Pioneer Village, a part of the White County Historical Society, held an open house today.  I attended.  It was delightful and brought back so many memories.  Here's the main house that is NOT for sale. And here are few shots of the rooms inside it.   An amazing thing about this house was how many bed spaces it found.  There must have been enough bedspaces (can't call them rooms) for 5 or more kids to have a sleeping spot.  Here's a picture of one of the least favorable things from yesteryear....the out-house.  But who ever heard of a log out-house?                                           Pioneer Village is located on Higginson Street in Searcy Arkansas.  It contains a post office, general store, school house, blacksmith shop, a depot, smokehouse, barn and an old jailhouse in addition ... 11/08/2009

Sobering old photos!  These pictures are sorta continuing the story we started a few days ago regarding the house on Arch Street in Searcy Arkansas that has been changed so much. These are what we need when we are feeling as if times are awfully tough.  Blogging buddy Anita supplied these photos of possibly some of her relatives, definitely at her home on Arch Street in Searcy. The question is whether this man is absolutely worn out from working, whether the car hit the tree, or whether he is just doing what he usually does everyday.  If he'd had air-conditioning and TVs as we have today, he'd not be doing the nap at this place! Another question here.  Is she exasperated because of the man's behavior under the tree?  Is she just showing off her legs?  I can remember hanging clothes on a... 11/06/2009

Halloween parties are fun!  The elaborate costumes that some folks buy or rent are amazing to see.  We attended one last night and the star of the show could be this butler.  He talks, he growls, his eyes shift and he makes you feels as if he is alive!!  Or could come alive!!  Or may be alive!  After all, it was Halloween when spooks run free.  Those eyes followed me all night long.                     The guy on the left owns this spook and that guy on the right is the owner's twin!  And the couple on the right************************ *******************we were underdressed!  11/01/2009

Formal gardens still exist in parts of the world, I'm sure.  But in Searcy Arkansas I see only one example of what I think of as formal.  This house is on the Historic Register and has a vast history.  One of the stories that I heard was that the lovely wood shades which show on the windows here had been thrown away once.  The neighbors hauled them out of the trash and saved them until a person bought the house who would appreciate them and then they gave them back.   The yard, let's say garden, is always perfectly maintained just as you see in these pictures.  This is not new landscaping.  The little shrubs have been small for years.  I assume that they are a type plant that does not grow large.  The owner seems to maintain the garden himself because I see him out in the garden a lot. ... 10/30/2009

My blog on West Point Arkansas aroused a little interest in old depots in the tiniest towns.  I found a couple more photos of trains and depots. Here's the Augusta depot, or so it was labeled.  It looks  as if it is saying New Augusta.  Now was that  a name for Augusta?  Augusta is actually in Woodruff County and was once a thriving town.  Was it called New Augusta.  I did a Google search for New Augusta AR and it pulled up what we know as Augusta.  We may have another mystery here.  I have never ever heard Augusta called that.  Maybe it's a name similar to Little Rock and North Little Rock? And while speaking of depots, here's a view of a train that reportedly traveled Doniphan Kensett and Searcy Railroad. 10/29/2009

Anita grew up in Searcy, Arkansas and I didn't.  I've just been here for the past 40 years while she's been gone.  She contributes to this blog with photos and comments.  She shared this picture and others of old Searcy with me. I knew I'd seen that house somewhere so I took off to find it, sat in front of several country houses while people honked and stared and I finally had to call her and ask her where the house was.  The one with the little kid on the porch, I said. She said it was this house that you'll below.  It was the house below before her mother did a remodel on it in the 50's.  And she even had the audacity to say she was the charming little kid on the porch. Ha!  I yelled back that that could not be the same house.  It was absolutely not....she was wrong....her memory was ... 10/26/2009

This man lost his mother when he was very young and started supporting himself at the age of 15 or 16.  His education was limited but he was gifted with street-smarts. He fell in love and talked this girl into marrying him. He had to break up a courtship that she already had going on but he was a born salesman.  Here she is with a classic beauty that is timeless.  Look at her slim figure and flat tummy.  He looks like a gospel singer with natural waves allowed to grow long on the top and plastered with Vitalis. And look at the baby that they're so proud of.  The time is 1939 in Meridian Mississippi. He has traveled to Mississippi to try to sell magazines door-to-door.  He had to put cardboard in the soles of his shoes and paint it with shoe-polish to disguise the holes in the shoe.  He ... 10/25/2009

