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[[Arkie Hopkins]]'s cooking was well-known among friends and family before she entered the food service business. Her brother-in-law [[Elbert Wesley Hopkins, Sr.]], who previously operated a boarding house of his own, opened [[Hoppy's Sundry Shop]] at 410 North [[Palafox Street]] around 1946. They sold plate lunches cooked by Arkie for fifty-nine cents to switchboard operators at the nearby [[telephone exchange]].<ref name="history">http://www.hopkinsboardinghouse.com/history.htm</ref>
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'''Arkie Dell W. Hopkins''' (known as "Ma" or "Big Mama") was the founder of the [[Hopkins' House]] boarding house and restaurant, which she operated until her death in [[1986]].
Inspired by the success of the Hoppy's venture, Arkie began her own boarding house in February [[1949]]. She rented a building across the street at 415 North [[Palafox Street]], between [[Belmont Street|Belmont]] and [[LaRua Street]]s, renting the upstairs rooms and setting up the restaurant downstairs. In November [[1951]] she purchased her own building, the [[McGaughy House]] at 900 North [[Spring Street]], and moved the business there. Arkie fell ill in [[1954]], and her sister [[Blanche Stubbs]] ran the business for 17 years.<ref name="stillcookin">"Still cookin' after 50 years." ''Pensacola News Journal'', May 2, 1999.</ref>
