Well, to start our tour of Red River Music Company we should start with the storefront. Our building is located at 210 W. Main Street in the historic downtown district of Heber Springs, Cleburne County, Arkansas. We opened our doors on November 1, 2007. The building consists of 8750 square feet with 1250 square feet upstairs and 7500 square feet on the ground level. The upstairs is used for group and individual instruction. Of the downstairs the front 2500 square feet is the store showroom. We have an 1250 square foot indoor auditorium, 1000 square feet of additional instruction area and an instrument repair area. The remaining 2500 square feet, the back of the store, is being reserved for future improvements.

The building is estimated to be approximately 100 years old. It started out as a livery. Some time in the 1920's the building was remodeled. The second floor was improved, and remodeled for commercial use. In this picture the second floor shows a real estate office, a dentist's office and a doctor's office. The first floor was split into two businesses: the east side of the building housed one of the first auto dealerships (Ford); the west side housed a bank. Both first floor businesses continue to operate in Heber Springs today.

The Robbins family owned and operated the Ford dealership for quite a long time. Mr. Robbins was active in politics; this photo shows a political rally in front of the store on Main Street. The Ford dealership continued to operate at this location until the mid 1970's, when it moved to the north side of town on Highway 25. Some evidence of the dealership can still be seen throughout the store. As we make improvements and explore areas of the building we have found related auto relics and other items which we try to incorporate into the store.

Mr Wendell Bittle purchased the building in the 70's and operated a Radio Shack until the mid 1990's. The natives to the area still refer to the building as "the old Radio Shack" or "the old Ford dealership. After Radio Shack moved out a lingerie store moved in and attempted to paint the building pink. After some excitement, the store operators settled on black and grey colors on the first level only.