I’m not sure what the occasion was that prompted this picture, but there are a lot of faces in here that many of you will recognize. The back side of this photo has the names written out. I’m including that as the second photo below instead of typing the names. I just thought that was a better way to go. The handwriting might be a little hard to read on some of them, but you’ll figure it out I’m sure.
Here’s the back of the photo with the handwritten names:
Enjoy!
-Mike
This is cool. Remember Mrs. Medert? How about these sharp looking Junior High grads?
-Mike
I have to admit to not remembering Page’s first water treatment plant being at the bottom of the canyon. When Gene LeGate gave me the first bunch of USBR photos for the blog and I saw these water treatment pics, I was dazed and confused because I could only remember the water treatment plant in town and those photos were completely different. After some research, I surmised that it sat downstream of the dam on the Page side of the canyon. Can’t fool me! What sealed it for me (sort of) was the first photo I’m sharing below that Tim McDaniels gave me that shows the road to it coming out of what must be one of the adits in the canyon wall that now serves as one of the ventilation tunnels for the tunnel that runs from the top of the canyon and to the lower spillway. If that’s incorrect, please let me know. I can take it. I’m still not 100% convinced because some of the background stuff in these pictures doesn’t look right. More on that as we move through them.
This first picture is a shot from above showing the layout of the area. This is the one Tim sent me that pretty much clinched the location. Notice the water line coming over the side of the canyon. That’s the line that brought water to the fledgling town of Page. It’s referenced in another picture below. Notice also the road disappearing into the canyon wall. The handwritten caption on the back reads, “J. Reinhold. 1st water treatment plant for Page.”
Here’s another top down view from a different, closer angle. In this shot, the facility is still under construction. The rectangle building was an electrical switchgear and maybe a pump room. The handwritten back caption reads, “Water pumps and sedimentary tank on river below Page.”
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The transit homes were scattered along the rim of South Navajo Drive and Aspen Street. Even though these photos are black and white, these tiny houses made a bold statement all their own in their hot pinkish paint jobs. I’ve heard these referred to as transa homes too, but I’m sticking with transit. I hope that doesn’t drive any of you away, or to drinking. In a previous post, I mentioned these homes and you can see an aerial shot of them by clicking >>HERE<<.
This first picture is one of my favorites. The quality and detail are amazing. I’ll say a couple things about it underneath it. I give you…. the transit homes….
It looks like a serene winter day. And there just happens to be a 57 Chevy sitting there. No offense to the Rambler of course. This shot was taken looking along South Navajo Drive. In the background, you can see the houses continue along Aspen Street. Notice the dirt (sand) road and sidewalk. In the distance you can see the old X and Y school buildings and the Catholic Church. Behind that is the water tower. To the left of the X and Y buildings is the Southern Baptist Church and LeChee. The white rooftop in front of LeChee may be the Episcopal Church, but I’ve been wrong before. The building on the far left of the photo is the edge of the school D building, which would have been newly constructed about this time. Here’s another view…
I’m not sure if this one was taken along South Navajo or Aspen Street. But the large tank in the background that’s peeking over the roof of the closest home, caught me by surprise. I’m not sure what that was. This may have been taken the same day as the first picture. It was taken during the colder months, or the evap coolers would have been uncovered. Check out the 3rd home down the row. That round, white thing almost looks like a satellite dish! LOL.
-Mike
Here’s a cool shot of a swimming competition in the Manson Mesa Pool. This is undated, but I’m guessing very early 60s. Earlier, I posted a blog and a sweet picture of the Manson Mesa pool under construction. If you want to check out that post, click here.
Are you in this crowd? Do you remember this day? I spent many hours in this pool, but I don’t remember being there for this. This pool was on the corner of South Navajo Drive and 7th Avenue. The football field would have been behind the photographer and the Pink Sans/7th Avenue was to the right of the picture. You can see the Mountain Bell building on the left side of the picture and the hospital and USBR offices are in the background. I wrote a blog about the USBR building HERE if you want to take a look. I think the long building in the background on the right side of the picture is the old Vostron Building, which is now the Page city offices. The Manson Mesa pool is long gone.
-Mike
This first picture looks like something out of a Normal Rockwell painting. My first thought was that it was the original Exxon (Enco) gas station on the corner of 7th Avenue and Elm, but the wall under construction on the right side of the photo would have to be the Empire House, and that’s not the Empire House. Plus, other pictures of the old Exxon station show a completely different layout with two garage bays on the left side of the building. That’s how I remember it.
