Searcy, AR Real Estate News

By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
 From this drawing in 1979....to this exhibited art work at Searcy Art Gallery, 300 East Race St.I was teaching Art in 1979 at Searcy High School.  One of my most talented students was a young man named Bill Reames.  He loved art and did lots of illustrations in the year books.  The 1979 yearbook said, "Bill Reames has been drawing for as long as he can remember but the true interest began in the 7th grade.  Bill started making up comic book characters modeled after D. C. and Marvel characters.  Since then Bill has won first and second place in the White County Fair art exhibit and he drew last year's yearbook cover as well as some caricatures of several teachers for the book.  Bill hopes to get a job penciling for either Marvel or D. C. comics."I somehow still have some of Bill's work ...
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
Graduation? Big Party?  Where?Searcy AR had several places for parties way-back-then?  This one has lots of young people so it may be a school prom.  What I wonder is where it was being held.  The Mayfair had big rooms, I think.  So did the very popular Rendezvous Restaurant.  Roseann Motel? It is sorta contemporary in style except for the chairs and it appears to have a floor where they could play a slow song and the folks could dance.  Searcy Sleuths, can you give us more info.  Perhaps you are in the crowd?Here's another get together and I am thinking that it was at the American Legion Hut in Searcy AR.  Note no ladies present at this one.
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
  Searcy AR ledgers from Robbins-Sanford included in estate sale.Over 100 years old!!Take a look at the dates on these old ledgers.  These are just a few of the treasures to be found at the VanHook Estate Sale on June 19-21 in Searcy AR.  The VanHook family opened Van-Atkins when Robbins-Sanford was closed in approximately 1954.  A family member reports that the upstairs room in the building had a lot of these and these may be the last ones to be found.  They are beautiful with hand-written names and amounts owed or paid.  They are the history of Searcy Arkansas and if you are from Searcy you can probably find your great grandpa's name in them somewhere!Lots of pictures are here. https://www.estatesales.net/AR/Searcy/72143/2549679
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
A rack full of double knit leisure suits from the disco age!I think the double knit stage in the 70's was so much fun and the estate sale coming up has several suits.  The Van-Atkins owner apparently had lots of them from his store, was a snappy dresser, and had a wife who saved things.  So out from some closet comes a box full of wonderful leisure suits.  Go on-line and check out the disco dancers wearing these suits while performing spectacular moves.  The first one above seemed more casual. (I know it needs a little ironing.  But hold it!  The wonderful thing about double-knit was no ironing, no wrinkles, no binding, just comfort!  So these just need to hang up for a while.  Living in a box for perhaps 50 years is even hard on the perfect fabric.)  The one below is probably for dress...
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
A Stein CollectionA very important estate sale is going to be conducted in Searcy AR in a few days.  V Smith Estate Sales is going to be conducting it and the selections are wonderfully varied.  I get a preview because V Smith Estate Sales is owned by my daughter, Valerie Canepa.The way these steins were displayed as a group caught my eye.  Steins, used a lot for beer but mostly just collectible, are not things that I have collected but they are always so attractive and complex in their construction.....or so it seems.  The VanHook family, who owned and operated Van-Atkins in Searcy, has an amazing amount of things to sell.I hope to see you there.  Go here to see other items being offered.   https://www.estatesales.net/AR/Searcy/72143/2549679
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
Grand Opening!  Van-Atkins Searcy ARSearcy folks loved Van-Atkins, a store that had everything.  Women's and Men's clothing and shoes and a drug-type store for a while.  But I'll bet that if a Searcy citizen was asked what year it opened, we'd not remember.  Searcy lost Van-Atkins a few years back.  The family home has this huge framed advertisement for the grand opening hanging on a wall in the garage.  Examine the fine print and you will find this.  The date was 1954, March 17!The family is planning an estate sale to be held later this month and the sale has so many wonderful memories of Searcy and Van-Atkins.  Watch for details and more pictures from my daughter, Valerie Canepa, at Estatesales.net, and on her facebook VSmith Estate Sales.  Just don't miss it.Here's a question for Sea...
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
And this treasure could be yours!While listing a house at 2405 Brittany Lane in Searcy AR I noticed this georgous lamp post in the front yard.  I said, "Surely that is not one of the historic street lamp posts from Searcy!"  The owner replied that it is.  He bought it when Searcy had removed them.  He is the type who can do anything so he put it in his front yard with underground wiring that turns it on at dusk and off at dawn!    And he has kept it in perfect condition throughout the years.  He wishes he could take it with him when he has to move but perhaps we can persuade him to leave it with the house.  If you are in the market for a house, this one at 2405 Brittany may be it.  Here is a picture of it with the lamp post looking lovely in the front yard.   
