Solomonville, Arizona

Solomonville is a small unincorporated town in Graham County, Arizona, United States. It is part of the Safford Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

The town's origins go back to the indigenous peoples of the region. Little is known of its history prior to the coming of Europeans.

In the early 19th century settlers who fit the modern term Hispanic came to the region. They named the town they founded "Pueblo Viejo" because of the previous Native American settlement, the ruins of which were still visible. [http://mexicoarizona.com/t-solomonville.htm MABS - Solomonville ] ]

In the 1870s Mormons moved to the region. The Solomonville Ward web site says no Mormons moved to Solomonville until 1884 [https://secure.lds.org/units/home/0,9781,600-1-7-35661,00.html This is an official site of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ] ] They began large scale irrigation. The current name of the town is for Isadore Elkan Solomon, a German immigrant who came to the town in the 1870s. Solomon was a Jew. [http://www.ahfweb.org/download/Ramenofsky_MSS_117.pdf] He moved to Solomonville with his wife and three children, the oldest of whom was three. His wife already had family members in New Mexico. [http://www.library.arizona.edu/exhibits/swja/v24solomonville.htm Bloom Southwest Jewish Archives ] ] Their first stop in the southwest was in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Mrs. Solomon and the children lived there for four months while I. E. Solomon was searching for a place to start up business, and he eventually settled on the current town of Solomonville. When the Solomon's came to town there were only five residences in the town. . The idea for the name was suggested by the local postman, William H. Kirkland.

From the 1880s to about 1910 Solomonville had over 1000 residents. [http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/6410/edition_id/119/format/html/displaystory.html j. - Couple wed in Wild West town of pioneering ancestors ] ] In 1898 the town had a baseball team. [ [http://parentseyes.arizona.edu/bloom/findingaids/sja006.htm Bloom Southwest Jewish Archives ] ] From 1873-1915 Solomonville was the seat of Graham County. [ [http://www.azcommerce.com/doclib/commune/graham%20county.pdf Microsoft Word - Graham County.doc ] ] [ [http://genealogytrails.com/ariz/graham/index.html index ] ]

In 1906 Frieda Mashbir, the sister of Solomon's wife Anna, was made the postmistress for Solomonville. [ [http://www.storiesuntold.org/women/solomon_text.html Anna Solomon ] ]

The Mormons never formed a majority of the town's population. It is the only town in this specific area besides Safford that has not been historically dominated by Mormons. [ [http://www.logoi.com/notes/mormon-arizona/on-the-upper-gila.html On the Upper Gila ] ] It was not until January 1920 that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints organized a branch at Solomonville. It was made a ward the following year, with Elder George Albert Smith presideng over the organizing of the ward. This first organization of the ward was extremely short lived, since it was made a branch again after less than three months as a ward. The branch was again made a ward on February 26th, 1928. Leslie W. Layton was the bishop at this time. The ward had a membership of 182 in 1930 (counting 44 children who were under the age of eight and so not actually baptized church members). The town and immediate outlying areas had a population of 1,283 people in 1930. [Jenson, Andrew. "Encyclopedic History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1941) p. 808.]

In 1940 there were 753 inhabitants in Solomonville. [Columbia-Lippincott Gazetter, 1952, p. 1793]

In 1952 a red brick ward building was dedicated. In the 1970s under Bishop Rex O. Barney the building was remodeled and added to, and was rededicated November 18th, 1979.

In 1979 there were about 250 ward members. By some time prior to September 2007 the ward had over 450 members.

By the 1990s Solomonville itself only had a population of 250

Present Conditions

Solomonville has its own school district. [ [http://www.fedspending.org/faads/faads.php?reptype=r&detail=-1&datype=T&sortby=t&recipient_cd=AZ01&database=faads&recip_id=797694&fiscal_year=2005&record_num=f500 Federal Assistance for Recipient Congressional District : Arizona 1 (Rick Renzi), Federal Fiscal Year : 2005, Recipient : SERRANO, ANTONIO SERRANO, EDWIN in state NM, Level of Detail : Summary ] ] The Solomonville Unified School District operates one elementary school, serving K-6.

Popular Culture

Legend holds that there is large amount of loot stored in the area of Solomonville. [ [http://www.legendsofamerica.com/AZ-Treasures6.html Outlaw Gang Lost Loot in Arizona ] ]

Sources

External links

* http://www.library.arizona.edu/exhibits/swja/v24solomonville.htm