This picture of 916 E Race shows it as it was when Race Street was a quiet little street with residential properties still on it.  The builder/draftsman who drew it up had saved pictures and floorplans of some of his creations.  His wife was throwing them away and I, being a saver, kept them.  I had to do a lot of driving around to find some of them.    The house was added onto and turned into a business by Helen Holder who had a drapery business.  Back when folks loved heavy window treatments, she did a fantastic business.  Then it changed hands and became a frame shop.  Seems it has changed hands again.  Here it is now. Notice the lovely fence in the front, which is across the street and on land owned by Harding University.  Harding bought all the houses in front of this one and took ... 10/23/2009

I used to drive my kids to a place called Slippery Rock Ford and they'd wade in the water on the slippery rocks.  This little bridge was a favorite.  It gets underwater at times but evidently it holds up pretty darned good.  In fact, the water looks a bit high for wading at the time of this picture.  A friend sent me these pictures of his little Volks at the bridge.  He and his wife had gone for a drive and ended up here.  They are great pictures showing some of the beauty of our state.  The Volks, however, shows a little reluctance to get on that bridge! Ya'all come! 10/20/2009

A few months ago I asked what we should look for if we select an heir apparent.  My blog was sorta high-jacked by two friends named Nutsy and Raven but I had some feedback. My requirements were..... Honesty......this certainly would be a must. Energy......if I get tired, they shouldn't! Intelligence......street smarts wouldn't hurt. Education.....must know proper communication in writing and in person. Computer literate......know their way around for emailing, scanning and actually be better at this than I am! Personable.....get along well with people. Ambitious.....aims for success but not by stepping on people. After careful thought, I called up this gentleman who'd done lots of work for me as a contractor or handyman while he was working to become a Nutritionist.  He already had a de... 10/19/2009

It gets to be shocking.  Drive by and notice the building is either gone or half way down.  That's the way it was with me on Main Street.  The old International Shoe Factory building is a goner.  I did another double-take because it was already half gone.  I snapped pictures.   The International Shoe Factory was one of the first factories in Searcy Arkansas.  After World War II Searcy leaders got the Searcians to agree to raise $100,000 to erect a building to house the factory.  The International Shoe Company would least the building for five years with a 30 year renewal option.  Approximately 450 people were to be employed in the factory.  Dr. Raymond Muncy's history of Searcy Arkansas, written in 1976 gives the background of the factory, which I'll let you read at your will.  I got th... 10/18/2009

This historic house is barely on the East side of Searcy on a corner lot with huge trees.  So many trees, in fact, that pictures are difficult.  I believe it is called the Margaret Pope house.  Correct me, Searcy readers, if I'm wrong. I drive by it daily and wonder why it didn't sell a few years back when listed for close to $80,000.  It has been through a lot, however, in the years since it exited the Pope estate.  The Pope estate had a big sale.  My friends attended even though I was working and couldn't.  They bought the mirror that is behind my desk in my office.  Lots of people have sat in front of me and looked at themselves in the mirror behind me. However, I digress.  I marvel at the four chimneys on the house!  Here are two of them.  The other side of the house has two more. H... 10/16/2009

Each time I drive by this house and it is almost every day, I drive a little faster thinking that if one of those limbs comes down on me, I'm a goner!      Well, not really.  But I always think that the tree is as historic as the house.  This house is known, I believe, as the Deener house.  I once had it listed and was fascinated by the features that dated back so far.  Reportedly it was built in 1912. The house is on Center Street in Searcy Arkansas, White County. In fact, here's the way it looked before it ever had a tree in the side yard.  And before Searcy had paved streets.  It's on the Register of Historic Homes and was placed there in 1982.  It is so covered in trees now that you can hardly see the details but you can sure see this tree! Just a quick glimpse of the front?  Here y... 10/14/2009

