Duncans Car LotA few years back, this is the way 702 East Race Street appeared.  It was the home of Duncans Used Cars and also the Chrysler Plymouth dealership.  The small sign in the background says Duncans Used Cars and my husband says that it also said, "What ole Po Dunc says it is, it is!" An interesting part of the picture is the house on the left which has been gone for a long time.  Also interesting is seeing all those cars in the far background.  They must have been across Vine Street, which runs parallel with Race. I also believe there was a street between the white house and the car lot and it would be Hussey ST.  There are certainly no big towering trees anywhere around the location now.  Perhaps Searcy Sleuths can tell us what happened to that house and approximately when. ... 04/19/2019

Searcy Junior High Student Council1972 and 1973 picture from yearbookThis great picture tells a lot.  Look at the boys and girls and their dress.  Kids have always been fashion conscious and at this time mini-skirts were the rage for girls.  And look how short the skirts were.....and skirts were required to be worn by girls in Searcy schools.  If the weather was below a certain degree, probably way below freezing, girls could wear pants but as soon as it warmed back up they had to wear dresses or skirts again.  And speaking from my experience with a daughter at this age, they hated going back to the dress code.  It was not fair.  It treated girls differently from boys.   SO! On June 23, 1972, Title IX of the education amendments of 1972 was enacted into law. Title IX prohibited federall... 04/12/2019

Searcy ARAmerican Legion HutYou drive by this almost daily and think nothing about it but is one of Searcy's oldest and most historic buildings.  It is on Race Street across from the White County Courthouse.  It was constructed in 1939 with native fieldstone with funding support from Works Progress Administration (WPA).  It was placed on the U. S. National Register of Historic Places in 1991.What you don't see and if you are like me, you may have never seen the back of the building.  I took a picture and here it is.  It almost appears to be an add-on but only a Searcy Super Sleuth would know about that.It has been used for social functions and meetings since built.  Go back to this blog and see some important folks having a meeting in front of one of its two giant fireplaces.    04/07/2019

Fearless man vs. bull.This photo reminded me so much of the Fearless Girl statue facing down the Wall Street bull in Manhatten.So what is going on?  A disabled bull who needs food and therapy is being approached by the bull's owner in Searcy AR and the bull's owner wants to be sure the bull is not pretending to be down and charges.  Bull's owner has brought food and encouraged words of love and affection.What happens next?  Darned if that bull didn't start recuperating and after months and months of being unwell and hardly able to get around, he is up and walking and eating!  He, who had a funeral almost planned, is coming up with the other cattle to eat and be praised.So what's the lesson?  That bull probably needed to know someone cared and knowing someone cared gave him the determina... 04/03/2019

Captivating, isn't it?At times you see something that just grabs you.  That is the way I was with this old portrait of a Searcy boy who passed away a few months ago.  At the very bottom right it looks as if it is noted as 7 years old and then above that it definitely says Mitchell- E Smith......possibly the person who took the picture and then did a bit of  hand-tinting for embellishment?The handsome young boy was Jody Taylor  and his daughter let me borrow this picture for this blog.  It was not framed and appears to have had some neglected treatment, which makes it more interesting.  My memory of some old photos indicates that the photo had a few things added to it, like the lines for the shirt and shirt button and a few gray strokes in the background.   An example of hand-tinting pho... 03/25/2019

 Even this heavy piece of equipment looks tired.  It has just helped remove another Searcy AR house.The property at 1307 E Market St. IS no longer.  Well, perhaps the property IS but the house that sat on the property is gone.  We knew it was coming because it was going further and further downhill. I took the picture below just a few days before a friend sent me the one above.  I remember when it  was on the market and sold in 1987 and it was lovely.  Because I used to drive by it every day when I went to our RE/MAX office, I could see the deterioration daily.  So  here is our final salute to a once lovely house on historic Market Street in Searcy AR.  03/19/2019

A meeting at Searcy AR Legion HutLook at this historic photo that was loaned to me by the White County Historical Society for this blog.  They challenged me to name the people shown in the picture.  I contacted a few Searcy Sleuths and can identify all except the young man in the center and we also could not find the purpose of the meeting.  Perhaps someone out there can name him.Notice the huge stones that make up the Legion Hut.  Note the curve for the fireplace.  That took some skill from the rock experts.Now the ones in the picture are, standing left to right, Cecil Tedder, Daryl Hickman, Herb Bacon and Jim Wilbourn.  Seated from left to right, Mac Angel, Mabel Whitehurst, Nelson James, the one we don't know, Anamieca Carmichael, Kathleen Blakely and Mary Formby.  If I spelled names... 03/18/2019

You are driving along minding your own business in the historic part of Searcy AR and see this site.     OOPS!  another one bit the dust!  Another house gone!So you start wondering exactly which one it WAS that IS no longer.  I love the way we can go on-line now and see what used to be at that site.  So I did that.  Here's the picture of the house.  It looks pretty bad here and definitely it had been going downhill for awhile but it had the prettiest trim in years past and it probably had a great history.  I need to find another picture of it from its earlier days.  And its date of construction, according to the courthouse records, was 1945.  If some of you Searcy Sleuths have additional information, share it.  And, so long,  607 East Market.  03/13/2019

