Category Archives: “Looking Back”

Uncle Tobe: “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.

Riley Thompson Hankins enlisted in the 10th Alabama Cavalry on August 5, 1863, at the age of fifteen. He did not participate in any major battles but was in a few minor engagements before the end of the war. Returning home, he married in 1869 but his first wife died in childbirth. He later married again.

He and his second wife, Malissa, had twelve children, Continue reading →

Columbus Day: “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.

Columbus sailed the ocean blue in fourteen hundred and ninety-two. Today is Columbus Day, a federal holiday since 1937 but commemorated as far back as 1792 when New York celebrated the 300th anniversary of his arrival in the New World.

Many people now know, thanks to the efforts of their history teachers and the History Channel, that Columbus most likely did not discover Continue reading →

Cruisin’ Conway: “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.

Back in the days of cheap gas and big cars, Conway teens would often spend their weekends “cruisin” Conway. Teens of the 1970s thought this was their “thing” but their parents knew that this activity was not new—they had done it themselves!

In the 1950s, Conway teens would generally cruise Continue reading →

Love and Marriage: “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.

his is the time of year I am especially reminded of my grandmother, Viola Hankins Burnett. She passed away in September, 2007 at the age of 85. Some may remember her as the friendly clerk who waited on customers at Cordia’s Gift Shoppe. Others knew her as the dedicated church member who never failed to do everything in her power Continue reading →

The Faulkner County Fair: “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.

The Faulkner County Fair is a tradition that has been around since 1909. However it has not always been in the same location, nor was it always a free fair.

The first Faulkner County Fair was held October 4-7, 1909. The Faulkner County Fair Association, a corporation organized by the Conway Board of Trade, sold stock to raise the funds to build fairgrounds Continue reading →