Here’s a look back and a reminder of how Page looked in those early days. Most of these photos are scattered throughout other posts but I wanted to get them into the same post, so here they are!
That’s all for now. Enjoy!
On The Streets
1958
Children at Play
Photo: USBR, Date Unknown
Do you recognize anyone in these photos? Are you in any of these shots? I don’t remember who supplied me with the picture above. It’s uncategorized in my files. But each time I open it, my eyes are drawn to what appears to be a Chevy Suburban behind the bus. After I stare at that Suburban for a second, wishing it was parked in my garage, I realize there are other things in this picture, like children and a school bus. 🙂
I don’t know where this was taken exactly. Maybe in front of the old Butler buildings? There’s no road curbing or pavement yet, if that’s the case. I’m having trouble identifying the plateau on the left side of the picture behind the Chevy. Here’s another one….
Photo: USBR, 1957
This basketball rivalry took place at the Transa Homes along South Navajo Drive. Are you in this photo or do you recognize anyone in it? If you are or do, please leave a comment below. I’d like to hear the story. The paragraph below concerning the above photo was sent to me from Donna Bloxton Petersen:
Steven Clark “Steve” LeClaire, Page High School Class of 1962, as an 8th grader, December 14, 1957, behind his pink “Transit-Home” near the PHS “Butler Buildings” on South Navajo Drive in Page, Arizona, playing basketball with Howard ’62 & John ’64 Perkins & Paul ’62 & Mack ’63 Page. Steve’s back is to the camera. He is third from left, if you count the boy in front of him. (USBR photo). Steve lived in Kanab, Utah, part of 1957, where he attended first semester of 8th grade while his dad worked on the Glen Canyon Construction Site until their Transit-Home had arrived in Page with the others that made a long row along S. Navajo Drive.
Photo: USBR, undated
Based on the building at the end of the road on the right side of this photo, it looks like it was taken on or near D, E, or F-Street in the MCS Trailer Court. Do you remember those buildings along that road to the airport? They were barracks and a cafeteria for the Dam construction workers. The dirt road they sat along is called Aero Avenue today. Maybe it was called that then too, it’s all a blur at times. From the air, most of those buildings were H-shaped (not that spent a lot of time in the air or anything like that). Also, if you were in this photo or recognize someone in it, please leave a comment.
Enjoy!
A Day in the Life: 10-30-1958, Part Two
This is part two of my previous post featuring newspaper clippings from the October 30, 1958 edition of the Page Signal, the forerunner to the Lake Powell Chronicle. Here’s some more happenings that were printed that week:
Photo Courtesy of the LeGate Family. Page Signal: 10-30-1958.
If my compass is correct, this is a look east along North Navajo and Seventh Avenue (now Lake Powell BLVD) is about where the photographer is located. You can see some of the early businesses and a little of the MCS trailer court in the top right of the photo. I talked about them in some previous posts. You can see a clearer picture of those first buildings —>HERE<—
Doctor Kazan was the happy recipient of Page’s 300th phone! You can see an Continue reading
A Tunnel Runs Through It
4/27/1957
Source: The LeGate Family
The back of the photo reads, “Small tunnel in keyway. Used for what I don’t know.”
These are great shots of some unidentified workers in random tunnels in the rock around Glen Canyon Dam. The captions below the pictures tell you what was written or stamped on the back. I don’t know what these tunnels were used for, or if they’re still there. Enjoy!
1/30/1958
Source: The LeGate Family
The back of this photo simply reads, “Tunnel in Keyway.”
-Mike
Lower Footbridge
Who remembers this? If you take a look at my last post, you’ll see a portion of this footbridge near the bottom of that photo. It spanned the lower part of the canyon at the approximate location of the present-day powerhouse. This picture is taken from the Page side at the bottom of the canyon. The powerhouse tunnel exit is behind the photographer and to his left. This is a good shot of the canyon wall at the spot where the dam now sits.
The footbridge is still under construction on this photo. Either that, or you had to get a running start to make it across. This picture is undated and I don’t remember now where I got it. But due to its quality and the fact that it’s black and white, I’m guessing it’s a USBR photo and that it was taken around 1958. But that’s just my best guess. If anyone can give me more info on the history of this bridge, please do.
-Mike
In Memoriam
Source: The LeGate Family
The building of Glen Canyon Dam and Bridge wasn’t accomplished without great personal loss by some. I’m posting two photos this time because they are closely tied to one another. The handwritten caption on the back reads,
“Lower end of diversion tunnel and adit for powerhouse tunnel road. Right above the adit is where the man got killed Aug 11th. Rock ledge 200 feet above adit broke off. Small footbridge across river is at lower left.”
You can clearly see the lower opening to the powerhouse tunnel mentioned in the picture. It’s located at the base of the dam, next to the powerhouse. The lower footbridge mentioned in the caption and visible in the photo was at the approximate location of the powerhouse. My next post will be a better look at that lower footbridge. The powerhouse tunnel runs along the inside of the canyon wall from behind the old Country Club/golf course on top, to this point below. It’s still in use. The adits mentioned in the caption are the smaller horizontal tunnels that intersect the main tunnel at 90 degrees at regular intervals, primarily for ventilation. If you scroll back up to the picture, you’ll see the adit that is mentioned in the caption.
