Do you remember getting so excited about going to the movies?  I do!  Years ago we just had one movie theater, there were no big cinema buildings where you can choose between 10 different movies.  No, just one theater and one movie.  I remember the ushers constantly going up and down the aisles trying to keep everyone from talking.  Here in Searcy, Arkansas, we still have The Rialto, our grand old theater!  It was built in the 1920's in the Art Deco style.  It is built of concrete, stucco, brick and tin.  A very beautiful theater and you can watch a movie for $2.00!! If you are ever in my town, visit the Riato and step back into yesteryear.                                                                                                                   10/27/2008

Old pictures of your home town are so much fun!  We drive through the four lane new highways and love the convenience but it is still heart warming to look back in time to "how it used to be." Here's an old service station picture.  Looks like there's the White County Courthouse in the background.  If so, this station must have been on what is now Main Street of Searcy Arkansas.  Searcy old timers speak up and tell us about this old station. 10/24/2008

I don't know about you, but I always think positive.  When the presidential election is over, and winter has passed, I think the real estate market will take an upswing.  Not saying it will be as good as it has been in the past 5 years, but I think it will get better. In Searcy, Arkansas, we have not been affected like the rest of the country. We have been fortunate to have the Fayetteville Shale Gas Exploration here, and it has helped our economy.  Our housing market is stable and I think it will get even better in the Spring. I'm going to buy some stock for my IRA.  I think right now is buying time for stocks, they are greatly reduced!   The future is what we make it.  We can whine about bad times,  or we can do something about it.  I'm going to keep on with business as usual.        ... 10/18/2008

  I had someone loan this photo that is actually pretty fascinating.  It is the interior of an old sign shop in Searcy AR with people that some of you from Searcy may recognize.  If so, tell me who they are.  I can see one Poll Parrot Shoes sign, a Charles Lovell Contractor sign, Wakenight General Electric and a Tower Court Cabins sign plus others.  Several are neon which must have been pretty high-class back then. Searcy Arkansas is located in White County with a population of approximately 20,000. 10/16/2008

I received an e-mail yesterday about the new dollar coin.  If you are given this coin, please examine it carefully.  Did you notice that it does not have "In God We Trust" on it?  This is just another sly way that God is left out of our country, the country  that was founded on "One Nation, Under God".  I have made up my mind, and according to the e-mail so have a lot of others, that I will not accept this coin.  I will refuse it and ask for a dollar bill.  If enough people do this it will not be in circulation long, kinda like the Susan B. Anthony coin! I think it is time that people take a stand on what they believe.                                                           www.http://maryjpaul.com 10/16/2008

  Some folks think that Halloween is a great time to have a party.  There are no gifts expected, no crass commercialism (at least there used to be none....times may be changing) and no big meals to prepare.  All one has to do is welcome little kids at the door and give them a piece of candy.  You can also get yourself an outfit and pretend for one day that you are someone else; costume parties are great fun! If you live in the subdivisions where parents drop the kids out, that candy thing can be a big expense.  I live where the houses are so far apart that parents have to drive the kids so I always buy candy that is something we like because we have leftovers!  : ) But the point of this blog is just to show you this fantastic picture of Searcy Arkansas kids in costume on what looks like... 10/08/2008

    This old church was in Searcy Arkansas right across the street from the First Methodist Church facing Main Street at the corner of Main and Market.  I'm a fairly new resident of Searcy, having been here only 40 or so years but this one was still standing while I've lived here.  It's there no longer, however.  It was torn down a few years ago and First Methodist owns the land and has built a new building where this one was.  I believe the congregation has a newer church now on the edge of town.  The building appears to have had a basement, rare in our area now.  Perhaps some of the earlier basements made people realize they didn't work so well. 10/04/2008

Monthy I receive the neatest newsletter that is put out by the White County Historical Society.  Yearly near Christmas time, they put out a "book" that is a real keeper.  The dues to belong to this group are $16 per year.  I sent off my dues for 2009 today and was glad to do so.  The front of this month's newsletter is shown above and is a picture of Beebe Arkansas around 1920.  They hold meetings monthly with a featured speaker and they have walking history tours of areas in the county. The Society has a Pioneer Village that they take care of.  They are restoring a church and a railcar.  They also have a web page www.whitecounty.us that is full of interesting information.  I don't know whether any of the members read this blog but if they do, I'd like to say that I really appreciate t... 09/29/2008

Searcy Arkansas, White County, has one of the oldest court houses in the state.  It is a beehive of activity everyday despite how old it is.  I'm posting three photos of the building. The one above is the earliest known photo shortly after its construction in 1870. It later had wings added on the North and South sides. This one is by our famous photographer, Paula, who did her Girl Scout duty in the 40's and took pictures all around the town. Note it now has attractive wings added. This one was probably made in the 40's also because we see the Security Bank sign on the corner. First Security Bank has recently remodeled the building and we have shown it in our blog.  I could show the court house as it is now but actually it is the same!  The trees are just bigger, the cars are newer and ... 09/27/2008

These small license plates hang on the wall in my kitchen along with lots of other collectibles (junk) and I have one friend in particular who covets them.  So I called him and asked what the deal was with these little license plates. They measure 10"x3" so they are much smaller than regular license plates. He said that if you lived in the city limits of Searcy Arkansas, White County, you had to buy a license plate for your vehicle.  They cost $5 and his dad griped a lot about having to buy one just because he was in city limits and his uncle who lived outside city limits wasn't required to purchase one.  He assumes that the gripes grew louder and stronger as the years went by and they must have finally quit requiring the city slickers to buy them.  $5 back then would have been quite a... 09/26/2008

