ASLEEP IN THE STADIUM Adapted and installed in Corn image at Smith/Martin Station

My father was a professor at ASU. His offices and classrooms were on Apache and College by the old stadium long before the present ASU stadium was built. When he attended Arizona State Teachers College much earlier he said, "I slept on a cot provided by Mr. Neeb [Dean] in that stadium. It was terribly hot with no air conditioning, not even a fan. When the football playing field was irrigated the odor from the Bermuda grass almost made me ill." 1934

SWITCHBOARD     Installed at Dorsey Station - Changes Series (two medallions)

My mother got a job as a switch board operator for the telephone company in Tempe in 1932. The college had about twenty phones. There were less than 350 other phones in Tempe. The system was to plug in a jack, push a key and say, "number please". [1932]

SALT RIVER PICNIC Adapted and installed in Corn image at Price Station

Before the dams were built the Salt river ran through Tempe. The old bridge had settled and sagged in one place and I was afraid it would collapse when we crossed it. A new modern bridge was built when I was in high school. [Graduation from Tempe Union High School 1936] One of our family's favorite activities in the evening was to take a picnic to the river and to fish or swim. We use to fish by sitting on one of the pillars under the bridge. While swimming in the  river one evening I lost a Sapphire ring that I had received on my tenth birthday. [1936]

FLOWER FARM

My grandparents, Charles and Irene Watson bought the 17 acres of land behind the flower shop in 1931.  My family and I have A TON of stories for you! Here is an example.

On April 3, 1987, Eva Watson Johnson Quist (my mother, and oldest daughter of Charles & Irene) was interviewed by the Mesa Historical Society.  Eva lived at 2425 E. Apache Blvd for 62 years behind Watson's Flower shop.  (I lived behind the flower shop on Apache Blvd for 50 years) The transcript of the interview is 16 pages long.  The following are excerpts of that interview:

Oh, we moved out on that farm in the spring of 1933 and we bought the farm from the Openshaw Estate and so we have lived in that same location and have raised all the children and everything on that location, in 1933 to now,  that is 55 years?  55 years and so it has been our swimming hole, our recreation, our exercise and our mental exertion.  (Laughs).  1930s to 1980s

WORN OUT TRACTORS   Adapted and installed in Corn image at McClintock Station

Yes, I've worn out three tractors out there.  Through those years, I did most all the farm work, especially when I became a widow.  I became lead farmer and I was thankful for my early training in farming because I learned how to irrigate, how to cultivate, how to plow, how to use all kinds of equipment and how to grow flowers from my mother.  It has helped me a great deal.  And my nursing has helped me.  I've raised cows, calves and it's helped me keep them healthy and helped me keep my family healthy.  I have very, very few doctor bills.  1930s to 1980s

TOO HOT, TOO COLD  Adapted and installed in Corn image at Smith/Martin Station

After my family came to Arizona, my mother often longed to go back to visit her relatives, like women do, we all do it.  And she would say, "Oh, I want to go up and see my brothers and sisters."  We had no money, we could not go and I heard my father say one day, * "This is a land where you never shovel snow and I don't care if I never leave here!" (laughing) He was from Canada, he lived in Canada where it was real cold.  He said, "You can always cool off but you can't always get warm and that is a blessing that we know we have in Arizona.  We complain of the heat but it's not half as bad as some peoples' cold."   1930s

Agriculture Notes  Adapted and installed in Corn image at McClintock Station

Corn pollen migrates through the silks to the ovaries

Local growers replaced alfalfa and dairy with Pima Long Staple cotton acreage. 1912

Cotton from Egypt and Sudan was unavailable during WW1.  1914-1920

Cotton value crashed from $1.50/lb to .28  1920