The photo was taken or cataloged one day short of a month following a fatality at this location that occurred on 8/11/1958. The photo caption mentions that a rock ledge broke off above the adit and killed a man. According to the memorial plaque below, the individual’s name was Austin Merritt. He joins 17 others who lost their lives in the Glen Canyon Dam project. All of them are listed here:
The above memorial plaque was created by WMPearl in 2011 and is posted on Wikimedia Commons. I don’t know where it physically resides. Click [HERE] to view the source website at Wikimedia.
In the early 1970’s, one of my friends told me that her father was killed during the building of the dam. His name is listed at the top of the middle column, Raymond D White.
UPDATE 5/24/17: Here’s a list of memorials of the names on the plaque compiled by Donna Bloxton Petersen. Thank you Donna for all the time and work you put into this!
- Aug 24, 1957 – ROBERT CHAPMAN FRAZIER (41) (Military Portrait)
- Sep 09, 1957 – BUFORD L. PERSINGER (31)
- Sep 17, 1957 – LELAND FLOYD HARPER (40)
- Mar 21, 1958 – VINCENT SCHAFFER (38)
- Aug 11, 1958 – AUSTIN ENOS MERRITT (25)
- Feb 16, 1959 – VANCE EDWARD McNUTT (40)
- Mar 17, 1960 – RAYMOND DEE WHITE (37)
- July 19, 1960 – JERRY M. CRAWFORD (26)
- Dec 01, 1960 – WILLIAM K. “TURNER” COMBS (45)
- Dec 13, 1960 – ROBERT SIERRA GONZALES (46)
- Jun 08, 1961 – BERTRAM C. MARTIN (53)
- July 25, 1961 – ARDIS CALVIN “BLUE” KING (34)
- July 25, 1961 – KEITH CARROLL WALKER (19)
- Sep 07, 1962 – PABLO ALVARDO VALENZUELA (50)
- Jun 27, 1963 – ERVIN B. DONIHOO (50)
- Aug 18, 1963 – LARRY G. KOWALSKI (25)
- Aug 30, 1963 – MAUGHAN A. CROFTS (40)
- Oct 19, 1965 – COY O. HALL (50-51)
-Mike
Hamburgers and Hotdogs
10/6/1958
Courtesy of the LeGate family.
This picture, dated 1/6/1958 is another view of the post office with the USBR warehouse behind it. The warehouse is still there, but this post office is long gone. The Windy Mesa was eventually built just to the right of where this post office sat, on North Navajo Drive. This picture was taken from the approximate location of present day Stromboli’s. The fire station and old USBR ranger station were to the left of this picture. I did a separate post about this post office building [HERE]. Now I know where it was located.
I’m not sure if the hamburger and hotdog stand was a regular event, or if there was something special going on this day.
-Mike
Bridge Under Construction
8/6/1958
Courtesy of the LeGate family.
The back caption on this photo dated 8/6/1958 reads, “Men working on bridge. View point for visitors in background.” I’ve mentioned the old visitor’s center and the lookout point in a few of my previous posts. You can see the parking lot in the background on the Page side of the canyon in this picture. Access to the parking lot and lookout was from US 89, just above this photo. The camera angle is pointing almost directly to Manson Mesa and Page.
You can see the walkway coming off the right side of the parking lot. It looped back to the covered lookout point below the parking lot. You can see some people there (just in front of the guy in white) taking advantage of the good view. Yours truly took advantage of that view countless times too. The guy at the bottom of the picture looks like he’s carrying something pretty heavy. The guy in front of him looks to be texting. 🙂
This picture looks to have been taken just past the center of the bridge on the Page side of the bridge as you can see the arch beginning its downward slope on the left toward the canyon wall. You can get good look at the net below too.
Manson Mesa Pool
Photo: J. L. Digby, USBR
Courtesy of the LeGate Family
Who remembers the Manson Mesa Pool? I sure do. I spent many hours in that pool on those long, lazy summer days. I even spent a lot of time in it after it was closed down and drained. But that’s another story for another time. This photo is dated 10/6/1958 and the back caption simply reads, “Swimming pool.”
The Manson Mesa Pool was located on South Navajo Drive, adjacent to the park, on the corner of Seventh Avenue (now Lake Powell Blvd) and South Navajo. This photo was taken from near the curb of South Navajo, looking north-ish, parallel to Seventh Avenue. The Pink Sans Drive-in is (or soon will be) to the right of this picture, across Seventh Avenue. The park will be to the left of the picture. The brick building in the distance, just to the left, is the Page Hospital. It appears to be under construction in this photo. The white building to the left of the hospital is the USBR HQ that I blogged about in a previous post. I don’t know who the worker is in this picture.
There is no evidence today that this pool ever existed, much like the old drive-in theatre. Progress?
-Mike
A History of Glen Canyon Dam and Page Arizona 
