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Searcy, AR Real Estate News

By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
The beginning......The annual White County Fair Parade was Saturday morning, September 7 at 11:00 a.m. Crowded? YES!  Folks in White County love that parade that circles the courthouse and travels down East Race in Searcy AR.  I was there along with blog-buddy, Anita Hart Fuller and my daughter, Valerie Smith Canepa.  Anita's good buddy, named Buddy Phillips, was honored to be Grand Marshall of this year's parade. He retired in 2010 after serving 45 years on the board and is now an Emeritus Board Member.  Anita had made a special trip just to see him in the parade because they graduated together in 1954 and have been great buddies through the years. SO.....The parade comes happily and noisily along!  There's Buddy in his fancy vehicle when his admired fan ran into the parade to greet hi...
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
About 37 years ago.My mother-in-law, Wyndelene Holmes Duncan, got this hand-done birthday card from me.  I had forgotten that I did it but it just popped up a few days ago.  We all called her Winnie but she preferred the real version of her name.  She is also part of Searcy's history.  She grew up on Holmes Road in Searcy and that family is why the name is Holmes Road.  There is still a big old rock house on the side of the hill.  Click https://activerain.com/droplet/4Wqt for the picture of it a long time ago.  Ms. Winnie, as we called her, was a wonderful and caring person.  She married V. W. Duncan, car dealer whose motto was, "What ole PoDunk says it is, it is!!"  He was a super salesman and built a successful car dealership that grew from used cars to new Chryslers, Plymouths and Je...
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
Old!  I think so!  Looks old, feels old with such precision in the making.  I found it in a closet in my house!  Look at all the detail and leather.  And look at a name hand-written on it.  Do you know him?  He might have precious memories to share with us.It is a Revelation Western Auto Store ball glove, made in Japan, so says the label.  Wouldn't it be nice to find its former owner! 
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
Old postcard for sale on ebay.Look at this fascinating picture of the old Morning Sun Tourist Cottages in Searcy AR.  Morning Sun corner offered a lot.  I thought it was just a filling station but here is what was offered according to the back of the card.  Restaurant, Gas Service, Bar-B-Q, Sandwiches, Plate Lunches, Short Orders, Soft Drinks, Tobaccos, and Tourist Cottages.  It offered 24 hour services, was located 4 miles south of Searcy and 50 miles north of Little Rock on Hwy 67!  Unfortunately, the date is not readable and the building is now replaced by the brand new filling station shown next.Next is the back of the card.Now you see where I got the information about what was offered and interesting (to me at least) is who ran it.  F. R. Duncan was a relative of my husband, Rodger...
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
Looking back through old clippings is fun and educational.  This one popped up and I quickly called my old friend and asked what it was like to walk on fire.  He said it didn't hurt.  His feet were dark and dirty looking and he could feel the heat but it was painless.  He still does not know whether it was some magic trick or a scientific thing understood by only a few but he definitely made it through safely.So who is this old 1993 RE/MAX agent?  Rodger Cargile is truly fearless.  He is an elected alderman for the city of Searcy AR, still in the real estate and auction business and is charming enough to sell anything! Would he do it again?  Sure!!! 
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
Dancing.....better than scaring!!But plenty of scary stuff in this yard also.  Look at the size of the skeleton in the rear!  If there was a contest he's be the winner.  The house gets full attention from the owners each Halloween with every scary thing that you can imagine plus some fun!  Skeletons are doing things like dancing (my favorite), walking the dog, roasting marshmallows, taking a selfie, and one that is "just thinking" in front of a pile of jack-o-lanterns,  and there is even a witch who made a mistake and ran into a tree!Giant skeletons. The one on the left seems to be taking a selfie.Walking the dog!  Both are skeletons!!  Take the kids!  Drive by this house at 110 Virginia Way in Searcy AR and be delighted! 
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
Searcy Daily Citizen 1929Newspapers seem to be passing away.  We can now go to the computer in order to read the newspaper.  Many people don't have computer knowledge or own a computer.  Prices for the newspaper has gone higher so lots of people have dropped their subscription.  I plan to continue reading a newspaper each day if I can afford to do so.  I love and respect newspapers and the folks who make it happen.  I treasure the clipped photos of family members that I saved through the years. Above is a 1929 photograph of a newspaper newsroom.  Looks kinda messy, doesn't it.  I am attaching a photo of the names of folks pictured.  It was attached to the picture.  
