History keepers
Park, which was established in the early 1900s after William Kriegbaum of Riverside, Calif., claimed 640 acres. In 1916, Akron, Ohio-based Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.
U
ncovering the West Valley’s rich heritage is like put- ting together a jigsaw puzzle.
Historians focus on accuracy to create a picture of the past Much of the West Valley’s historical roots began in Litchfi eld
A single jagged piece connects to a hundred others to tell a story bigger than the sum of its parts.
area’s history, other sources such as a thesis by a second-grade teacher at Litchfi eld School, helped historians learn about the city’s past, said Celeste Crouch, an area historian. “When I started the Litchfi eld Park Historical Society, I took that thesis and made copies of it. I handed it out to the City Council, the West Valley View, anyone who might connect back to us as a historical site,” she said. “That thesis was a real key on where to go to get history and how to fi nd people.”
History in pieces Word soon traveled and history started to come to the histo-
you start,” she said. “People will come to you if you let them know you’re available.” For Tolleson historians Jimmy Ruiz and Jim Green, learning the stories of the past began with hundreds of photographs. The two were approached by Arcadia Publishing to chronicle
rian, Crouch said. “It’s surprisingly interesting to fi nd people will fi nd you once
sent Paul W. Litchfi eld, then a junior executive with the compa- ny, to purchase 16,000 acres, which included the land claims of the original settlers. They needed to grow Egyptian long-staple cotton for tire manufacturing. Although the tire company provided detailed accounts of the
Litchfi eld Park historian Judy Cook shows off artifacts in the archive room at the Litchfi eld Park Historical Society in Litchfi eld Park. The Society is researching thousands of photos and documents in hopes they will eventually go on display to the public.
To Egypt and back again
Judy Cook shows a 1920 photo of Kenneth McMicken, a cousin of Litchfi eld Park founder Paul Litchfi eld, as he sits in front of the Egyptian pyramids. McMicken traveled to Egypt in 1920 to learn how the Egyptians grew cotton and to bring farming tips back to West Valley cotton growers. A record of McMicken’s trip is preserved in a scrapbook he kept complete with illustrated farming diagrams and photographs he took at cotton facilities throughout Egypt. The scrapbook was donated to the Litchfi eld Park Historical Society.
Tolleson’s history in a book, which featured mostly old photographs. Ruiz had collected hundreds of photos over the years and they
served as the book’s starting point. “We began to look at his photos and support those … we began to make contacts with the citizens in the community who
Spring/Summer 2012
would have some reason to have older photographs,” Green said. “We wanted a historical perspective on how things began
100 Vista — West Valley View, Avondale, Arizona years
See HISTORIANS on V16 V15
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