Out Of The Past

A group of skiers on the San Francisco Peaks. The first ski routes were blazed on the San Fransico Peaks in the late 1930s. Photo circa 1950.

WILLIAMS, Ariz. — At the intersection of Third Street and Bill Williams Avenue, a pressed concrete structure was erected in 1912 and has held its place as cornerstone of Williams, Arizona.

For thousands of years the Native Americans of northern Arizona have known the 1.6 million acres that is now Kaibab National Forest to be fertile hunting grounds for deer, elk and pronghorn.

Myrtle Smart, Aileen Klass, Fred Udine and Norman Campbell ride in the 1950s Williams Labor Day Parade.

Out of the past: Williams High School Thespians, 1966

Train cars sit next to the railroad tracks after a 1940s train crash near Williams.

Williams residents prepare for the annual Labor Day Parade.

The Bill Williams Mountain Men circa 1950s featured on the front of a post card outside of the Sultana Bar in downtown Williams.

Williams Labor Day Parade 1950, from Brad Massey family collection.

The Thunderbird Inn in Williams, circa 1950s.

Eddie January competes in the Williams Rodeo in 1950.

Ranchers bring in cattle in Williams in 1925.

Children play in a large pile of snow in the empty lot next to the Williams News building in 1948.

I worked with all of these people as a soda jerk one summer and weekends.

A fire breaks out at the Williams Motor Company on Second Street in June 1945.

Smiths Corner Drug in Williams, circa 1950s. The Gallery in Williams now occupies that building.

A 76 gas station, Swetak custom body shop and a hotel line Third Street in Williams in 1950. It is the same location today to Cruiser's Restaurant and Brewcade.

The World Famous Sultana Theatre in Williams, circa 1941.

An unidentified home, likely in the city of Williams, circa 1900.

Williams High School Thespians circa 1966.

WILLIAMS, Ariz. — Long before Bear Grylls and Cody Lundin, mountain men were immersing themselves in the wild, encountering nature, and testing their skills in survival, exploration and endurance.

The Old Williams High School receiving flagpole repair, circa 1960.

Out of the past: Lost Canyon Ranch and turkey hunters

A holiday card from Y. C. Shen depicting Bill Williams Avenue (Historic Route 66) looking east from Second Street, circa 1940.

On March 5, 1964 Williams members of the McNelly and Theroux families display a mountain lion after a hunt.