My Searcy readers have said enough of those shoe blogs.  Give us another history blog. They just want a challenge.  So here it is.  I've had this picture for awhile but have never heard any discussion about it.  It says Sanitarium Searcy Ark on the front.  Was this dated back to tuberculosis sanitariums?  Searcy had one?  If so, where was it and what happened to it. Another possibility was that it was some sort of relaxing spa?  Look at the ladies in fancy duds.  Note the tennis net in the front.  Bet they had dirt courts for sure!  Perhaps they came for the healing waters of Spring Park springs.  I'm listening, Searcy.................................... 10/13/2009

Clip, clip, clip, klop, kloppety, klop.......here she comes again..... "She" means all the women in my office who wear "bad" shoes.  Dumb shoes is what I call them.  There is a pergo floor in the hall and the sounds of those shoes grate on the nerves. A little filler in the paper today said this.  More than 60% of women select damaging shoes.  Based on the questioning of 3,378 men and women from Framingham, Mass., the study indicated that only 2% of men choose bad shoes.  The questions were based on past and present and the women's answers showed a definite link between foot pain and shoes.  Women who reported they'd worn high heels, pumps, sandles and slippers all their lives were at the greatest risk of foot pain in their older years.  So those women coming up and down the hall who ar... 10/12/2009

It's that time of the year again! TREASURE HUNT!  THE GREAT ARKANSAS TREASURE HUNT! Who can resist looking at it to see if you can claim a prize?  I found a Barbara Duncan above but it's not me.  That's not where I live. By going to the website  www.artreasurehunt.com  you can check to see if your name is on the list.  Unclaimed property (not real estate) such as uncashed checks, abandoned bank accounts, utility deposits, and various other things are reported to the Auditor of State Unclaimed Property Division.  If you find your name you can file a claim to "claim" the treasure.  Last year the state paid out about 7.3 million in belated claims and this year 56,000 new names were added to the list.  Try it.  Even if you're not from Arkansas, there may be something for you!! 10/11/2009

Walking through my house I was suddenly blinded by the colors of the rainbow on my furniture and on my carpet and floors.  It's sorta like a sign.  Lighten up.  Be happy.  Rainbows are everywhere.  I ran to get my camera because after all, blogging about a rainbow could be inspirational if I were talented enough to write an inspirational blog. Then I noticed something.  There's dust in this rainbow on my antique chest........ BUT, the dust has the lovely colors too! And how often do you find the perfect rainbow colors inside your home? 10/09/2009

These pictures are like a Norman Rockwell painting.  Rockwell could have made a great magazine cover.  It would show very deserving small-town soldiers visiting home and posing beside the bank.  He'd have put in the weeds growing beside the sidewalk, the car in the background, the wrinkles in the uniforms, and even the cracks in the street. My dad, at my wedding, wore his tie poked into the shirt like these guys.  He never wore a tie but when he put one on for the big night, I was quite frankly mortified.  Evidently, according to these guys, it was a fashion during WWII, for which my father was drafted.  I'd never seen such a fashion. Rockwell would have made the sign in the back readable.  I'll have to depend on Searcy Arkansas historians to tell me what the sign said.  They can also ... 10/07/2009

This picture is showing our queen of Searcy, Corrine Hart, who grew up in Searcy and helped Searcy grow up.  She lived to be over 100.  She is Anita Fuller's mother and Anita supplied this photo. Where is she posing?  I think it is the statue that is on the Court Square.  I went there today and took a picture of Searcy as it is today.  I got the statue seat, the lamp and possibly the three windowed building in the background.   I'll wait for my Searcy experts to tell me whether I'm right or not.  This picture shows the South side of the Court Square.  The lamp post certainly looks similar.  It's great to go in and explore the history of Searcy in White County Arkansas.  I can almost see Corrine sitting on this pedestal and flinging her purse on the pedestal also. 10/06/2009

We have friends who have lived in the same house for years and  a house which used to be in the country.  Driving to visit them seemed to take a long time a long time ago.  After all, it was in the country. Now the city has grown out to meet them.  But they have certain privileges because they are "grandfathered in."  For one thing, they have a lovely horse barn and corral for the horses.  They can keep a donkey or a horse and still walk to the grocery store.  Their latest pets are chickens.  We rode over to the house and saw chickens roaming free.  They remarked, "They'll come home to roost."  When the rooster starts crowing early in the morning, however, they may have a few angry neighbors calling. It's a wonderful set-up, the country right in town!  They have found their gold at the ... 10/05/2009