Texas born. Texas bred. Milton May ( M.M. ) Farr was made of Texas.

When he brought his family to Mansfield in 1917, he  brought the future. A founding father, M.M. gave the growing hamlet electricity, water - and Hollywood  - every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night ( with a Saturday Matinee scheduled, too ) for 58 years. ( M. M. was very strict in showing movies and would never have Sunday shows in respect to the churches. ) Through the additional efforts of M.M.'s 8 kids - one died in infancy - ( there was a player piano that had to be pumped, floors to be swept, tickets to be sold, ushering, projecting and renting of films … ) the Farr family ran the theater without outside help.

From 1917 to 1929, all of the movies were shown by hand-cranking, and then by machinery. All were silent  up to 1929 when sound came in. In the early days of the business of making the "talkies" talk, it is said that Milton held one finger on the projector as another deftly slowed the sound recording in an effort to make the magic work; to make the lips match the words. He had that touch with his movies, and he had that kind of care for his patrons. He cared about his theater and he cared that much about Mansfield. 

A fixture in town since the beginning, everyone knew the Farr family, and they knew where to find 'em if they had something to say or just wanted to know what was showing that week. It was always a good guess that someone was at the theater, whether there was a show or not, but Suzie, it is said, never lied. Suzie, a white miniature poodle that was a family pet during the early '70s, made her home in the front window of the theater only if the owners had gone away. Because Suzie pointed in the direction of the Farr family member who left, visitors knew if Suzie pointed right the culprit was probably getting a cup of coffee next door at the Bronco Café.

Movies were carefully selected. Ninety percent were cowboy films and anything that was not suitable for family watching was not rented. In 1939, because of his conservative roots and Hollywood's irreverent use of the "D-word" in a troubled feature with serious questions about a Southern Man's view of his own history, M.M. almost didn't show Mansfield the movie that sat the most viewers in his chairs. Oh, he was mad at the people who made "Gone With The Wind". But it was the highest grossing film the Farr Best Theater ever featured.

Opening October 10, 1917, the theater was operated successfully by the Farr family as  Mansfield's only movie theater until the death of Roy Farr in 1975. It was sold to Charlotte Martin, who renamed it "The Old Bijou Theatre."

The Farr Best Theater is still in existence today. In keeping with its history of entertaining Mansfield, the historic structure is now the home to Main Street Theatre, a non-profit arts group that has called the Farr Best Theater its home for 15 years. In 1980 it was purchased by St. John Lutheran Church, which met there until 1988. It was then sold to the Main Street Theatre, Inc., a local theatre group providing entertainment in the form of live theatre and stage shows. With the help of Charlie Farr and Fran Nifong, The Farr Best Theater received designation as a Mansfield Historical Landmark in 1996.