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
210 E Vine....REALTORS'S home for 13 years.Changes are coming to Searcy AR.  Big changes.  The newspaper reported demolition permits were given for 6 addresses near downtown Searcy.  First Security Bank seems to be planning a new complex and has bought many properties that are very close to the court square.  The above picture shows the Searcy Board of  REALTORS home for the past 13 or 14 years.  It was one of the purchases.  While moving we found a sign for Ed Bethune's law office.  He had his office here when he lived in Searcy. 511 N. Main......a charming older cottage.This property has always been a charming home with a lovely front chimney.  It will be going down.  Others listed to be taken down right now are 504 N Spring, 500 N Spring, 104 E Vine, 106 E Vine.  Several of these are...
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
Fence  vs. Tree?Chain link fences are wonderful because they don't have to be painted, don't rot, don't have termites and seem to last forever.  But this one seems to have found a formidable foe.  I found this site at a listing today and thought it very interesting because of the time it has had to take to get to this stage.The tree was probably pretty big when the fence was put in because no one would plan a problem like this.  So the tree kept growing, the fence stayed solid.......until......this situation.  It's a tough battle but I think I am betting on the tree's winning.  If I live that long! 
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
Think back, Searcy folks.....Several years ago, and I can't remember how many, the streets of downtown Searcy AR had lots of these great big planters filled with flowers.  I had the good fortune a few days ago to become the owner of four of them that were once used by a prominent downtown merchant.  The business was large enough to need four to put in front of the store.  They needed a little power washing and now they look beautiful.They are obviously made of some tough plastic to still be in good shape.  An inscription says Valley View Specialties, Crestwood ILL.Now I am curious about the beautification project that was obviously being pushed by Searcy downtown merchants.  Searcy Sleuths, do you have any memories about that period of time?
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
Here's a challenge, Searcy Sleuths!While we are spending most of our time at home looking for things to do, we perhaps look back through old memory books or files saved.  I was doing just that when this lovely photograph fell out of the book.  I thought I knew exactly where it was.  Folks from Searcy will probably remember the old root beer restaurant which was behind a filling station on East Race.  I remembered a big white house on the same block and just knew this station was beside the house.So I drove by to prove I was right.  WRONG!  From where the filling station was to where the white house is was quite a distance with an apartment complex in between.  Dang!  So let me give you a chance, Searcy Sleuths, to tell me where it was!  It might brighten our quarantine hours to have a c...
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
My daugher, Valerie Canepa, and I, a team, were fortunate to be listing country properties on the same day.  We went in different directions and put the listings on MLS on the same day.  My listing is great with 5 acres at 260 Oak Forrest Road in Searcy AR.  (Check it out on the internet.  MLS #20009479. Nice house, shop, fenced, and a scenic old barn that even has a chicken pen.)  Here's the picture of my scenic barn!!!What was her barn like?  See the first picture again.  Her barn is part of her listing at Pangburn AR at 379 Highway 124 and it has 30 plus acres with a barn that is on the Registry of Historic buildings.  It is a Louden Barn with so much beauty and class. Barns like the one on her listing were built around the 1930's.  (Just google it!) The MLS listing number is 2000950...
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
While looking through old saved clippings, I came across this one.  And it is a good example of irresponsible clipping and record keeping by me.  I failed to put the date of the clipping.  It does say that the house was 78 years old and this was to be very close to the end of the lovely P. A. Robertson home at either 311 West Center or 309 West Center.  The newspaper put two different addresses for the home  It described the home as one of the finest and best preserved examples of Queen Anne Victorian architecture in the state and it was on the Registry of Historic Homes.Searcy lost another beauty with the elimination of this home but I am glad that we had photography to keep it in our memories.
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
Ouch!  Darlin', that hurt!  Are you mad at me?  I guess there is a touch of humor in the accident that happened a day or so ago in Searcy AR.  Searcy, as you may know, was the winner in the Small Business Revolution in 2019.  Searcy has been doing murals downtown and trying to make a highly desirable small town to visit.  The building that has been injured here has Quattlebaum Music inside. Click here    https://activerain.com/droplet/5mvg    to see the front of the building and more about its history.It was built in 1860!   And the next picture shows us what a REAL brick wall is!  We REALTORS are always saying that a house has brick walls.  They really have brick veneer walls!  THIS is a brick wall.  How fortunate you are to see this view before it was covered up for security purposes....
