Category Archives: “Looking Back”

Eloise Rhode: “Looking Back”

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Reprinted here by special permission of the author, Cindy Beckman, a retired Conway High School history teacher who writes local history.

She taught thousands of children in Conway Public Schools. Many can say that she taught multiple generations of their families. All of these children had knowledge seared into their young minds by Miss Rhode and most can still remember it to this day. She was legendary.

Hanna Eloise Rhode was born August 27, 1922 in Conway, Arkansas. She was the fourth of five daughters born to Fred Dare Rhode, a hotel baker, and Alice Steele “Han” Hockersmith Rhode, a seamstress who worked at home. They lived on Continue reading →

Tommy’s Restaurant: “Looking Back”

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Reprinted here by special permission of the author, Cindy Beckman, a retired Conway High School history teacher who writes local history.

Ask most longtime Faulkner County residents and they will tell you one of the finest restaurants in Conway from the 1940s through the 1960s was Tommy’s Restaurant. It was located on Harkrider about where IHOP is today and was the place for many social gatherings.

Tommy’s Restaurant was across the street from the Ideal Motel Continue reading →

Teen Town: “Looking Back”

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Reprinted here by special permission of the author, Cindy Beckman, a retired Conway High School history teacher who writes local history.

One of the laments among Conway teens has always been that there is “nothing to do” in Conway. I heard it when I was a teen and throughout three decades of teaching high school students. So I was pleasantly surprised to learn that in the 1940s, parents and teachers successfully collaborated together to provide a place for teens to hang out. It was called Teen Town.

Teen Town was born in the fall of 1943 when the Conway High School PTA set up Continue reading →

Goad’s Cafe: “Looking Back”

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Reprinted here by special permission of the author, Cindy Beckman, a retired Conway High School history teacher who writes local history.

When reminiscing about downtown Conway, many share memories of this or that café that they remember frequenting. But those born in the late 1950s or later will probably not have many memories of the Goad’s Café, a popular restaurant which stood near the northwest corner of Oak and Parkway for 36 years. Continue reading →