I frequently drive by this old house too.  As much as I admire it (and it's neighbors) that old building behind the house really piques my interest.  I'd love to be allowed to ramble through it and discover old treasures!

I shall leave some very interesting stories about Margaret Pope for my husband to tell:  they were cousins .   I'll just tell that Margaret was a voracious reader, more a reader than a housekeeper, if you get my drift.  She loved mysterys.  On the east side of the house is a screened in porch.  Margaret had a hammock out there, and beside it, a standing lamp.  Every night and into the wee hours of the morning, when I would pass by her house on Market St. going to help deliver babies at Hawkins Clinic Hospital, Margaret would be out there in her hammock - reading, I always assumed.  Now that I think of it, she just may have fallen asleep with the lamp still on!   I should have stopped by.

Anita Fuller

PS......I absolutely love that house, too.  I've been in it a couple of times.

Barbara, my brother, Bob, can certainly tell more interesting stories about Margaret Pope and the house she lived in on Center St.  She was the daughter of J.D. Pope of Pope Piano Co. in Searcy.  My grandmother on my father's side was also a Pope and related to J.D. Pope either as brother and sister or cousins, not sure which.  So, Margaret and I are cousins somewhere along the line.  I remember the inside of that house being very dark with big furniture.  I was in it as a child, but not again until shortly before Margaret died, and then only in the kitchen.  Trust me, her housekeeping skills that Anita talked about had not improved one iota.  My understanding is that her favorite mysteries were the Perry Mason ones and that is usually what she was reading on the screened porch.  I thought she was a terrific lady and knowledgeable about a lot of things.  She was also very generous.  When I was about 8 or 9 she took me to Little Rock to hear the famous pianist, Walter Giesking at Robinson Auditorium.  We had dinner at the Marion Hotel prior to the concert...my first time to eat lamb and my first experience with a finger bowl.  Can't begin to tell you what went through my mind when the little bowl of water arrived before me!  I have never forgotten that wonderful evening.  I don't know this first-hand, you understand, and I hope I'm not revealing any long kept family secrets here.....but, I think Margaret was one of the first ladies ever that went "braless" (you notice I said braless, not topless).  She probably did not know, nor would she have carred, that she was a pacesetter back in the 50's and that many women in future years would follow her lead.  These are all just some random thoughts about a wonderful, wonderful lady.

Billy Fuller

My husband, Bob, cousin to Margaret, has tried and tried to tell some experiences on this blog.  I am witness to the fact that the first three times he tried to send, his writing just evaporated into cyberspace.  The 4th time it "went" or so we thought. It is still not posted.  He thinks you have a block against his name, Barbara.  Tell him it isn't so!

Anita Fuller