After digging a little further, I realized this is the old Richfield station that was on the corner of South Navajo and 7th Avenue (Lake Powell BLVD). You can see 7th Avenue starting to curve toward church row. The building under construction on the right is the First Baptist Church. The last time I was in Page, this gas station had been turned into a fast food restaurant. The quality of this photo is amazing. So are the two pickup trucks! The MCS apartments are visible on the left behind the small trailers. It looks like they’re under construction. The white building further back is probably the American Legion building and beyond that, the original trailer court. This is a good shot of Tower Butte and Navajo Mountain in the background. I’m not sure what that billboard says in the background. Even zoomed in, I can’t read it.
The bottom picture is of the same building some time later. I wonder if the Cadillac was pink. Neither picture is dated and I don’t know who the photographer was.
-Mike
There were a lot of movies and a handful of TV episodes filmed in the Page area in those early years. The ones that stand out to me while growing up there were The Greatest Story Ever Told, Planet of the Apes, Easy Rider, and later, The Outlaw Jose Wales. But who could forget the epic TV series, Route 66, starring Martin Milner of Adam-12 fame and…. that other guy. What was his name? Oh yea, George Maharis. In the series, they were Tod (with one d) and Buz (with one z). They drove the old Route 66 in that cool Stingray and did things.
Season 1, episode 9 was filmed in Page. The first picture below captured the filming of one of the scenes at or near the airport. The cool Stingray is sitting there, waiting for action. This episode aired on November 2, 1960 and was entitled, Layout at Glen Canyon. If this scene was shot at the airport, I lived a stone’s throw from where it was filmed. Check it out…
I grabbed the screen shot below from the IMDB web site when I searched for Route 66. It filled in some of the gaps for me. Unfortunately, I can’t find that episode anywhere. Netfix only has the first two episodes of season one. I sure would like to watch it. If any of you come across it, please let me know.
I know I said I wasn’t going to blog anything here until after December, but this was too good to wait. Enjoy!
-Mike
Hey all, I’m taking a break from blogging for the month of December and I’ll pick back up again in January. I want to leave you with a Christmas picture of early Page. Check it out…
There isn’t anything written on the back of this picture except the name of the photographer and the date. I don’t know who that was dressed up as Santa. At first, I thought this was in the school gymnasium, which would have been new that year. But the more I look at it, I think it was somewhere else. That door in the background has a big window in it and the doors to the gym weren’t like that, at least not that I remember. I also thought at first that those were bleachers along the back wall, but I think it’s only a bench of some sort. Does anyone know what building this was in? There are two faces that I recognize, but I don’t have names to go with them.
How about you? Do you see any familiar faces in this shot? If so, let me know.
Enjoy your holidays and I will “see” you next year!
-Mike
Here’s an aerial shot of Page giving us a good look at 7th Avenue (now Lake Powell BLVD) and some of the early town construction. It’s undated, but 1960-61 is a good guess. I’ve had this photo for a long time and I don’t remember where I got it for sure (maybe Brian Keisling) and I’ve never known who took it or who marked up the different locations. But those are helpful, so let’s run through them.
LPB is Lake Powell BLVD (7th Ave). HAIR was the barber shop. I’m assuming the barber was Hank. Does anybody remember him? The barber shop eventually moved to the plaza near the theatre. That plaza isn’t built yet in this picture. K is the present location of the Circle K and NAV is North Navajo Drive. The unmarked building on the corner above North Navajo was a Gulf gas station. We used to ride our bikes there and fill up gas cans for my friend’s mini bike and our golf cart. The building marked BS isn’t a reference to a crappy building, but is referring to Redd’s Bottle Stop. It’s now the location of Stix Market. BAB is referring to Babbitt’s. First National Bank was also in that building. I’m putting a picture of that building below to give you a better look. LL was the Little League field. M is referring to the outdoor movie screen. K is a reference to Keisling’s gas station. You can see that Elm Street hasn’t been built yet on the right side of LPB. E is referring to the old Empire House. The last time I was in Page, that had become something else but I don’t remember now what it is. My first job as a teenager was as a busboy at the Empire House and my mom was one of the cashiers there for years. MCS is referring to the MCS apartments. PS is the Pink Sans. FB is the future site of the football field. It looks like it’s not there yet in this picture. The buildings just below FB must be the Manson Mesa pool. You’ll notice South Navajo isn’t there yet either, but you can see part of the park to the right if the pool. I think the dark line below the pool and the park is a fence. When I first saw this picture, I thought it was a road that is no longer there. But looking closer, I don’t see a break in the curb along LPB, so I’m pretty sure it was one of the many fences put up all over the place to stop blowing sand. They didn’t work too good. Looking along church row, you can see a few churches springing up, along with the teacher’s apartments on the opposite side of the road.
The picture below is a closer look at Babbitt’s and First National Bank, located in the building in the above picture behind The Bottle Stop (Stix Market).
-Mike
