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Gold’s 1912 Buick Racer
Martin Gold arrived in the Valley around 1880 after emigrating from what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Gold was part of a generation that seemingly lived to work, and in less than two generations, the efforts of men like him transformed a wasteland into the city of Phoenix.
Need a Rest? Lolomai Lodge, 1909
A 1909 ad in Flagstaff’s Coconino Sun newspaper enticed readers to take a break at the lovely Lolomai Lodge in Oak Creek Canyon. The lodge was one of several in the canyon, all catering to those seeking a respite from hectic days.
The Sunrise Choir
It was Easter of 1944 when the Arizona State Teachers College a capella choir, under the direction of Eldon Ardrey, stood at the chilly south rim of the Grand Canyon to perform in the annual Easter sunrise service and have this picture taken.
A Tucson Civic Leader
Merrill Freeman was a pioneer Arizonan active in territorial politics and education. But his route to Arizona was circuitous, and he didn’t arrive in Tucson until he was well into middle age.
Southern Arizona’s Many Noons
Dr. Adolphus H. Noon arrived in Tucson in October 1879, with his oldest son Alonzo and a friend. Noon was looking for a place to settle, where he could set up a medical practice and also do some mining.
The Peshlakai Family of Wupatki
This photograph of a Christmas gathering was taken in 1935 on the grounds of the Wupatki National Monument north of Flagstaff. The family in the photograph is (from left) Sally Peshlakai, Etsidi Peshlakai (Sally’s father-in-law), Etsidi’s wife and their grandchildren.
Tombstone’s Bird Cage Theater
Tombstone’s most celebrated theater was the Bird Cage. In its heyday between 1881 and 1889, the theater offered gambling, liquor, vaudeville entertainment and ladies of the night. In 1882, ~The New York Times~ referred to the Bird Cage as “the Roughest, Bawdiest and Most Wicked Night Spot between Basin Street and the Barbary Coast.”
Cornforth’s Home and Auto Appliance
These photographs from the 1950s show Cornforth’s Home and Auto Appliance, one of Phoenix’s few local business to survive through the millennium.
Pastoral Phoenix
These two photos were taken in 1915; one from a field on Sixth Avenue near what is now Chase Field, the other, somewhere on the Salt River. In 1915, Phoenix was enjoying the last years of the “Gilded Age,” an opulent time that was vanishing everywhere else in the world.
Tucson, Tubac, Tumacacori, ‘Tohell’
Southern Arizona rancher Pete Kitchen was best known for his choice hams and his humor. His hams graced tables from Nogales to Santa Fe, and his humor was part of... […]
Border Duty, 1916
Pancho Villa’s attack on Columbus, New Mexico, in the early morning hours of March 9, 1916, set in motion a huge mobilization of the U.S. Army and the National Guard. By July 31, almost 111,000 guardsmen were on the border and an additional 40,000 awaited orders in mobilization camps around the country.
Sharlot Hall — On Being Seen In Public With A Democrat
Sharlot Hall got involved in national politics on a couple of occasions, and one, a 1925 trip to Washington D.C. as an elector for Calvin Coolidge, eventually underlined what she called her natural outlaw spirit.
