If Walls Could Talk

I DO NOT LIKE GROWING OLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  But I like growing old better than the consequences.  I’ve seen others who are older than I am that seem to have aged gracefully and the more aging I do, the more I respect and even envy their ability to do that.  It just seems to me that the process of keeping it all together takes much more effort than it used to.  The old saying “This barn needs a fresh coat of paint” is implying that covering up the old, the weather-worn and the deteriorating will make it better but there are some things that paint just can’t hide. 

Hagarville Store - Hagarville, AR

I recently visited with the owner of an old building that I was photographing about the struggles he faces in deciding what to do with the place. While he understands the attachment everyone has to it and the memories just driving by it gives us, I sensed that he struggles with the matter of preserving history verses the cost of maintaining such a place and the safety of others if he lets it just sit there and grow older day by day.

If you’ve lived in this area most of your life you understand how passing through Hagarville causes thoughts of years gone by to flood your mind.  But closer inspection will prove as a reminder that time is not always our friend and has a way of changing everything. 

Once a light, now a bird's nest.

 The original Coke-A-Cola signs from the outside have been removed and now the inside only houses discarded items that at one point seemed too good to throw away. 

Inside the Hagarville Store

The boards are rotting, much of the original glass is broken and I questioned the safety of stepping inside.  But there was a pull from somewhere deep inside me that insisted I open the door and look around.   I felt as if I was walking on some sacred ground so I quietly took my pictures and left.  I had hoped to see some sort of nostalgic memorabilia but was told that looters were stripping the place piece by piece so anything of worth had to be removed.  This made me sad.

Ted Lee Store - Horsehead Lake, Clarksville, AR

One of my earliest memories as a child is traveling with my parents on our annual trip to Kansas City, Kansas for Thanksgiving with the Schmatjens (a.k.a. Harpers and Pages).  Those were the days when I was small enough to curl up and sleep in the floor fitting on one side of the hump.   This was also before the days of four lane highways.  Our journey through the mountain roads of Arkansas and Missouri afforded us a stop or two at the small town gas stations for a “fill-up and an empty-out”. 

D & J's (Redlick Store) - Hwy 21, Clarksville, AR

 Most times the price of gas off the beaten path was much cheaper than that found on the well traveled roads.  I can remember the old signs posting a price of gas for $.29 a gallon.  In those days we didn’t think much about what our average miles per gallon were or that gas might be one cent cheaper three blocks down the road.

F.F. King Store - Hwy 103, Clarksville, AR

This week’s photo challenge for me was Vintage Gas Stations so this also became the object of desire for my weekly “Adventures with Ricky”.  I knew of one, maybe two, old stations I wanted to visit but was not sure of their condition.  Our route went from home to “Hunt Town” and back by way of a few stops.  I was amazed at how many gas stations we came across, most no longer in business.  A total of 16 store/stations in all not counting the modern-day stations still in operation.

Argus Jacob's Store - Hunt (Hunt Town), AR

While they were not all photo worthy, I did manage to capture a few shots that, in my opinion, deserve to make it out of my camera and into a frame on my one wall, art gallery at the CHA.

The knowledge I have about these places is very limited.  So I ask that you take a look and if you know any history about these relics PLEASE add it, either as a comment or in a note, so that I may share the stories that would be told if these walls could talk. 

Enjoy the stroll down memory lane… that is, if you are “mature” enough to relate and still have your memory. And about that "growing old" subject, I will try to do it with dignity and grace.  Please remind me of this if I seem to have lost my focus somewhere along the way on this journey call life.

LIFE LESSON:To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

 -A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
 -A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
- A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
- A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
- A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
- A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
- A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.  
       Ecclesiastes 3 1-8 KJV