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
I started reviewing some of my old blogs today.  I started blogging in 2007 and there are over 1700 blogs floating up in the cloud.  Some of those blogs are definitely worth seeing again.  I was impressed with this short blog that gives you the link to the rap tune, S E A R C Y, done my Harding students.  They filmed in different areas of Searcy and one spot looks like Art Alley before it was Art Alley.  If you have seen it, review it, and if you have not seen it, you'll find it interesting and fun.Here's the blog, dated 9/25/07. I'm not a big fan of rap mainly because I can't understand so many of the words that they are saying.  But I'm a big fan of my hometown Searcy AR and my Alma Mater Harding University in Searcy.  There's a really fun rap tune on youtube that I saw today.  Four t...
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
Coke revisited in Searcy ARI ate a beautiful cookie and felt guilty as I did because it was SO pretty.  They were being given to guests who visited the Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Open House in downtown Searcy AR on 2/11/2020.  In years past the building (owned now by Sowell's Furniture) was an official Coke bottling Company and located at 210 W. Arch.  Here's another picture.  It was called The Syrup Room.  What's a syrup room?  Searcy Sleuths needed.The old company has been remodeled and made into offices for rentals but lots of the old building is still highly visible.  The stairs are probably still the same.  See them next.Now here's an interesting one.  Old tar.  The old building had a tar ceiling which had a tendency to leak through and now it is, if there is such a thing, petrified ta...
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
Remember?This picture may bring back old memories of dirt roads, country areas, toy wagons, great relatives who helped with the kids and, in short, the good ole days.The lady looks too old to have children that young but she is probably baby sitting for a family member.  It really did bring back old memories (not that pleasant) of country living on dirt words with very little traffic and how often families had a little red wagon to do lots of things with.....both work and play.There does seem to be a mailbox in the background.  The "mail man" came by every day and families looked forward to his coming.  Imagine!  If he was delivering the Sears Roebuck catalog how much weight was in his vehicle.One more thing reminds me of ladies back then.  Dresses......only dresses unless you were work...
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
Sheet Music I attended school in a tiny town in Georgia and I now think that when we gathered in the auditorium and a teacher led us in singing songs that the school was perhaps fulfilling a required music class.  When I was in college and majored in Art,  I was not required to take a music class because I already appreciated the arts.   SO......I know nothing about music.  I do not know what any of those note things mean when I see a sheet of music.  Now I wish I did because look what I have found.Othel Jones was a teacher in Searcy Public Schools.  He died and at his estate sale (he saved a lot) I bought a bunch of old papers and teaching stuff that he had.  I found this in the gathering.  It is a piece of sheet music written as you can see above by Claude H. Jones and Mary H. Eden. I...
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
 Downtown Searcy 1980It  interesting to see this old ad that was in the Searcy Daily Citizen on 4/25/1980.  Davis Furniture now has a new owner and name, Young's Tire is no longer at that location.  The Commercial Printing Company is not there, vehicles have certainly changed and this picture makes the street appear shorter than it really is.  The Methodist Church is still highly visible in the background.BUT......Searcy AR does still have CLASS
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
1978 yearbook picture...Harding College Searcy ARThis interesting picture is unusual in that there is snow on the ground and the kids had to be well-wrapped to get in that convertible for the Harding yearbook picture.  I found it in an old folder titled 1978 Harding yearbook ad pictures.    The house was at 609 E Race, according to the address on the building.  I remember it as a very attractive brick house that housed several businesses through the years including the Town and Country Real Estate business.  It no longer pulls up on actdatascout.com because it is no longer there. Harding now owns the lot and the lots around it.  The old car was used for advertising purposes.It would be nice if you can name the students!  And the car!
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
Really OLD!Driving in downtown Searcy AR today is totally different.  This view of Arch Street South of the courthouse looks very wide.  Go there now and with huge pickup trucks parked on each side it does not look very wide.  This view seems to show dirt streets, antique vehicles, and a few people.  This one is dated.  1912.  So which do you think came first?  At first I thought the one in color was later but looking at it more closely I can see that the store beside Baugh's was brick in this one but appeared to be painted in the top one and the top one had more awnings.  Perhaps this lower one was before we had horseless carriages!  You tell me.
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
A page from the past!  1959 Seniors.This is a fun old picture that has been tucked away for a long time.  This group of Searcy Seniors was to present a play on May 1 1959 at the Searcy High School auditorium.  I know several of them now but did not know them then because I did not grow up in Searcy.  I must say that the ones that I know now have not changed much.  They are still handsome folks!I wonder, after seeing this picture, whether it was a tradition for the seniors to perform a play at the end of the year.  Perhaps some of the ones in this picture can tell us.  The newspaper did not tell us the name of the play either!
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