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Sometimes it’s better to be lucky…
Attorney Francis J. Heney Born in Lima, New York, in 1859, Francis J. Heney grew up in San Francisco where his family relocated in 1863. He worked in his father’s... […]
The world’s first citizen
Teddy Roosevelt traveling north on Center Street (today’s Central Avenue), saluting the throngs of citizens whom had come to welcome him to Phoenix. On the morning of March 18, 1911,... […]
Tucson’s ‘Nymphs de Pave’
Peering into Tucson’s red light district, shaped like a thin piece of pie between Congress Street and Maiden Lane at the turn of the century. “The Star has, time and... […]
Who needs good roads?
In the 21st century, it does not seem unusual that there is an independent state transportation board that is responsible for establishing, scheduling and maintaining a complete system of highways... […]
For Sale — This Place — And Cow
This 1937 photo, snapped during the Great Depression, shows how the dire economic conditions of the time forced people to sell whatever they could to get by. When the Great... […]
Intractable Mayor Hoff
One-term Tucson Mayor Hoff’s residence in 1937. For reasons known only to the photographer, the rear of the Hoff House was chosen as the subject of this 1937 photograph. Located... […]
Fairbank Commercial Company
Fairbank Commercial Company, 1937. The Fairbank Commercial Company was a 19th century emporium that thrived as long as the town thrived. When Fairbank’s palmy days were over, the store enjoyed... […]
Tombstone: The Grand Canyon of the South
Looking down Tombstone’s Freemont Street in 1937. These long vacant and much neglected relics of the 1880s tell a story of lost affluence and abandonment. This is Tombstone’s Freemont Street... […]
The First Maricopa County Courthouse
Statehood Day festivities in front of the first Maricopa County courthouse on Feb. 14, 1912. The first Maricopa County courthouse was the tallest building in Phoenix when it was completed... […]
Paradise
In about six years’ time, the population of Paradise swelled when gold was struck, and shrank back down when it was gone, leaving little more than the ghost town pictured... […]
The Hangman’s Warehouse
Once known as “The Hangman’s Warehouse,” the only remnant of this inconspicuous stone building’s dubious past is a curiously out-of-place trap door. In 1942, when more men smoked than not,... […]
Half Town, Half Village
Flocks of Angora goats grazed for free on public domain land, helping to make goat and sheep raising a profitable enterprise in the early 1900s. Prior to statehood, sheep herding... […]
