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!  09/21/2023

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... 09/12/2023

  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... 09/11/2023

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! 09/08/2023

 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!!  09/01/2023

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... 08/17/2023

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. 08/16/2023

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!! 08/07/2023

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?    07/18/2023

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.   06/13/2023

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... 05/29/2023

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... 05/27/2023

 A Jug Full of MemoriesThe Historic Benjamin Clayton Black House is having an exhibit called Artisans and Collectors of Searcy.  Here is an item displayed by one artist named Irene Crouch.  In my long art loving background I have never seen one of these and she has three of them in her display.   I love them.  Imagine having all those trinkets and treasures that are displayed on the jug!Terry Williams, another Searcy artist, has a wonderful display.  Others include Jim Carr, Falyn Waggoner, Gary Shelton and Barbara S Duncan.Plan to go!  You'll be impressed!The address is 300 E. Race.  Hours are Tuesday through Friday  from 12:00 - 4:00 and Saturday from 10:00 -2:00. 05/24/2023

Old, old picture of the Methodist Church.While digging through my treasures, I found this picture of the Searcy Methodist Church.  Look at the mud in the road in front and the long fence in front of it.  I have forgotten wheather that was a house or another church in the background. Perhaps someone will remember and be able to tell us.  There was also no date but Google says it dates back to 1877 and is located at 304 N. Main St.  05/21/2023

Happy 100th Birthday.....We don't know the exact day of birth.  We do know that it takes a good while for a house to be completely born.  So therefore we go to the courthouse records and see what has been recorded.  This house was born in 1922 says the courthouse.  It is located at 2496 Gum Springs Rd in Searcy AR  And it has that wonderful look of a plantation style house with porches, a porch swing, columns, and a metal fence in front.It is on the market for sale right now.  Four bedrooms, four baths, 3152 sq. ft. of living space and 10 acres for your kids and animals to play on.  We need Searcy Sleuths help!  What history do you remember?  Just looking at it gives us a good memory but possibly our memories could be more specific!!Scott Akridge  has added this!!  Be sure to go there. ... 05/17/2023

Searcy AR Art Gallery, 300 E. Race, is the location of the Benjamin Clayton Black historic home that is on the Historic Register.  They are having an interesting exhibit that begins May 19 through July 19, 2023. Debbie Higgs, Director, is presenting the very first Artisans and Collectors of Searcy exhibit!  Debbie is on the left above and I am on the right. She has invited folks who are or were artists and ones who have interesting collections of art.  GUESS WHAT!!I WAS INVITED!! Take a minute and look at the new look of the gallery.  It has been given a wonderful updating on the outside.  The inside was already perfect.  It is not just an art gallery but also a museum.  You will be delighted.SO.....she asked me to bring from 4 to 6 of my favorite works.  In the picture above you see po... 05/12/2023

Everyone's Dream House for sale right now.Who doesn't love a wrap around porch, a two story country style house, a tall chimney for a lovely fireplace, a two car garage, and an attached pary house? It includes a workshop that was used as an RV and used car business.  Note that long concrete path leads to the shop.  It is located on Speer Lane in Bald Knob just off Bald Knob Lake Road.  Lots of pictures are available with up to 32 available acres.Give me your email and I'll send you the whole listing or you could find it on Zillow.   05/08/2023

1951 American Legion Post Searcy AR Team.Perhaps you can provide names.  The article does not supply the names.This article was published in the Three Rivers Edition of the Arkansas Democrat- Gazette newspaper on July 31, 2005.  It was saved and loaned to me by Super Sleuth Anita Fuller when she saw what I had discovered at an estate sale.  This uniform was saved by some family.......dirty!  It was well-worn and needed washing, which I did although I wondered if it would survive!   It did!  It is a good historic find.Here you see the front saying Armstrong Caldwell Post 106.  The 1951 photo in the newspaper had no names.  The back said Berryhill's Sptg. Goods.  I remember the store which is now the location of a restaurant downtown on Center Street.  The first team and lots of others we... 05/06/2023

Interesting Map of White County.I had a surprise in my mail.....a very interesting 1911 map of White County.  It was sent to me by Jim Bohannon, a  Searcy native and friend of my husband's.  He  enjoys maps and especially railroad information.  He said he enjoyed my recent blog about the Letona depot and hotel.    He says, "As a retired senior citizen at the age of 83, I'm blessed to have maintained good health that allows me the time to compile, (from my original 1911 Arkansas map which entered the public domain over 111 years ago) into present-day historical prints and happy to donate the enclosed copy to you."Look at the map.  Do we still have a town named Hicksville? Hubby's mother mentions in her 1937 diary several trips to Letona.  Look what a long distance that would have been in... 05/02/2023

Hotel in distance from Depot, still standing.  Just sold again.Letona Arkansas is a little distance from Searcy AR and has been a popular small town for a long time.  The main reason for the first picture above was to publicize the MFNA depot.  A hotel shows behind it!  Of course, with a train coming through the town, passengers possibly needed a place to stay for a night or two.  That hotel still stands!!It was listed and just sold again.  It was on the market for 178 days and closed on 4/20/23.  The courthouse says it was built in 1860!!  The MLS sheet said it was built in 1910!  They agree that it is over 100 years old and no longer a hotel but now a private home!It seems that we have done Letona several times.  Click on https://activerain.com/droplet/9HCw  and see an older blog with... 04/21/2023