Reprinted here by special permission of the author, Cindy Beckman, a retired Conway High School history teacher who writes local history.
In the 1960s, goin’ to the movies meant going to the Conway Theater on Front Street or going to the 65 Drive-in. The drive-in was south of town across from Ward Bus factory. The Conway Theater Continue reading
Reprinted here by special permission of the author, Cindy Beckman, a retired Conway High School history teacher who writes local history.
In 1871, a small, ingenious, far-sighted man named Max Frauenthal came to Conway with the railroad crew and purchased a lot in the southeast block at Front and Oak. Although the city’s founder, A.P. Robinson, had intended for most business activity to occur along Main Street between Railroad Avenue (Parkway) and Court Street, Frauenthal built his mercantile store in the alley where the farmers left their horses and Continue reading
Reprinted here by special permission of the author, Cindy Beckman, a retired Conway High School history teacher who writes local history.
If ever there were a more appropriately named street, it would have to be Dave Ward Drive. Dave Ward was a hard-working successful Conway businessman who built yellow school buses and in the process created hundreds of jobs for the local economy.
The road itself is a relatively recent addition Continue reading
Reprinted here by special permission of the author, Cindy Beckman, a retired Conway High School history teacher who writes local history.
One of my childhood feats was when I finally managed to ride my bicycle all the way up Civil Defense Hill without having to stop and push. We all called it Civil Defense Hill but growing up, I actually knew very little about the Civil Defense complex that gave the hill its name.
The development of nuclear weapons at the end of World War II and the news that the Soviets had detonated their own nuclear weapon created Continue reading
Reprinted here by special permission of the author, Cindy Beckman, a retired Conway High School history teacher who writes local history.
When the Soviets detonated their first atomic weapon after World War II, the United States had to develop ways of protecting Americans from nuclear attack. While much effort was spent building backyard bomb shelters and conducting civil defense drills, Continue reading