About Searcy's Downtown Searcy Ar

One of our real estate offices closed and we noticed a sign saying "Pearley May's Chocolate Shoppe" and drove on by.

For months I've driven by. Who needs to buy candies which will make you heavier?

Today I stopped! Christmas, you know! Buy gifts for others, not yourself, and someone else might like chocolate and can afford the calories.

I was impressed. Owen and Diana Rinner and Delayne Hall have this shop and the candy is made on the premises, so says Mr. Rinner. His wife uses her own original recipes and puts out the most gorgeous confections. Who needs See's??? The Rinners moved here from California, home of See's, because they wanted a quieter life and Mrs. Rinner may have grown up here.

Pearley May, Mrs. Rinner, says that her chocolates are low in sugar which makes it a healthier treat with a large percentage of sugar gone!! I'm posting a picture of the display and one of their candy covered apples!! My daughter is going to be lucky to get these treats. If I don't get them in the mail quickly, I may become weak and eat the gifts! I hope she doesn't read this post!

Address is 507 N. Main Street, Searcy AR! WOW!

Searcy Arkansas, White County, has one of the oldest court houses in the state. It is a beehive of activity everyday despite how old it is. I'm posting three photos of the building.

The one above is the earliest known photo shortly after its construction in 1870. It later had wings added on the North and South sides.

This one is by our famous photographer, Paula, who did her Girl Scout duty in the 40's and took pictures all around the town. Note it now has attractive wings added.

This one was probably made in the 40's also because we see the Security Bank sign on the corner. First Security Bank has recently remodeled the building and we have shown it in our blog. I could show the court house as it is now but actually it is the same! The trees are just bigger, the cars are newer and this is really a better photo.

Okay, okay, quitcha beggin! Here it is in its full glorious technicolor! Impressive, isn't it?

Here's another one of friend Paula's pictures. She won a camera and went around town snapping pictures for a Girl Scout project. It was sometime in the 40's.

This was the Truman Baker corner at the corner of Race and Main. The Truman Baker Chevrolet dealership took up this corner for many years. It has been less than 5 years, probably, since they closed it down and moved it to a larger spot near the freeway. The corner now has a Walgreen's drugstore. All buildings have been torn down.

My friend Paula took photos with a camera she'd won sometime in the 40's. The assignment was for Girl Scouts and she was to take photos of buildings in Searcy AR. She dutifully went around snapping photos and we've been featuring them on this blog.

Here's another one. It is a school building. I looked it up in Ray Muncy's "Searcy Arkansas: A Frontier Town Grows Up With America" book and he says it was built in 1908 and called it Searcy High School. His book, by the way, was written in 1976 to celebrate the American Revolution Bicentennial. Dr. Muncy was a favorite history professor at Harding University and he was commissioned (I believe) to do this book on the history of Searcy.

But he didn't have Paula's pictures! They are special and newly discovered, aren't they, Paula? This one has spooky shadows and old cars and looks like quite a few bikes parked in the front.

Yesterday's blog about two mystery churches has been solved. One is still there. I just didn't recognize it from the picture.

My friends, Don and Paula, quickly found me a current picture of it. They'll probably send me a book on "Dummie's Blogging" if I don't get better.

But they do understand that being a newcomer with a mere 40 years in a town puts you at a disadvantage.

This church is at the corner of Arch and Elm near downtown, Trinity Parish Episcopal Church, and it is really one of our oldest and most charming churches. It is still small and hasn't lost its character. It dates back to 1903. But the frame church has been demolished, according to my friends, somewhere around 1955.