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
Built in 1953, Harding College Building, Searcy ARLovely, isn't it?  I bought this card from ebay for 50 cents.  The back says, "A modern, air-conditioned classroom building, completed in 1953.  It contains business laboratories, lecture rooms, seminar rooms, small auditorium, and staff offices." A 1960 Harding Petit Jean has a picture of it and calls it the American Studies Building.My question is "Is it still there on campus?"  I am a Harding College graduate and the campus has grown so large that I have not been on it in quite a while. This was a beautiful building then and I hope it still is!  
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
 211 W. Woodruff, Searcy ARIt once was a light color and easier to picture and admire.  It is now this dark color and harder to get a good view and picture. The court house says it was built in 1885 and Auction.com says that is scheduled for foreclosure on October 19, 2023. And I say, "Please, recognize it as a very historic house and deserves to be respected and kept."Too many historic homes have been eliminated in Searcy AR and I hope this one will be bought and loved.  It was a foreclosure before in 2013.  I wrote a blog about it then.  Click https://activerain.com/droplet/ljNb to see it in light colors and read about its structure and a bit of history.  
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
I was given this card with three different views of First National Bank in Searcy AR.  The 1904 view is SO different.  Correct me if I am wrong but I have been told that it was located at the corner of Arch and Spruce at that time and it burned.  In this picture it looks as if it was very fancy and perhaps had the entrance on the corner.  I'd like to see a very clear picture of it at that time.In 1954, it seems much simpler and was in a different location. I believe it was then at the corner of Spruce and Race.  Then it shows the 1994 view.  The name has changed several times.  We no longer have a First National Bank in Searcy and the 1994 view is nearest to today's view! 
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
This tiny picture is only 3" x 3" and scanning enlarged it.I glance at it and say, "They look so much like my mom and dad!"Enlarging shows it is not them so I analyze and decide it is the fashion that makes me think it looks like them.  Take the lady....dresses only for women way back in the 30's. (This looks like 30's or 40's to me.) My mother would only wear pants to go pick cotton or work in the fields. Dresses were usually hand made with the style you see here.  Then look at the man.  Overalls with lots of pockets and definitely old and worn. (Just as the kids like today in their jeans with a worn-out look.)  Cocked hat and an arm around his lady friend.  The house is worn in appearance but livable with a probable out door toilet and water from a dug well.  Electricity?  I'd bet the...
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
  Celebrate!   White County Fair week! Go to this address and read a good article about the fair.   https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2015/sep/10/white-county-fair-celebrate-80-year-anniversary/  It gives a good history of the fair.For a few years they gave away cars!! Rodger Duncan, standing beside the car that Duncan's car lot was giving away way back in 1964, has a Sept 12 birthday! The fair parade this year was Sept 9 down the main streets of Searcy Arkansas to begin the White County Fair.  Bands, floats, horses, queens, politicians, and a-lot-more strutted along the streets as cheering throngs waved to them from the sidelines.  Lots of candy was thrown!!  A friend once brought the above picture to my husband saying he'd found it in an old fair tabloid from 1964!!  Look at what th...
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
A mystery for Searcy Sleuths!Ok, Sleuths.  Go no further.  Where was this building in Searcy AR.  This postcard was on ebay and I bought it for a member of the (as you can read on the truck and the sign) Quattlebaum family.  Searcy had a lot of Quattlebaums and this one was Connie Quattlebaum's building OK?  Ready to see the way it looks now?  Next picture, please.  It is still there and is a Beauty College.  Then the picture that follows shows the back of the card and the name of the business.  Car experts can probably tell the age by the vehicles in front of the building when the postcard picture was taken.Nice historic building, isn't it!
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
 A Great Husband!An even greater golfer!!One year ago, Rodger W. Duncan, my husband, passed away.  He is still missed by not just me, but all his golfing buddies.  Find in the picture above a lot of his golfing friends, some still playing and a lot of them who are probably playing golf with him in another dimension!Missing you, Dude!! 