I have finally reached my 100th blog and it has been so much fun!  I have enjoyed posting and reading blogs on Active Rain.  However, I hope they get their site problems worked out.  Sometimes I can post a blog and other times it won't post.  I get the points, but it does not post.  I have learned a lot from other bloggers about all subjects, real estate, banking, life in general and soooo much more.  It is certainly addictive but fun!                www.http://maryjpaul.com 09/24/2008

  Here's another one of friend Paula's pictures.  She won a camera and went around town snapping pictures for a Girl Scout project.  It was sometime in the 40's. This was the Truman Baker corner at the corner of Race and Main.  The Truman Baker Chevrolet dealership took up this corner for many years.  It has been less than 5 years, probably, since they closed it down and moved it to a larger spot near the freeway.  The corner now has a Walgreen's drugstore.  All buildings have been torn down.  09/24/2008

My friend Paula took photos with a camera she'd won sometime in the 40's.  The assignment was for Girl Scouts and she was to take photos of buildings in Searcy AR.  She dutifully went around snapping photos and we've been featuring them on this blog. Here's another one.  It is a school building.  I looked it up in Ray Muncy's "Searcy Arkansas: A Frontier Town Grows Up With America" book and he says it was built in 1908 and called it Searcy High School.  His book, by the way, was written in 1976 to celebrate the American Revolution Bicentennial.  Dr. Muncy was a favorite history professor at Harding University and he was commissioned (I believe) to do this book on the history of Searcy. But he didn't have Paula's pictures!  They are special and newly discovered, aren't they, Paula? This... 09/22/2008

Yesterday's blog about two mystery churches has been solved. One is still there.  I just didn't recognize it from the picture.  My friends, Don and Paula, quickly found me a current picture of it.  They'll probably send me a book on "Dummie's Blogging" if I don't get better.  But they do understand that being a newcomer with a mere 40 years in a town puts you at a disadvantage.  This church is at the corner of Arch and Elm near downtown, Trinity Parish Episcopal Church, and it is really one of our oldest and most charming churches.  It is still small and hasn't lost its character.  It dates back to 1903. But the frame church has been demolished, according to my friends, somewhere around 1955.  09/20/2008

My Searcy friends and I have a thing going.....where did this property "used to be?" Not having grown up in Searcy and not having roamed the streets of Searcy like my friends Don and Paula and Anita and Ludean, I can't remember these places.  My history is only 40 years so I'm a newcomer! Going through my picture collection, and these were taken by Paula (I think.) for her Girl Scout photography project, I found these churches.  Where were they?? 09/19/2008

This old building dates back to WWI, according to Dr. Ray Muncy's book called "Searcy Arkansas, A Frontier Town Grows Up With America."  He reports that the Federal Government gave approval for this building as a Post Office when post office buildings were rare in small towns. Most communities with  a population of less than 3000 at that time picked up their mail at a cage in the corner of a merchandise establishment, said Muncy.  It still occupies a place of importance on Arch Street just about a block from downtown Searcy AR, White County.  I really feel proud of this building each time I drive by and I drive by often!  It is largely unchanged and note it has a basement! 09/17/2008

WHAT A CONTRAST BETWEEN JE'ROD AND DICK FULD!  Yesterday I blogged about Dick Fuld and his receiving millions for bankrupting Lehman Brothers.  Today,  I want to honor Je'Rod Cherry, former New England Patriots safety, for his unselfish act of humanity!  What a great guy! In case you haven't watched the news, Je'Rod is raffling off his Super Bowl ring from Super Bowl XXXVI. The proceeds are not going into his pockets. He is giving the proceeds  to help exploited children in Asia and Africa.  Isn't that great?  This wonderful man knows the difference between material things and human lives.  Dick Fuld doesn't have a clue!  Can you imagine the lives that will be affected by his  act of kindness?  A ring on his  finger or touching the lives of children.   Je'Rod has his heart in the right ... 09/17/2008

WHY IS THIS?   He receives millions as a "bonus" for failing an investment bank, one that is over 160 years old.  The largest bankruptcy filed in American history, under the leadership of this man.  There is something not right with this picture.  He receives a "bonus" and the stockholders and 25,000 workers are left holding the bag.  Thank God I don't have Lehman Brothers stock!  But I do feel sorry for those who do. The right thing to do would be for his bonus to be distributed among the workers and stockholders.  Also, he and all those involved, including the auditors, should be held accountable.  We should NOT reward those who do wrong.   America is still struggling through the mortgage crisis and now this!  I don't think the government needs to do a bail out.  Fuld and his cronies ... 09/16/2008

  I posted a picture yesterday and will post it again below.  It was this magnificent mansion in Searcy AR, White County, very near downtown, that was torn down many years ago.  At least I think it was this house.  If not this one, one so similar. Before it was torn down, they held an auction of the things inside.  I went and took my children.  We went all over the house looking at things.  My kids ran up to me and  whispered, "Mom, we found something upstairs that you will love!  Come see!"  So I went to the attic with them and they showed me a portfolio of art work!  I did love it.  I am an artist.  The kids knew I loved art.  So we left it where it was, in dust and grime in the attic and declared that we would stick around and buy it when the auctioneer got to the attic. Hours later ... 09/16/2008

  This house was torn down for progress.  I think there is an apartment complex sitting where this old house used to be.  My Searcy historians can tell me exactly where it was but I believe it was on Center Street.  It shows the fancy architecture that was loved a long time ago. People actually sat on the wrap porches.  This house was the ultimate.  If it were around today, my thinking would be that it is a maintenance nightmare and the fireman would probably think of "fire trap" with all that wood. Our friend Paula took this picture in the 40's for her Girl Scout photography project.  Thanks, Paula! 09/15/2008