legacy remains. Where the cars once ran, the city is probably one of the few in the country that allows parking in the middle, between the lanes of traffic. But not all of the city's history has to do with high drama and city problems. The city was also a popular location for P.T. Barnum's Greatest Show on Earth, and the event was large enough to draw in the populace from surrounding towns. Many businesses and schools closed for the event, although seeing the show represented a financial sacrifice to many. Henry C. Ward wrote of coming from Stamps to see the circus and making a special day of the event. "We went to a plush drug store for ice cream sodas ... we went into the 5 &10 cent store, the grocery stores, the clothing stores ... we peeped into barber shops, pool halls, and saloons," he wrote . After seeing the bearded lady, the fat lady, the giants and the dwarfs, the family went to a good restaurant for dinner. Downtown shops flourished in those days. In 1916, next door to the one-story brick Gazette building was the city's one and only Chinese laundry, an establishment known as "Sing Lee's." The Texarkana National Bank offered a place for the ladies of the Red Cross to sit in front of the building and knit for soldiers going off to fight World War I. And the "20s saw the groundbreaking of a new and historic building, the Hotel Grim. Now, the TNB building bears a new facade and hosts Hibernia Bank. The Grim is vacant, waiting for its own resurrection. Finishing touches are being put another historic spot, and representatives of Business Organization for a New Downtown hope the site will offer a place for present-day visitors to the downtown area to relax, and perhaps remember the history of the area. The site, at 106 E. Broad, has housed a variety of businesses through the years, including a drug store operated by W.A. Robinson from 1899 to 1901, a millinery operated by Ida Tucker and Carrie Baker, the Criterion, specializing in ladies ready-to-wear, a furniture store, a real estate company, and Dillard's, which left for its Central Mall location in 1978. The site also housed a restaurant, which burned. Richard Weber, executive director of BOND, said the case was deemed arson and the city ended up with the vacant lot, which in turn passed into BOND's hands. Weber said electricity was turned on this week, and the park should be open for business shortly after Thanksgiving.