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
Searcy Arkansas was fortunate to welcome a new family named DeVore to Searcy in 1974.  Van DeVore came to work with SW Bell, his wife was Letain and their children were Janet and Roger.  Letain had been selling Avon.Did you know?  Women real estate agents were almost non-existent back then.  Letain, who has an excellent memory, remembers the 5 at the time.  She named them.  Dell Coyle, Helen Newman, Lorene Smith, Mervyl McInturff, and Thelma Mason.  Today, women agents probably outnumber the men.Helen Newman sold the DeVores their home!Helen, a super agent, started working on Letain to join the few women and become an agent because if Letain could sell Avon lipstick she could sell houses!!  Letain tried it, became addicted, became very successful, and over the last 49 years she has sold...
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
This is a picture of an interesting change happening outside my kitchen window.  Look how the leaf is forming!  It appears as a coiled spiral looking thing.  And then!  Second picture shows it after opening all the way.  What a huge leaf on this fantastic plant that was a gift to me after my husband's death.  It is almost an example of birth to adult-hood.
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
WOW!  Look at that large empy lot!  What's wrong with it!!  House missing!  Searcy Sleuths, have you driven by and missed it....just as I did?  So close the next picture and your eyes and think!  Where is this lot?OK?  Give up? I had to go to the court house files to find a picture of the missing house.  The house was my kind of house.....one level....brick....and it had to have been built in the 50's or 60's because of that white wrought iron porch decor.  It was at the corner of East Market and North Moss.  SO....another one bit the dust.  And lots of dust because the house was large and on about 5 city lots!I loved that house!!
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
Car colors!Look around you now.  White is the dominate color for cars and trucks, or it seems that way to me.  Hubby, car dealer, indicated one time that colors on cars made the vehicle cost more.  This old 50's post card showing cars, and one truck, parked around one of Searcy's favorite eating spots, Bill's Grill, showed a great love for light green!Beside Bill's Grill was Noble Motel.  You MUST see the beginning of the Motel and see how it started.  Click here to see the beginning and read what it was like.  Mike Noble, now deceased, tells about it and loaned the picture.Searcy Sleuths, what are these car models?   
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
You think this looks old?How about this one?  You can see it is ancient!The probable date that it was in action. 1942.  Perhaps it was carried through the war.  Now we see two more interesting items.  A poll tax receipt and a receipt for paying White County AR personal property tax. Total tax was 80 cents.  This old billfold was found at an estate sale and makes me wonder whether some gentleman carried it off to war with him.  There is a name, a Mr. Casey from Pangburn AR.  If anyone knew him perhaps we can learn more about him.  It is extremely interesting to view items from 1942.  According to history, the Great Depression and World War II lasted from 1929 - 1945.  Mr. Casey could have carried this billfold all the way through.  He definitely loved the billfold.  
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
Something is missing!I was contacted and told that one of our twin tins (the only one remaining at the corner of S. Oak and Pleasure) is gone.  The site looks like this.  I did a blog about the twin tins several years ago.  So STOP!  Go see this blog.  https://activerain.com/droplet/8XvDDon't they look like twins?Now go to this blog about one of them being made beautiful. https://activerain.com/droplet/l7KzA Searcy resident bought the twin on the North side of Pleasure and was making it beautiful.Alas!  It is gone! It has not been demolished but moved across the street to have continued use and history.  It now looks this way and is being further improved.  Now one last look.  Go here https://activerain.com/droplet/rCpS to see how this building once looked before being made beautiful an...
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
The Spunky JunkerI walked in, sunglasses on, and heard a nice "Hello" but couldn't tell where it came from.  There were so many lovely things in this newly-opened The Spunky Junker antique store that I had to have my sunglasses revert to inside vision.  Then I could see Terre McCord behind her desk with a welcoming smile.This location at 511 W. Pleasure has had many stores since I got to Searcy.  My favorite was Two Sisters owned by Norma Burgin and Mary Hudson.  Times were different.  At that time I needed stuff for my house.  Now I need to get rid of some stuff from my house!  But I came out with that picture that is in the background hanging on the wall......Terre is open on Thursday and Friday from 9:30 - 5:30 and on Saturday from 9:30 to 1:30 or by appointment. The store is full of...
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