Blogging appreciation from WCHS!  Thanks!Searcy has noticed my blog!  I have written 2008 blogs since about the year 2008.  Activerain is a wonderful blog site and somehow lots of history has gone into my blog.  It was a surprise to receive this certificate of appreciation at the last meeting of the White County Historical Society.  The WCHS does a great job of making all of us in White County and Searcy AR more aware of the importance of history!!Thank you, WCHS!! 04/04/2024

Dressed with class. Over 100 years ago?This is an old, old picture but it shows how styles change through the years and how the men and women copied the styles.  Women evidently liked the ruffled collar and the fancy sleeves.  Note two bracelets alike, two necklaces alike, slim waists and pins!  Pins used to be worn and were stylish but how many do you see today? And how about that large bow at the back of one's head!!The lady in the middle, Gertrude,  ended up in Searcy AR. She married an Arkansas guy named Ballard Holmes and  lived on our now popular Holmes Road.  They built a large rock house in approximately 1916 that is still there, had 4 kids and helped Searcy grow.  I assume that family is why Holmes Road is named Holmes Road! 04/03/2024

Searcy AR grows. Library grows also.Barbara S Duncan, that's me, presented a lovely drawing of Searcy's first library to Darla Ino, Library Director of the White County Regional Library System.  The present library (remember it is moving to a larger one) did not have a picture of the first library which was small and charming in Spring Park.  Barbara offered them this framed print and they seemed glad to have it. It will be displayed in their "historic" room that has lots of interesting items.  I, Barbara, just wrote a blog with a postcard picture of the library.  Click to see it https://activerain.com/droplet/HZDy and from there you my go back further and see more about its construction. Try this one https://activerain.com/droplet/g52D. And another. https://activerain.com/droplet/5gms ... 03/28/2024

Lovely farmhouse.....now history.This charming house had its space on Country Club Road.  Land, barns, storage.  It was a typical outside-of-town farm, owned and operated by the same family for so many years.  Here is the remaining chimney. The house is gone.And here are a few of the typical farm buildings that the farm included and are still there.  They bring back good memories! Drive by!There is now a street called Seabiscuit going to the back of the farm where a new subdivision is being built.  The new properties will be within walking distance to Searcy Country Club. The city has come out to meet the historic farm and now we have a lovely     subdivision called Belmont Estates built by builder Clay Hite.  Searcy grows!! 03/27/2024

Remember this?  Library in Spring Park, Searcy AR.This card does not have a date on it but the place to put a stamp asks for a one cent stamp.  So how long ago was that?  Some of the old one cent stamps have become collectible.  When I became a Searcy resident, my children and I went to this library.  It was a small house near the entrance to Spring Park,  It was a charming little place and my kids loved going there.  I don't remember what the buildings in the background were.  Searcy Sleuths?  Do you remember?Here's another blog about the library and includes the ladies who might have helped with it. Click https://activerain.com/droplet/g52D 03/21/2024

Artificial Intelligence?MLS lets AI write our listed house remarks. They turn out to be awful descriptions with too much verbiage. So I am curious.  Let's test them, if you know how.  I don't know how but let's see if we could direct them to do a realistic picture of this house that was in Searcy AR and is now gone. Does it only write?So this old house, beautiful at the time, was captured in a drawing by Arni Anderson in 1974.  The location was at 311 W. Center Street and Townhouse Apartments took its place. Perhaps AI could search courthouses and find what it used to look like?Me?  I am impatient.  I have a copy of how it used to look.  Here goes!It was lovely, wasn't it! 03/08/2024

 Is this lovely!I had never seen one until this was discovered in a saver's house.  He collected all sorts of items that are now offered to the public at a sale this weekend.  I believe there are three of them to be offered.  The estate sale is at 104 Lynn Street, Judsonia AR starting in the morning.  Other offerings are shown on estatesales.net.I am amazed at the complexity of construction! 02/08/2024

