Harold and his wife Mildred visited southeastern Nebraska in 1949, while he was attending a Shriners' convention in Lincoln as the Imperil Potentate of the Mystic Shrine. They visited Harold's relatives in Pawnee City, Beatrice, and Burchard. He related boyhood memories of events with respect to each town, but it was in Burchard that he stated, "Over there [pointing to an empty lot], was the Wonderland Theater, where I had my first acting experience. My brother was helping put the sets up and told me they needed a boy to cry so I went and bawled on stage," Tecumseh Chieftan, 10/18/79). In his autobiography An American Comedv, Harold recalled returning to Burchard after his family had moved away, to visit his paternal grandmother (Lloyd, 1928, p 18).

Harold Lloyd's relatives owned and operated businesses in Burchard, such as W T Lloyd's Jewelry Store, the Lloyd Restaurant, and the Dort and Lloyd Hardware/Cash Store (The Burchard News, 7/10/1885, 8/11/1885, 9/25/1886). Several other family members owned the house Harold was born in, as well as an adjacent house (no longer extant). In the 1886 Nebraska Gazetteer, and the 1900 census, several Lloyds were listed as farmers living in or near Burchard.

Although the exact relationships between Harold Lloyd and the members of his extended family need to be further substantiated, his family ties to Burchard repeatedly brought him back to the town. The Burchard house was also Lloyd's most permanent address while he was growing up. The Harold Lloyd House, therefore, is significant as the birthplace and best remaining building associated with the Nebraska childhood and adolescence of silent film star and producer Harold Lloyd.

In honor of the centennial of Harold Lloyd's birth, a benefit was held in Burchard and Lincoln in April, 1993. Events during the four day celebration ranged from a showing of "Safety Last" to the unveiling of the restoration plans for the birthplace. The Harold Lloyd Foundation sponsored the event to honor Lloyd's role in the development of the movie industry and to raise money for the restoration and a proposed silent film museum. Plans include returning the house, as near as possible, to its appearance at the time when Harold Lloyd lived there with his family. - NRHP, 1 November 1993