A water tower and an overpass

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In the 1930s, a couple of men came to Maricopa and set up a woodcutting business. They contacted the people on the reservation and arranged to haul mesquite trees and limbs into Maricopa for cutting. This wood was sawed into pieces about 18 inches long for easy handling.

In the photograph from the 1930s, Nina DeHart is seen with her mother and stacked wood.

While driving north on State Route 347 from Maricopa, one can see many of the stumps of the mesquite trees.

The approximate location of where the historic photo was taken, along Maricopa Avenue in the Heritage district. [Brian Petersheim Jr]
In today’s Maricopa, the only portion of the photo from the 1930s still around is the historic water tower. The other houses and wood stacks are long gone and once sat where the John Wayne Parkway overpass is today. On the left side of the older photo, you can see the old Maricopa train station.

This story was first published in the January edition of InMaricopa magazine.