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Grand Canyon Pioneers Society - The Bulletin |
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| Vol 6, No 4 | April 2002 |
Grand Canyon Post Office
Funny that the talk today was about the post office history, because neither rain, nor hail, nor sleet, nor snow kept 20 intrepid members of the Grand Canyon Pioneer Society away from this talk!! Each kind of weather was well represented that day, except for sunshine!! The look at the historic building was historic itself in its brevity - usually the Pioneers tend to take a longer time examining historic places!! But we bolted for the Community Building to hear the talk by Dr. Bob Betchel, an environmental psychologist from the University of Arizona.
The series of post offices at Grand Canyon is as follows:
| August 13, 1894 to February 2, 1897 | |
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| August, 1897 to April 12, 1889 |
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| March 14, 1902 to present (different locations) |
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| November 27, 1903 to November 30, 1908 |
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| September 5, 1906 to present |
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| June 27, 1929 to December 31, 1950 |
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| June 16, 1926, until replaced by |
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| October 12, 1926 until replaced by |
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| to present (seasonally) |
Hance Camp was the location of both the Tolfree and Tourist post offices. June 9, 1895 was when the first postcard was mailed at Tolfree. August 18, 1902 was the earliest known use of the Grand Canyon post office.
The first airmail postcard was sent on June 29, 1972 from the Grand Canyon.
An interesting cancellation mark was made by the postmaster of the Kaibab Post Office after the station burned down. He whittled the words "Kaibab Forest" with his penknife into a cork and used that as a stamp.
A delightful addition to Dr. Betchel's talk was the presence of John Turnbull and his wife Roseline from California. John is the nephew of former Grand Canyon postmaster Art Metzger. John and Roseline have put an enormous effort into organizing the chronicles of Art & Ethel Metzger'stime here at the canyon. He held the record of the longest postmaster at Grand Canyon - 35 years, from 1928-1963. Art arrived here in 1913 with his brother to homestead in the area. The brother returned to Seattle, fell in love, and never returned, leaving Art with the ranch. Art worked the ranch and did odd jobs around the area. One of this side jobs was to help out in the post office during the summer of 1927. Art got his official appointment as postmaster on May 29, 1928 by Calvin Coolidge, and subsequently by Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was quite an honor to hear this personal slice of Grand Canyon history from a devoted nephew.
[Outing article by Nancy Green.]
GCPS Outings for 2002
| April 27: |
Glen Canyon by Katie Lee.
Katie Lee is well known in the Southwest as a writer-photographer-actress-singer-musician who fights for the preservation of wild and remote places. Her first book, "Ten Thousand Goddam Cattle," an epic cowboy chronicle told through the songs of cowboy songwriters, was republished by the University of New Mexico Press in Spring 2001. Her award-winning documentary film, "The Last Wagon," celebrates two cowboy songwriter legends of the West, Gail Gardner and Billy Simon, with rare footage of them talking and singing. Her record company has released 5 recordings of cowboy songs. Her latest book, "All My Rivers are Gone," is a paean to Glen Canyon, a paradise that was lost to the reservoir waters of Lake Powell. In conjunction with the book, Katie released two recordings, "Colorado River Songs" and "Glen Canyon River Journeys."
Red Rooster is on lower Main Street on Highway 89A, sandwiched between a small park and "Designs on You" dress shop. The main shopping district in Jerome is only one block long. The Historic Center is also on the Highway 89A but is parallel to and above Main Street. You would first notice it if you were coming into town from Prescott. It is also across the street from the Haunted Hamburger Restaurant. The main town park is between Main Street and upper Hwy 89A. | ||||
| May 18: | "Route 66 Across Arizona. A Comprehensive Two-Way Guide for Touring Route 66" by Richard and Sherry Mangum at Northern Arizona University Cline Library, Flagstaff. | ||||
| June 22: | Annual Picnic at Shoshone Point, Grand Canyon. | ||||
| July 20: | Museum of Northern Arizona Special Collections Tour. | ||||
| August 17: | "The Grand Canyon Orphan Mine" by Maurice Castagne at Grand Canyon Maricopa Observation Point. | ||||
| September 21: | Grand Canyon Aviation History by Ron Warren at Grand Canyon Airport. | ||||
| October 19: | "Below the Rim & Beyond the Lake" (Two Commanding Canyons-Grand Canyon & Glen Canyon's Lake Powell) slide show by Gary Ladd and GCPS Board meeting. | ||||
| November 16: | To be announced. | ||||
| December: | No Meeting. |
New Members
Scott Datwyler - Logan, UT
Judi Beckerleg - Grand Canyon, AZ
Barbara Williams - Prescott, AZ
Membership Dues
The $20 Annual Dues for membership in the Grand Canyon Pioneers Society are due in January each year.
Send your renewal to:
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Grand Canyon Pioneers Society P.O. Box 2372 Flagstaff, AZ 82003-2372 |
Outings Contacts Information
Outings Coordinator is
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Carol Castleman 18909 North 87th Drive Peoria, AZ 85382 623-825-9971 |
e-mail AZlady3@aol.com
The Bulletin welcomes comments, stories, or Reflections and Remembrances.
Please send them to
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Diane Cassidy 2112 Demerse Avenue Prescott, AZ 86301 |
or e-mail them to GCPioneers@yahoo.com
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