1959 Aerial Photo of Page, Arizona

1959 Aerial View of Page, Arizona. Photo Courtesy of Terry Edwards.

Some of my favorite early pics of Page and the surrounding area are these old black and white aerial shots. You can see a lot of detail and they always bring back memories of what it was like. One of the reasons I’m posting this one is because in my next post or two, I’ll be highlighting some early businesses and I want you to have a reference point for their location if you’re not familiar with it.

We have a lot to talk about in this photo. Click on it to open it up and you’ll be able to zoom in. Let’s start on the right side, as you come into town on 7th Avenue. The Glen Canyon Steak House and Motel aren’t there yet, but it looks like the ground is being cleared for their construction. To the right, along Vista Ave., you get a good look at the Page Hospital and what was at that time, the USBR offices. You can see a close-up of that building and read more about it HERE. You can also see/read more about the hospital HERE. Okay, back to our journey up 7th Avenue. The next building on the left is the Page Boy Motel. The building across the street was the Vostron building and now houses the City of Page offices.

The building across from Vostron on this side of 7th Avenue is the bowling alley. The big rectangle building just this side of the bowling alley is the USBR warehouse. The white rectangle building to the left of the bowling alley in this photo was (is?) the fire station. The smaller building that’s attached to the right end of the fire station was the USBR Ranger station. The only thing I remember being in the

Page Market

Page Market, 1961
Source: Unknown

Roueche’s Page Market stood adjacent to the Page Post Office in the plaza on the north side of Elm Street. I believe the post office is still there. In this photo, the post office is just off the picture to the right. These were adjacent businesses in one continuous building. Page Market was the only competition in town at the time to Babbitt’s Thriftway. Since the closing of Page Market (I don’t remember what year that was), several other businesses have occupied this space, but the one I remember most was Yellow Front/Checker Auto. I’m not sure what’s there now.

When I was a little tyke, probably about the time of this photo, I remember being in Page Market during a torrential rainstorm with my mom. We were at one of the checkout counters when the wall between Page Market and the post office moved a little and water started pouring in the Page Market side from the top of the wall. I remember my mom picking me up and putting me on the counter. I don’t remember what happened next, but I’m still alive so I guess it had a happy ending, at least for me. Oh, and several years later I found a $20 bill just outside the other set of doors that were around the corner to the left of this picture. If that was yours, so sorry. But finders-keepers.  I also remember that crowded bulletin board. It was Page’s early version of Craig’s List.

-Mike