|
| |
The Snowflake area is known as the "Hub" of the
White Mountains as it is centrally located. Only an hour's drive from many
great outdoor activities such as camping,
hunting, fishing, and skiing.
From Phoenix, the towns of Snowflake-Taylor are a
pleasant three hour drive to enjoy year-round golfing at the Snowflake
Municipal Golf Course. The course is adjacent to a 90 space RV park
and set amidst the beautiful Snowflake Country Club Estates. The town
offers two motels with over 65 rooms for travelers, along with local
restaurants and cafes that provide an "Old West" atmosphere.
James Stinson, a cattleman engaged in supplying cattle to
a military post, established his Rancho Rio De La Plata on the Silver
Creek. He first saw the Silver Creek valley in about 1870 to 1873. He
hired about 400 Mexican workers and they soon had 300 acres under
irrigation.
In the summer of 1878, a group of Mormon pioneers,
including Erastus Snow and William J. Flake, were sent on colonization
missions by Brigham Young. They settled on the Stinson Ranch and named the
townsite Snowflake. That same year, settlers also founded Taylor, named in
honor of John Taylor, a president of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-Day saints. Many descendants of these pioneers are still in the
area.
Many
of the homes of the first generation of settlers still remain in a
habitable condition with their original decorations and are listed with
the Arizona State Historic Preservation Office. Six, of the over one
hundred homes, are listed on the National Register of Historic Buildings.
Visitors to Snowflake-Taylor will enjoy a walking or driving tour of these
many historic buildings. There are numerous fine examples of Victorian,
Georgian, Greek Revival, Gothic, Colonial, and Neoclassical architecture.
Three of the homes are historical museums which can be toured on week days
or by appointment.
Area Attractions
- The Sinks: Unique geological formations where the ground has
sunken into subterranean faults and created huge craters.
- Petroglyphs: Areas of Silver Creek Canyon where past native
inhabitants have covered the walls with symbolic writings telling
events of their time.
- Taylor Cemetery: Buried under rows of towering spruce.
Pioneers were told spruce trees could not be transplanted there, nor
would they grow.
- Black Mesa: Unusual flat-top mountain/ridge covered with
Indian ruins and history of the area.
- Cabin "found in a fire": An old pioneer home that
burned and revealed a complete cabin that had been converted to a
sewing room in the house built around it.
- Pioneer memorial homes: Tour them in the summer for an
interesting trip to the pioneer past.
For further information, contact:
-
Snowflake/Taylor Chamber of Commerce
P.O. Box 776
Snowflake, AZ 85937
phone: (520) 536-4331
-
Town of Snowflake
81 W. First Street
Snowflake, AZ 85937
phone: (520) 536-7103
-
Town of Taylor
P.O. Box 158
Taylor, AZ 85939
phone: (520) 536-7366
-
White Mountain Regional
Development Corporation
1201 E. Cooley, Suite F
Show Low, AZ 85901
phone: (520) 537-3777 or (800) 818-2520
email: wmrdc@cybertrails.com
|
|