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Run by and say your final good-bye. House at 800 W. Center coming down.

By
Real Estate Agent with RE/MAX Advantage

The house is so stately and has class.

The house has always been well maintained.

The house will soon be gone.

  The wrecking ball is on its way so I drove by and said my final good-bye and snapped a few pictures for history and for the Searcy Sleuths.  Searcy history said it was once a Methodist parsonage in 1957 and it was built in 1955.  I know it as the former home of Leon and Sherry Person who served many delightful meals to friends through the years.  I almost cried as I circled it.

800 W Center Searcy AR

That was earlier.  Here was today's view.

800 W Center Searcy AR

And the side view looked like this.

800 W Center Searcy AR

It will shortly be another parking lot.

frown

Comments (12)

Anonymous
Anita Fuller

Thanks for the memories, Barbara.  I walked past that house too many times to count....on my way home from my music lesson.   I am shedding a tear or two, too.

I think you have the wrong house as the parsonage.  That one was on East Market Street, and you blogged it not long ago. (the tree that fell on it)...  But Alvin and Mary Ellen Murray did live in the "Person" house....and he WAS the pastor of lst Methodist back in the day.

Jul 16, 2012 10:27 PM
#1
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Anita, I got that from arcountydata.com.  Probably because the pastor lived in it, it was considered a parsonage and no taxes were paid.  Go there and check for yourself.  I think the house is probably older than 1955.  What do you think?

Jul 16, 2012 10:58 PM
Anonymous
Anita Fuller

I guess I'm wrong!!!!  Bob even thought it was originally the parsonage....and the other one on E. Market the District Superintendent's home.    But my memory says only Alvin Murrary lived there!  Where did the other pastors after him, live?   Come on, Sleuths.....help us out.

 

YES, I think the house is older than '55 because I was passing by earlier than that....say '52,'53,'54...

 

Jul 17, 2012 04:36 AM
#3
Anonymous
Harold Gene Sullivan

Barbara, do you have any information on why it is being destroyed?  Sure looks like it is still a nice house.

 

Jul 17, 2012 05:08 AM
#4
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Anita, I'm letting you sleuths figure how who lived there?  I should have checked the commode.  The commodes were stamped with a date and we used to check them to see about the age of a house because folks hardly ever replaced a commode.

Harold Gene.....the usual.  The church bought it and is tearing it down for a bigger parking lot.  It was in good shape.

Jul 17, 2012 06:05 AM
Don Thompson
Donthomp Associates - Sunnyvale, CA

The Google man took me up in his ultra light for a bird's eye view of the asphalt jungle. I bet the property to the left is next for the expansion. How would you like to live in that house? The property is lovely and it's a crying shame it has to go IMHO.

Asphalt Jungle

Jul 18, 2012 01:24 AM
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Don, it IS the property on the left.  You mean the one on the right is next to possibly go.  It is the old Green Booth house and the church already owns it. 

Mary, I'll bet the house you are talking about is on this blog somewhere.  I remember putting it up and need to try to find it.  It was a real mansion. See if this is it.  Click here.

 

Jul 18, 2012 02:32 AM
Anonymous
Anita Fuller

Mary, as you will know when you go to the older blog:  the house you loved and so did I belonged to the Sanford family.  You should remember Shirley and Marlee Sandford.....their big brother was Billy Rand Sandford.  Shirley was in the class of '55, Marlee was quite a few years younger.

It is a sacriledge that the Sandford house was demolished, and it is a sacriledge that this current house is under the wrecking ball.  As Luke Jones says:  one day we'll look and it will be gone....or something to that effect.

Jul 18, 2012 03:31 AM
#8
Don Thompson
Donthomp Associates - Sunnyvale, CA

Yes the one on the right would make more sense. I was looking at top left and imagining the parking lot to be extended down to Center. Sad to see all that asphalt replacing those homes. The Google Man took me back to earth for one last  view of 800 W. Center.

800 W. Center

Jul 18, 2012 04:02 AM
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Don, on the aerial view, you can see the detached garage that was with the house.  When it was bought by the church they took the huge back yard and immediately made a parking lot up to the very rear wall of the garage. Big trees were removed at that time. 

Mary and Anita, I'll bet the Sanford house was the one in front of the now Paul Petty office and was Lightle Dobbins Lightle insurance and real estate when I started real estate in 1979.

Jul 18, 2012 05:15 AM
Anonymous
Anita Fuller

Mary, your rememberance where Marlee lived was right.  She lived with her grandmother, and that's the house you remember.  It was next to the Frank Headlee house.  I can't find the number in my phone book, so I'm thinking it MAY have been Marlee's mother's home.  Wish I knew someone to ask but right now I can't think of any body.  I'm sure Sherry Person would know. 

Isn't it sad that both houses when Marlee lived were beautiful, large spacious houses that have been torn down.

Barbara, you also blogged the Frank Headlee house when it was bull dozed.

Jul 18, 2012 07:44 AM
#11
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Anita, I remember doing that Headlee house.  It was terrible to see it come down too.  I do not remember the Sanford house which was beside it coming down.  That must have been before I appreciated history as much.

Jul 18, 2012 10:12 PM