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Letona Arkansas depot with our favorite Corrine Hart waiting there.

The White County Historical Society has a collection of pictures on its website and they've said we can share them. Here's a great one of the train depot in Letona, Arkansas.

Letona is about 15 miles from Searcy and has 215 residents at this time.

We're exploring how the trains went to every little town and below is a picture of the Letona depot. But first we we found this picture of a young woman named Corrine Harrison Hart at about 1924 sitting at the depot. Corrine is Anita's mother. Anita is a contributor to this blog. Anita, do you think the man in the background is ogling your mother?

I love the depot picture because of the houses in the background. Letona, if you visit, still has a lot of houses with large lots. I'd have to go back to see if any of these are still standing.

One very interesting thing I discovered about Letona this year is that if you live in city limits you have to go to the post office to get your mail. I sold a house in Letona and the people were surprised, as was I, that the mail didn't run to the houses in the city. That would be good exercise if you walked to the post office each day.

Letona Arkansas depot

Posted by Barbara S. Duncan ABR, CRS, GRI, e-PRO Searcy AR on 11/02/2009 08:41 PM

Comments (12)

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12 Comments on Letona Arkansas depot with our favorite Corrine Hart waiting there.

NOV

Barbara, I love historic photographs like these! They are such a treasure, even more so when the people in them are known so a background can be given. Great job and thanks for sharing!

A lady I know grew up in Letona. I am going to ask her if she recognizes the houses.

We live in a town and have to go to the post office for our mail, too. At least, we don't have to pay the box rent. They don't tell you that, tho. I found out by someone else telling me. We have to fill out the form every year to qualify for the free box rent.

Anita, your mom was a lovely lady.

Barbara,

You sure are a master at coming up with this nostalgic old photos.

NOV

These are great old pictures. Interesting to find anyone to find a picture of a family member in a historic museums batch of pictures. Must have been an exciting find.

Tony and Darcy, thanks for stopping by!

Ludean, find out from her where this was if you can. It's a great old picture. I didn't know about free box rent. What do they require? Is it for everyone if they ask?

Steve, I guess when you get old you want to see something older than you are to feel younger. LOL

Theodora, the Corrine lady lived to be 100 so she is in a lot of Searcy's history. She just died this year and the photo was about 1924.

The first two-story house behind the depot is still there....it has been rehabbed and is very attractive. Originally it was a boarding house...so lots of the workers on the train stayed there at various times. Now it is occupied by - follow this closely because it illustrates what a small world it is - the activities director at SearcyHealthCare, where my mother resided the last year of her life. She lives in this house in Letona....and she was intrumental in Mother receiving a Key to the City of Searcy, on her l00th birthday. I also have a 8 x l0 of this house which I'll send you Barbara. Also a picture of the store which "housed" the post office. The store sold ESSO gasoline, and my dad sold it to them. Sometimes I would ride to Letona with my dad, and would enjoy a Coke, or maybe Grapette with peanuts in the bottle.

PS....Mother was probably waiting to take the train to Clinton, Ark., she had an aunt who lived there and went to visit a lot, on the train.

Anita Fuller

Thanks, Ludean.

Barbara, we get free box rent because we don't live on a mail delivery route. If your buyers don't live on a mail route, tell them to inquire at the post office for a form to fill out.

Here is Anita's comment about the store in Letona and the picture. Thanks, Anita.

Here is the "little store" at Letona that served as the post office, too. The postmaster and store owner was Bill West...You can see the sign Post Office, Letona, Ark.

There was only one other store in Letona for all those years, and of course, Bill's store got the most business because of the post office.
I DO or DID have a great pic. of the boarding house behind the depot but wasn't able to find it today. I'll keep looking.
Anita

Letona store

Thanks to Barbara and Anita for the pictures and info. Now I can determine the location of the station when touring with Google street view.

If anyone is wondering where Corrine was sitting in relation to the depot, the barrel on which she was perched is at the right rear of the station.

Bob C

NOV

Bob, surely there is no street view of Letona Arkansas! I don't think the little walking guy has got that far yet. I did suspect that the barrel was where Corrine was sitting.

Barbara,

While viewing the photo of the Letona, AR depot, I couldh't help but notice the lack of Ballast materials supporting the rails and ties at the depot. Actually, from the photo, it appears the only ballast material used on the Letona track was dirt. As you may know, railroad ballast is crushed stone placed underneath the ties, to support the railraod bed.

Ballast plays a most vital rolel in supporting railroad track foundations and preventing deraiments & washout-erosion of railroad tracks. The Missouri & North Arkansas Railroad, which served Letona and other towns from Seligman, MO to Helena, AR, was very limited in operating capital.

During their short lifetime of the early 1900's to the 1930's, M&NA experienced many washouts, derailments, on time delays, etc. due to lack of proper railroad maintenance. Thus, from the subject Letona Depot photo, one can see why. The lack of Ballast materials points up only one of many M&NA's difficulities toward maintaining a safe railroad throughout the entire length of their trackage system.

During the approximate short (thirty (30) years of M&NA's existence, this short line railroad had a very interesting history.

Several books have been written about the M&NA. An excellent book that I recommend is The North Arkansas Line by James Fair. circa 1969-Berekly Press. This book should be one the shelf of any public Library. One can also read more about the M&NA off the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture Website: http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=1185

Please keep up the good work on your blog, especially the old historical pictures of days gone by. I enjoy them all. Yours truly, Jim Bohannon

Letona Street View? No way. YES WAY. Start checking the villages of White County and you may find useful Street View information from Google. That little VW really got around.

Bob C.

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