You can see bits of Fayetteville history Saturday during the 20th Washington Elementary Tour of Homes. Each of the seven stops has its own connection to the city's history. Sarah Rack is the treasurer of the Washington Elementary PTO and chair of the 2026 Tour of Homes.
Rack: It takes a lot of networking and connections within the area. Luckily, our Washington Elementary — we are called the community connectors, which makes it fun. There's a lot of folks at the school that help connect me to families that would like to open their homes. It just takes connections and meeting new people and sometimes going to parties in the neighborhood and saying, "Would you like to open up your home?" It's not for everyone, but we sure appreciate the homeowners that are willing to open up their homes so that all of us nosy neighbors can check it out.
Kellams: One of the homes on the tour this year is on Wilson Avenue. Was it on the very first tour?
Rack: Yes, that is correct. The family — Cathy Hairston is her name. Her and her husband are opening their home again. We were so excited because she founded the tour 20 tours ago. Her and Mrs. McLarty at the time, they came together and came up with this idea: we have such great homes in our zone at Washington Elementary, what if people were to open up their homes and we could raise money? It has been such a success for us. We continue to raise more and more money each year and open up more and more homes in the area. We love it for the school, for the money we're able to raise and the fun that it brings to the community.
Kellams: All of these homes this year and previous tours are in the Washington Elementary School District?
Rack: Yes, that is correct. They're almost always — occasionally we'll get something right on the border, but for the most part, everything is in our zone. We're very lucky to have the Washington-Willowbrook Historic District, Wilson Park, Mount Sequoyah, etc. in our zone. We're so thankful.
Kellams: What I like about this year's tour is the wide range of Fayetteville history — some more recent homes, a couple that are mid-century and one that was a Sears catalog home.
Rack: Yes, that is correct. It is on Park Avenue and they are a lovely family — they wanted to open up their home because they just remodeled it and they want to show off how lovely they were able to make the home, but also maintain the history of it, since it was one of those Sears catalog homes. You bought it from Sears, it came in parts and you put it together.
Kellams: That is my understanding. Your home was actually a catalog home as well?
Rack: My home was actually — I don't know if it was particularly Sears catalog, but it was one of those catalog homes at the time. My understanding is all the pieces and parts are prefabricated and then it's put on a train, and there's boxes that have every screw that you need to put it together, and all the paint and all the pieces that make up this entire home. It's all shipped to you direct. That's what they used to do — it was very common.
Kellams: That sounds horrid. If anyone's gone to IKEA and bought a bookshelf —
Rack: I can't even imagine.
Kellams: There's also a home on the tour near a spring, which is kind of the heart of Fayetteville.
Rack: This is such a great home. It's a little bit more newer, not particularly as old as the property, but it is a piece of property that has been part of the Trail of Tears, part of the Civil War. It just has so many interesting histories. If you are able to make it to the home on Spring Street, make sure to not only see the home but see the grounds, because that's where a lot of the history lies.
Kellams: There's no set order — you can go in your own order on this tour?
Rack: This is a self-guided tour. You can go to all the stops in any order, you can go to two of the stops, and you can do this anytime between noon and 5.
Kellams: Washington Elementary School is on the tour this year. Is that a first?
Rack: No, it's not. We try to do it every couple years. It's such a special school and it too has so much history that we want to remind everyone why we're doing this. We are doing this for this school, and we're doing it for the students and the teachers and the staff at Washington. We try to put it on every couple of years just to remind everyone and get the chance to see such a wonderful school right in the heart of our community.
Kellams: The current Washington Elementary building was built in the '30s?
Rack: Yes, that's correct.
Kellams: Is it on the same site as the original Washington Elementary?
Rack: It's the same piece of property, but it's not the exact same site. The original one, built in 1886, was actually facing Lafayette Street. The current school today faces Highland, but it's all the same block of property.
Kellams: How does someone participate?
Rack: The best way to do this is to go to fayettevilletourofhomes.com. You can buy tickets there, but if you prefer to buy tickets in person, you can buy them at French Metro on Dickson Street. Or you can show up at one of the homes the day of the tour — we are selling tickets at each of the homes and at Washington.
Kellams: Rain or shine?
Rack: Rain or shine.
Sarah Rack is treasurer of the Washington Elementary PTO in Fayetteville and the chair of the 20th Washington Elementary Tour of Homes. That is this Saturday from noon until 5. Details can be found at fayettevilletourofhomes.com. Our conversation took place in the Anthony and Susan Hui News Studio.
Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a rush deadline and edited for length and clarity. Copy editors utilize AI tools to review work. KUAF does not publish content created by AI. Please reach out to kuafinfo@uark.edu to report an issue. The audio version is the authoritative record of KUAF programming.