Fifty Years Ago!Fooled you, didn't I.  It looks a lot like a week ago in Searcy AR.  This picture was taken in our yard many years ago. (The second picture is from the same yard.  A good dad did all this!)  Dads, at that time, put up tire swings for the kids to play on and in this second instance a tree house without trees!  Kids were chased outside to play.  No computers, no cell phones and just a small amount of TVs.  The tree is still there but not the swing.  If the swing was still there and kids were on it or near it there would be a cell phone in one hand! No doubt about it! Searcy Sleuth Don Thompson could probably make an illustration of that for us.   It might be too cold right now to chase the kids out!  Continue with Happy Holidays! 01/21/2024

Nice room, isn't it!  Well, it does look a little like snow on the chair and the floor.  No, it is not fake snow for atmosphere......it is REAL SNOW!  With the temperature in Searcy AR being about 13 degrees over the past hours and expected to be that for several days, one wonders who committed this crime!!  SNOW IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS HOUSE!  There is no roof over this area!I have had a long real estate career (over 40 years) and this is the only atrium that I have seen in Searcy AR. The owner loves the house and the atrium!  The house was built in 1968!I guess I am glad I don't own it right now!!  Do Searcy Sleuths know of another one??   01/15/2024

 Old Searcy AR fun!What did kids do before they lived with computers and cell phones?  Stumbling upon a memory is always fun.  That happened to me today.  This wonderful aerial view of a husband-built tree house without being attached to a tree is a pleasure.  I moved to Searcy in 1967 and lived on McRae Street.  Hubby built this tree house (as we called it) for the kids.  I bought this trampoline and it seemed to be the first one in Searcy AR based on its popularity.  Two kids are on it in this photo. The kids could drag it from place to place in the yard and this shows it right in front of the treehouse.  I got a free view of the location now and it is not the same!  Thanks, Present Home Owner, for the tour!!Summary!  Kids today don't know what they are missing!!  12/16/2023

 Beautiful old doors! Blog repeated.Some interesting Searcy AR history has just surfaced and there are beautiful antique doors for sale.  At the corner of Market and Gum in Searcy stands Bliss Salon in an old building that the court house says was built in 1884 and was renovated a few years ago by Bliss Salon owners.  I did a blog about it and you have to stop now and go back to read the blog.  Click here, Those buyers loved the old doors that were either in or around it and took them home with them.  They were offered at an estate sale but there may be two left. Now at Ole Hippy for sale by Valerie Canepa at her booth.   Ole Hippy has so many beautiful things.  Go shopping!!  And do go back and look at the changes to the building at the corner of Market and Gum. 12/13/2023

Santa is tired!Antique chalk decoration for Christmas.I drag him out every Christmas and enjoy my sleeping Santa.  I bought him at a garage sale several years ago and he is a delight to have around.....so different!  I don't know how old he is but the original price is on the bottom  Let's look.There it is!  If you are old enough to remember going to the "dime store" with parents many years ago you'd perhaps remember how items were priced on the bottom with a marker.  This was 69 cents!  What would it be today?  Seems as if we can't buy anything for less than 5$!Have a Happy Holiday season!!  Thanks for reading my blog!!  12/10/2023

Bobby Petrino is back in the news because he is back in Arkansas.  I am not a football fan so why did I save this Arkansas Democrat Gazette news article? One reason!  An adorable red headed young fan was in the picture.  Let's blow it up!Here is the enlarged picture of Tyler getting his shirt autographed by Coach Bobby Petrino.  See the adoration in his eyes!  He loved the Arkansas Razorbacks and the coach.  He was about 10 or 11 years old with a wonderful abundance of red hair!   Wonder where this shirt is now?  It may be valuable!!Who is the girl in the picture?   Her name was not given in the article.    12/04/2023

 Did you read the above ad that was in the 1972 Searcy High School yearbook?  Well, read it again and see if you can believe that J. C.Penney was saying that each Senior girl would get a free blouse.That was my interpretation.  So I did a little counting.  I looked at the Senior girls and started counting.  I came up with 74 Senior girls and each one of them had on one of the pictured above blouses!  WOW!  That's a lot of free blouses!  Did boys feel left out?  My friends said, "No, Penney's didn't give them all a blouse;  they just let them BORROW one for the picture."  So here we have another puzzle to be solved by the Searcy Sleuths.  Review the 1972 yearbook and tell me the whole story.  I took a random picture of girls and look at their collars!  (How'd that guy get in the picture?... 11/25/2023