The Rendezvous CafeWho would have believed that the old give-away match book covers from years ago when almost everyone smoked would be somewhat collectible today?  Well, evidently they are.  This one from Searcy AR's beloved Rendezvous Cafe is now on ebay with a sales price of $4.99.  It is historic in giving its phone number of 223 and saying it had 24 years of service already!So what year might this have been?  It was probably before we had the abbreviation AR for Arkansas instead of ARK.  Zip codes started in the early 1960's.   The old Rendezvous building is still there  but you'd never recognize it.  One of my favorite pictures of it is found here.Another thing is a little bit puzzling.  How did that hard-to-spell name come about in a little-bitty town like Searcy AR?  Quickly,  l... 03/02/2019

Elvis Presley?  Who remembers Elvis?The whole world remembers Elvis and I assume most of us LOVE Elvis Presley!  I just discovered Elvis in another way.  Quilt panels or other types of cloth panels for making memories of Elvis.  Daughter is having an estate sale in Searcy AR on March 8, 9, and 10.  She discovered a whole second building on the property that houses all kinds of fabrics, quilting supplies and even a giant quilting machine.  She will be showing lots of pictures of items for the sale at Estatesales.net a few days before the sale.My surprise, however, was learning that fabrics can be bought with themes of all kinds from horses to flowers to hunting to dogs to cats to Disney to....to....to....ELVIS!  So if you have an interest in sewing, quilting, or other crafts, be sure to ... 02/27/2019

We were discussing an old business in downtown Searcy AR a few days ago.  The Lure Cafe was the subject of a blog.  Reread it HERE.  A very thoughtful and completely knowledgeable Searcy resident,  Philip Williams, told us that his dad had a store that was just about two or three doors down from The Lure Cafe.  He sent two pictures.  Here is the business front.  (I know, I know, you are fascinated by that car in the front but I don't know what kind it is.)  The business was called Economy Suppy and did plumbing, electrical and sold appliances.  Refrigerators, freezers, kitchen stoves, TV's and radios.Philip shared this interior photo also. From left to right is his Uncle James Williams, his dad Ralph Williams, John Merritt, and D. T. Williams.  He said they sold Kelvinator, Philco and Z... 02/16/2019

This was a long time ago.  Folks smoked.  Folks had three digit phone numbers.  E. H. Durham family owned or operated The Lure Cafe in downtown Searcy across from the Mayfair Hotel.  This little matchbook cover was on ebay and I added it to my collection.  I also found an old blog that I'd done and put up a picture of The Lure Cafe.  Wonder what all they did to "lure" you into the cafe?  To see the other blog with more pictures of Searcy click HERE. 02/13/2019

Obviously, this is a big crowd gathered on Spruce Street in downtown Searcy AR.  So what are they watching?  Pate Pearson has shared this picture AND his research.  He discovered that Buster Brown and Tige was a traveling show that visited towns and it was very popular.  He furthermore magnified the signs posted on the building so that they can be read.  It does appear to be a performance going on as the third picture, magnified, seems to show.    I copied the information below from the research Pate Pearson provided.  It can be googled and additional information will pull up.  Buster Brown and his dog Tige paid visits to towns and lots of people turned out to watch.  Buster Brown was a comic strip character created in 1902 by Richard Felton Outcault.  The name Buster came either direct... 02/12/2019

December 1995, the last chapter that I wrote regarding the origins of Searcy Country Club.  It really is a fun story told to me by a nice gentleman, Hubert Smith, who has passed on but is not forgotten.  02/10/2019

November issue of Origins of Searcy Country Club, written by Barbara S Duncan, and published in the 1995 monthly newsletter to members of the Searcy Country Club.  02/10/2019

Another issue of the Origins of Searcy Country Club written by Barbara S Duncan in 1995 and inserted in the monthly newsletter sent to Searcy Country Club members.  This is the October issue.  02/08/2019

Third chapter of the origins of the Searcy Country Club, written by Barbara S Duncan in 1995, and sent to members of the Searcy Country Club.  02/07/2019

Here's the second chapter of the 1995 origin of the Searcy Country Club.  It was written for the monthly newsletter that was sent to members of the Searcy Country Club during that year. 02/06/2019

Go back through your memories?  Do you ever do that?  I just dug out an old folder from 1995.  My husband was president of Searcy Country Club and we did a little history search regarding the club.  We interviewed the men and women who were the ones who began the club, from having the idea to buying the land to building the building.  It turned out to be very interesting and we ran the history in the club monthly newsletter. I think it is worth rerunning. Here we go with the first chapter.  See what you think.  02/05/2019

See anyone you know?These beautiful kids attended Mrs. Joe Knox's kindergarten class in 1954.  In 1967 they were graduating from Searcy High School and this congratulations page must have come from Mrs. Knox because it was in the advertising section.  1967 is important to me because that is when I arrived in Searcy.  After so many years, I can see some of the kids in this picture that I know as adults.  See if you can find a future Arkansas First Lady in this group!Style?  Plaids were in!  Girls wore dresses and they had short hair.  And I love the two girls on the back row with perfect rows of buttons on their dresses.  I have done blogs before about the lovely Mrs. Knox so just google her and you'll see more interesting history. 01/23/2019