The Birth of a Town

Photo: USBR. Undated. Photo Courtesy of Terry Edwards

Here’s an early shot of Page taken from the rim where North Navajo Drive and South Navajo Drive meet. Those are the Transit houses that dotted the rim along South Navajo and Aspen Street. As you can see, they are still being placed on site. The roads are being graded and the ground cleared. Notice the sewer pipe laying on the ground, awaiting installation. This photo is undated, but it has to be 1957 or 58. For comparison, look at the second picture I posted in the second blog on this site. It’s an aerial view showing the curve and the first airstrip which was about where this photographer was standing, along North Navajo. See it HERE.

Okay, back to this photo. There’s a school bus there because the Butler buildings were just to the right of this picture. They housed the first Page schools and they sat on the rim. You can see them in the link I provided above. I remember being told the water tank in the background of this picture was temporary while the town’s permanent water treatment plant was being built. I think that’s the water treatment plant being built in the far background. Did you know that the first water treatment plant for the town of Page was at the bottom of the canyon? It’s no doubt what supplied water to these tanks. See it HERE. Don’t miss the guy walking away on the left edge of the picture, as well as the outhouse. This picture provides a clear look at Le Chee on the horizon.

-Mike

Temporary Trailer Camp

This is a great shot of a temporary trailer park at the Glen Canyon Dam construction site. I don’t have any information about when it was built, why, or how long it was there. I do know it was temporary because it sits on part of the spot where the conveyor belts for delivering the aggregate to the batch plant were eventually built. They would have been just to the right of this picture, and probably would have extended into the picture a little.

It’s a good look at the Beehive from the north. It doesn’t look like the canyon side of the Beehive has been removed yet, but it’s hard to tell. The bridge isn’t there yet, but construction is underway. On the left side of the picture, you can see the top of the left spillway. Also, along the highway, that large building that was used as some kind of laydown yard is framed, but not finished yet. If you zoom in, you can see the water tower in town. It’s also a good shot of LeChee. The buildings on the left side of Manson Mesa may be the corals and drive-in theater.

Ok, back to the trailer park. Does anyone know what the white buildings were? I’d give good money for the Willy’s jeep. The boat without a trailer is classy. Enjoy!

Date and Photographer Unknown, but from the 1950s
Source: Terry Edwards

-Mike

Where’s Waldo?

Photo: A. E. Turner, USBR. Dated: 2/28/1964
Courtesy of the Legate family.

This picture is a real prize. There is no caption on the back, so I don’t know what event was going on that prompted this. Before we talk about the faces in it, let me set the location for you.  This is in the intersection of South Navajo and 7th Avenue (Lake Powell Blvd). The Pink Sans is behind the camera and this view is toward the football field. The opening in the chain link fence to the right of the tree was the entrance to the football field. Do you see the stop sign on the right side? That’s South Navajo Drive. We had no traffic signals. Most corners had yield signs and some, like this one, had a stop sign. Do you see the (not-so-grand) grandstands near the center of the picture? The goal posts are also visible, the north one more so. To the left of the grandstands is the old snack bar and further to the left, you can see the scoreboard. It’s that rectangular black thing about 15 feet off the ground. I’ll have more to say about that in a different post.

Behind all of the football field stuff, you can see the old teacher’s apartments. These were along church row. This is also a good shot of LeChee Rock in the distance. Hmmmm, no power plant…

Now for the good stuff. Were you in this picture? Do you see yourself in this shot? If so, and you want to ‘fess up, please do. I need some help here. I looked for myself in it, but I can’t find myself (that sounds like a U2 song!). What was happening here? I suspect it was the beginnings of a parade, but that’s just a guess. Page was big on parades back then. This picture was taken from an elevated platform and the woman taking the other picture is on a different platform. Maybe they were parade floats. I don’t know.

Let’s look at some names. I’ve been able to identify a handful of the people in this. A few were my classmates, but I’m not sure where I was. Here’s what I have so far:

• My half brother is the one in front between the two guys waving their hands.
• Don Diamond
• Larry Patterson
• Jim Garber
• Larry Sanderson
• Theresa Kocjan
• Marla Kocjan
• Nancy Mayes (?)
• Darryl Diamond
• Larry Sanderson’s sister. I don’t remember her name for sure. Maybe Gini?
• The woman with the camera may have been Mrs. Patterson.
• There are several other faces that I recognize, but the names escape me.

If you were in this picture and/or can tell us what was going on that day, please leave a comment below.

-Mike