Barbara S. Duncan ABR, CRS, GRI, e-PRO Searcy AR

Formal gardens still exist in parts of the world, I'm sure. But in Searcy Arkansas I see only one example of what I think of as formal. This house is on the Historic Register and has a vast history. One of the stories that I heard was that the lovely wood shades which show on the windows here had been thrown away once. The neighbors hauled them out of the trash and saved them until a person bought the house who would appreciate them and then they gave them back.

The yard, let's say garden, is always perfectly maintained just as you see in these pictures. This is not new landscaping. The little shrubs have been small for years. I assume that they are a type plant that does not grow large. The owner seems to maintain the garden himself because I see him out in the garden a lot. I hope he does not mind that I'm featuring his historic home and garden on this blog.

This house also was featured in a book published in 1993 called "Millicent, the Millicent Collinsworth Story" by Millicent Collinsworth and Jan Winebrenner. I looked on Amazon.com and didn't find it available so perhaps my copy is a collectible!!

My blog on West Point Arkansas aroused a little interest in old depots in the tiniest towns. I found a couple more photos of trains and depots.

Here's the Augusta depot, or so it was labeled. It looks as if it is saying New Augusta. Now was that a name for Augusta? Augusta is actually in Woodruff County and was once a thriving town. Was it called New Augusta.

I did a Google search for New Augusta AR and it pulled up what we know as Augusta. We may have another mystery here. I have never ever heard Augusta called that. Maybe it's a name similar to Little Rock and North Little Rock?

And while speaking of depots, here's a view of a train that reportedly traveled Doniphan Kensett and Searcy Railroad.

Anita grew up in Searcy, Arkansas and I didn't. I've just been here for the past 40 years while she's been gone. She contributes to this blog with photos and comments. She shared this picture and others of old Searcy with me.

I knew I'd seen that house somewhere so I took off to find it, sat in front of several country houses while people honked and stared and I finally had to call her and ask her where the house was. The one with the little kid on the porch, I said.

She said it was this house that you'll below. It was the house below before her mother did a remodel on it in the 50's. And she even had the audacity to say she was the charming little kid on the porch.

Ha! I yelled back that that could not be the same house. It was absolutely not....she was wrong....her memory was bad.....and the kid didn't even look like her!!

She fought back with (she's really stubborn) a definite yes, yes, it is!!

"YES, YES, YES. That is my l008 W. Arch St. house, in it's original state..That precious little child, sitting in a very graceful pose, is ME.....You're going to have to trust me on this one....." that's what she said!

So I parked in front of this blue house again today with the same honks and funny looks as people drove by. I tried to see the front porch, the steps, the little kid. And I can almost see it.

"What she did to the porch is.....she just torn it down and made a little (very little) foyer, with a coat closet....She made a picture window for the living room.....There she would display her "flocked" Christmas trees. Later she added a bedroom on at the back of the house, plus a bathroom.
Originally off the kitchen was a small screened porch, with steps.
I'm telling you, she took a little basic house and made it much larger, more rooms. She also added a screened in porch off the dining room....I have pictures of it. Later, she enclosed this porch with the paneling that I think is still there, and made a fireplace. Also have pictures.
After I was in college, she added the present carport off of my bedroom. Before the carport was added, I would put a couple of pillows in my bed (as if a body was asleep) and crawl out the window and go riding with my girlfriend from Griffithville. Never did get caught." that's what she said!

She how stubborn she is!! How can you argue with her. BUT, Miss Anita, what happened to that giant tree that shows on the right side of the old version?

This man lost his mother when he was very young and started supporting himself at the age of 15 or 16. His education was limited but he was gifted with street-smarts.

He fell in love and talked this girl into marrying him. He had to break up a courtship that she already had going on but he was a born salesman.

Here she is with a classic beauty that is timeless. Look at her slim figure and flat tummy. He looks like a gospel singer with natural waves allowed to grow long on the top and plastered with Vitalis.

And look at the baby that they're so proud of. The time is 1939 in Meridian Mississippi.

He has traveled to Mississippi to try to sell magazines door-to-door. He had to put cardboard in the soles of his shoes and paint it with shoe-polish to disguise the holes in the shoe. He couldn't afford more.

The baby got hungry and he had to trade the old spare tire off his vehicle for milk for the baby. From here he went to Pennsylvania, worked on pipe lines, saved his money and came back to Searcy Arkansas.

He started in the car business and built his business from scratch. He was one charming gentleman who could sell with skill and gain trust and repeat business.

The business grew from a used car dealership to a Chrysler-Plymouth-Jeep dealership.

She was thrilled every time he brought home another car for her to drive.

If we all worked as hard in real estate as he did in selling vehicles, we'd prosper too. But most of us are not born salesmen. We just do the best we can. He died a few years back. All of Searcy was sad to see him go.

The baby? He's still hungry and I have to feed him everyday.

This picture of 916 E Race shows it as it was when Race Street was a quiet little street with residential properties still on it. The builder/draftsman who drew it up had saved pictures and floorplans of some of his creations. His wife was throwing them away and I, being a saver, kept them. I had to do a lot of driving around to find some of them.

The house was added onto and turned into a business by Helen Holder who had a drapery business. Back when folks loved heavy window treatments, she did a fantastic business.

Then it changed hands and became a frame shop. Seems it has changed hands again. Here it is now.

Notice the lovely fence in the front, which is across the street and on land owned by Harding University. Harding bought all the houses in front of this one and took them down.