  Photographers!  Look at this great historic picture.  It shows probably all of the employees of Wood Freeman Lumber in Searcy AR.  On the trucks it gives the phone number as 446, Searcy and looks as if E. W. 's was 3200 and O. W. 's was 5000.  Last names must be provided by Searcy Sleuths.  See why I love photographers!Artists!  Look at this beautiful Phyllis Alexander print!  A little girl with her loving pet.  "The little dog laughed to see such sport" is written at the bottom.  Phyllis Alexander is one of Searcy's best artists and painted so many portraits of children in Searcy.  This one is reportedly one of her daughters.Collectors!!  Terry Williams, another one of Searcy's best artists, also collects!  He has been collecting for years and years and this weekend folks are invited... 11/17/2023

About 37 years ago.My mother-in-law, Wyndelene Holmes Duncan, got this hand-done birthday card from me.  I had forgotten that I did it but it just popped up a few days ago.  We all called her Winnie but she preferred the real version of her name.  She is also part of Searcy's history.  She grew up on Holmes Road in Searcy and that family is why the name is Holmes Road.  There is still a big old rock house on the side of the hill.  Click https://activerain.com/droplet/4Wqt for the picture of it a long time ago.  Ms. Winnie, as we called her, was a wonderful and caring person.  She married V. W. Duncan, car dealer whose motto was, "What ole PoDunk says it is, it is!!"  He was a super salesman and built a successful car dealership that grew from used cars to new Chryslers, Plymouths and Je... 11/16/2023

Old!  I think so!  Looks old, feels old with such precision in the making.  I found it in a closet in my house!  Look at all the detail and leather.  And look at a name hand-written on it.  Do you know him?  He might have precious memories to share with us.It is a Revelation Western Auto Store ball glove, made in Japan, so says the label.  Wouldn't it be nice to find its former owner!  11/15/2023

Old postcard for sale on ebay.Look at this fascinating picture of the old Morning Sun Tourist Cottages in Searcy AR.  Morning Sun corner offered a lot.  I thought it was just a filling station but here is what was offered according to the back of the card.  Restaurant, Gas Service, Bar-B-Q, Sandwiches, Plate Lunches, Short Orders, Soft Drinks, Tobaccos, and Tourist Cottages.  It offered 24 hour services, was located 4 miles south of Searcy and 50 miles north of Little Rock on Hwy 67!  Unfortunately, the date is not readable and the building is now replaced by the brand new filling station shown next.Next is the back of the card.Now you see where I got the information about what was offered and interesting (to me at least) is who ran it.  F. R. Duncan was a relative of my husband, Rodger... 10/30/2023

Looking back through old clippings is fun and educational.  This one popped up and I quickly called my old friend and asked what it was like to walk on fire.  He said it didn't hurt.  His feet were dark and dirty looking and he could feel the heat but it was painless.  He still does not know whether it was some magic trick or a scientific thing understood by only a few but he definitely made it through safely.So who is this old 1993 RE/MAX agent?  Rodger Cargile is truly fearless.  He is an elected alderman for the city of Searcy AR, still in the real estate and auction business and is charming enough to sell anything! Would he do it again?  Sure!!!  10/27/2023

Dancing.....better than scaring!!But plenty of scary stuff in this yard also.  Look at the size of the skeleton in the rear!  If there was a contest he's be the winner.  The house gets full attention from the owners each Halloween with every scary thing that you can imagine plus some fun!  Skeletons are doing things like dancing (my favorite), walking the dog, roasting marshmallows, taking a selfie, and one that is "just thinking" in front of a pile of jack-o-lanterns,  and there is even a witch who made a mistake and ran into a tree!Giant skeletons. The one on the left seems to be taking a selfie.Walking the dog!  Both are skeletons!!  Take the kids!  Drive by this house at 110 Virginia Way in Searcy AR and be delighted!  10/18/2023