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Will Rogers, Jr.
Born in New York in 1911 when his famous father, the humorist Will Rogers, was starring in the Ziegfeld Follies, William Vann Rogers Jr. grew up in the house that is the centerpiece of Will Rogers State Historic Park.
The First Pima County Supervisors
With that proclamation, the first Pima County Board of Supervisors began its duties. The first four counties in the Arizona Territory — Yuma, Mohave, Yavapai and Pima — were created on Nov. 6, 1864. Each, at its own expense, had to provide a suitable courthouse, a jail and fireproof county offices.
Switzer’s Stores
This 1954 photo of the opening of Switzer’s Department Store in Park Central Mall (on Phoenix’s Central Avenue near Thomas Road) captures the moment when the small town that Phoenix had been in the first half of the 20th century began its transformation into today’s decentralized urban megalopolis.
Wikle’s Stationers
The happy pair cuddling under the neckers nook sign are John Marion Wikle (sounds like cycle) and his wife Margy, born Margy Lee Standage. Though this late ‘20s photo was taken in Los Angeles, John and Marion were Phoenicians who from the late 1930s to the 1970s owned and operated Wikle’s stationery store, a fixture in downtown Phoenix for 60 years.
The Lakes Mary
Lake Mary, a man-made body of water, was created less than a year after a dam was built in a shallow valley south of Flagstaff. Remnants of a temporary sawmill and living quarters can be seen in this March 1905 photograph of the lake, which measured half a mile wide, 6 miles long and 28 feet deep.
Modern Flagstaff
Baby-boomers finishing their education and starting families sought the small-town feel of Flagstaff in the 1970s and 1980s. Well-paying jobs were scarce; so many PhD’s served drinks and waited on tables until they could find suitable employment. One of the best places to find a career was with the W.L. Gore Company that opened its Flagstaff plant in 1967.
Big Snow in Flagstaff
One of the biggest snowstorms in Flagstaff history began early on the morning of Dec. 30, 1915. During the subsequent 48 hours, 64 inches of snow fell on the town.
Flagstaff grows up: 1920s – 1970s
The some 2,000 Flagstaff residents in the 1920s were filled with optimism and vigor toward the future of their burgeoning town.
Stargazer
This is Percival Lowell, founder of Flagstaff’s Lowell Observatory and early-day astronomer. He spent the better part of a lifetime probing the solar system — gazing into the lens of this Clark 24-inch refractor telescope (now a registered national historic landmark) from atop Mars Hill in Flagstaff.
Planting the Flag in Flagstaff
Flagstaff’s abundant natural resources of water, grass, and timber drew the initial settlers in the 1870s. At the time, there were no fences or rules about grazing livestock and more and more livestock operators moved their herds in. Loggers also arrived to harvest the majestic ponderosa pine forest.
The Priests of St. Mary’s
This photo, taken in 1958, shows a number of prominent priests standing in the doorway of St. Mary’s Church rectory at Monroe and Third Streets. The occasion was the 25th anniversary of the ordination of Father Gilbert Zlater, the first St. Mary’s “boy” to become a priest and the first Franciscan from Arizona.
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.
