About Searcy's Old Searcy Arkansas

Anita has shared another bit of Searcy's history with us. Here's her comment as she emailed me the photo of her uncle. Anita's mother was Corrine Hart who has been the feature of several of my blogs. Corrine died this year after reaching the 100 years-of-age mark.

Another little piece of Searcy's history, not having anything to do with real estate, other than the fact that the airport has grown. You might want to blog that???

This is mother's brother, Jack Harrison, later Capt. Jack Harrison of the Air Force, after landing the first airplane in the city of Searcy. My grandmother and his wife are beside him. I KNOW I have a picture of Mayor B.L. Oliver greeting him and presenting him a key to the city, but I can't find it.

The band was there....it was a big occasion.

I think it's neat that both mother and her brother have a key to the city.....or guess I should say, HAD a key.

I just went to Muncey's book (when all else fails, check Muncey's book!!!) and found the plane landed May 3, 1941.

I don't know about the second picture: he is with his wife, Monti Harrison....but casual clothes and notice the ground is wet. The one with my grandmother, hat and gloves was when he landed in Searcy....to the mayor and band, etc.

Mother was there and I was, too, but no pics. of us.

Of interest to me and to Anita was the dressed up grandmother. Note the gloves and hat. She had on the ultimate outfit for an important occasion. The wife, on the other hand, had on no hat so perhaps that is why there were no gloves? I like the man's two-toned shoes, too!!

Thanks, Anita.

This lovely historic home in Searcy Arkansas has just had a battle with the tree from the side yard. I drove by today, did a double-take, backed up and took photos. The house is probably close to 100 years old and lovingly restored. Tall trees tower around it and are possibly even older. I just wrote a blog saying the bigger the tree, the older the house. And the bigger the tree, the larger the limbs, and the larger the limbs, the harder they hurt when they fall. Ouch! Ouch!! Ouch, ouch, ouch!!!!!

Can the house be salvaged? Looks as if the limb had a hole through the middle causing it to be weakened. We'll have to see who wins this battle.

Hubby stopped by the docter's office the other day, sauntered in and approached the receptionist and said probably,

"Hello, there, Honey. I'm Rodger Duncan. Do you know who I am?" (small town where everyone supposedly knows everyone else)(Honey pronounced hawney,Southern Speak)

Blank stare back from receptionist. So he says, "I'm Barbara Duncan's husband. Do you know her?"

Big smile, dimples, and an "Oh, yes, she's the real estate lady!" She realized this old car-dealer who called her "Hawney" was actually harmless.

It wasn't always this way.

What a change since I've been in Searcy Arkansas. As the picture above shows, we girls once had no identity of our own. The pictures don't say our first names and last. We were Mrs. Rodger Duncan, etc. This was in the 70's. Look at the newspapers now and we girls have our own identity. I am Barbara S Duncan. I may be Mrs. Rodger Duncan, too, but primarily I have my own identity. I don't know of a single news reporter who'd ask for my husband's name to put under my picture in the paper.

WE'VE COME A LONG WAY, BABY!

On the left in this picture the old Rialto Theater in Searcy Arkansas is shown. It has had major changes since opened in 1923 as the Grand Theater. In 1929 it had the name changed to Rialto.

In 1949 it was remodeled to include the addition of a 67 foot high neon marquis.

Searcy Arkansas and White County have enjoyed the Rialto for about 86 years.

There is a movement right now by some residents of Rose Bud High School led by Liz Clark and Julie Chism to take it on as a project and assist in trying to raise funds to make needed repairs to the old building.

An article by Warren Watkins, Daily Citizen writer, reports that the Rialto, once owned by the Lightle family, was given to the city by the Lightle Family in the 1980's. In 1994 it was leased to Victor Weber for $175 a month. Weber shows only family-oriented movies at $2 per ticket and charges a lot less for concession items. When his lease expired the city let him continue with a verbal agreement where Mr. Weber pays no rent.

Most needed repairs are to the entire electrical system and the roof needs replacing. The balcony is completely unusable.

What totally shocked me was the article's statement that the basement floods in the winter and the water stands until it evaporates in the summer. I DIDN'T KNOW THE RIALTO HAD A BASEMENT..... The Rialto was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

When is a tree not needed? Right now. The tree in front of Searcy's historic Legion Hut keeps a person from noticing the historic structure nestled in between two other buildings.

Legion Hut was built of native stone in 1934 and was reportedly about 3000 sq. ft. in size. It's on the North side of the Court Square facing busy Race Street where vehicles whiz by at all hours of the day. At the time it was built, however, traffic was light and the building was the hub of a lot of city and county activity.

It has housed the mayor's office and been the scene of lots of social activities. Square-dancers once held their functions there. My husband remembers it being a teen center where the kids could spin records and dance.

The Historical Society plans to make improvements to it since it has been in a declining state for the last few years.

I put the small picture of the adjoining building for you to see how close the properties are. Bobby's Family Restaurant puts out some mighty fine home cooking with a regular clientele. Whoever shares the office at the Legion Hut will have some awesome food smells drifting their way. I do hope they remove the tree in front so we can see the old building.