A chilly snow day sounded good as I sit here in the summer heat of the southwest. This photo is undated but must be early 60s. These snowstorms could bring some nice clouds to the area and sometimes would stick around for weeks. This could be Second Avenue looking toward Date Street. Second Avenue sat empty of houses for years until construction began on the power plant and the town’s population began to rise again. Click on the picture to enlarge it and zoom in.
This photo is undated but it’s 1960ish, give or take a year. I don’t know what the event was. Possibly a parade. We had a lot of those back then. This view is looking down 7th Avenue toward the dam site. It’s now Lake Powell BLVD. The Pink Sans Drive-In is just off the picture to the right and the Manson Mesa Pool is just off the picture to the left. You can see the Page Club Cafe and the Empire House on the right. To the far left is the brand new Rexall Drug sitting all by itself. First National Bank of AZ is also visible on the left. The road hasn’t been paved yet. Click on the picture to enlarge it and zoom in.
Were you there on this day? Do you remember what was going on? If so, leave a comment.
Here’s a great shot of the Page Trailer Court dated 12-14-60. Click on it to zoom in and scroll to the far right. Do you see the trailer sitting at an angle behind the airport hanger? That was our trailer. Yea!!! I finally found a picture of it to prove I existed. You’ll also see the drive-in theatre screen and the corrals in the background. The trailer court eventually expanded to include more streets/trailers on the left side of the court, similar to the expansion you see already in place on the right side. At the far left of the photo, you’ll notice a couple of the MCS apartments.
Here’s an 8mm YouTube home movie I came across with some excellent shots of the construction of Glen Canyon Dam, Glen Canyon Bridge, and Page Arizona from the late 1950s. This video captures some great moments of that time. Enjoy!
This photo captures a time in Page that I remember well. Click on it to enlarge and zoom in. There are some things worth noting. First, this was taken in 1971 at a time when Bechtel was coming into town to build Navajo Generating Station (NGS). The time between the completion of Glen Canyon Dam in 1964 until movement started on NGS construction in the very late 60s/early 70s, saw the population of Page dwindle considerably. I remember many, if not most, of the USBR houses and MCS apartments sat empty for a number of years from 1964ish to 1970ish.
The photo above shows the abandoned MCS trailer park as it was being re-populated with the coming of Bechtel and its associated trades. Our trailer site is long gone in this picture but the tree that was near our front yard is still there at the top right corner of the picture, behind the airport hanger. This is a good aerial shot of the Empire House, Page Club Restaurant, Sportsman Headquarters, Pink Sans, and a few of the early gas stations. Is that the Teen Canteen still standing near the curve of the old dirt road between the MCS Apartments and the trailer court? I’m not 100% sure, but it could be.
The original business district foundation slab is still visible on the left edge of the photo, near where present-day STIX Market is. That was where the original Babbitt’s, the bank, barber shop, et al, were located. You might remember Redd’s Bottle Stop being to the left of that slab along what was then, 7th Avenue. The concrete slab that was an outdoor movie screen and dance floor is still there in this picture, located behind Keisling’s gas station. If I remember correctly, the white rectangle building set back from 7th Avenue near the left edge of the photo and near the old Babbitt’s slab, was the Dairy Queen. The building in front of it, that’s only partially visible, was DeWitt’s Kentucky Fried Chicken. I was a cook there for a time during High School. Mr. Dewitt was not only one of my teachers, but my boss. Talk about pressure! 🙂
I came across this video showing some good footage of the Glen Canyon Dam construction as well as some great shots of early Page Arizona. Some of the narration gets a little cheesy but the footage is amazing. You may even recognize some of the faces. I was surprised to see Chet Huntley narrating it. After the first minute and half to two minutes in, it picks up and gets good. The total length is only 27 minutes.
Enjoy!
Here’s a sample of what awaits you inside. Click an image to enlarge it.
Source: The LeGate family. No caption on back.
I’m glad I was able to scan this photo before there was any more water damage. I’m not sure what this meeting was about, or where it occurred for sure. There was nothing written on the back. Was this inside the USBR warehouse? Are you in this picture? Do you recognize anyone in it? Please leave me a comment if you do.
-Mike
Thanks Tim McDaniels for supplying this photo showing the service road bridge being placed as construction on Glen Canyon Dam nears completion in 1964. The back of the photo reads:
“Glen Canyon Unit: Girders for the right abutment service road bridge being lowered into place by the two 50-ton high lines.”
The concrete batch plant is still standing on the left side of the picture, but its days are numbered. Click on the photo and zoom in to see the details. These old black & white USBR photos have incredible resolution. Click the photo for a closer view.
-Mike
Glen Canyon Chronicles 