Maricopa’s 1910 love affair with autos

Maricopa’s 1910 love affair with autos

The newspaper publisher of the Bisbee Daily Review, with a statistical turn of mind and tongue in cheek humor, discovered that “Maricopa had every place in the world skinned for automobiles…Maricopa now has more automobiles in proportion to the population than any other city or town in the world. There is one machine to every nine inhabitants.” (Maricopa Census in 1900:160) 

The reporter suggests that Maricopa has a right to be proud of this record, but “travelers have noticed that the place has worn a more bustling hopeful air of late. Perhaps this is the reason the junction town is chesty.” 

According to the 1910 newspaper article, the principal industry in Maricopa was the hotel business. Two of its residents were hotel proprietors, and the remaining 16 worked for either one of the hotels or the railroad. “The proprietors of the palatial hostelries known as the Maricopa Hotel (McCarthy Hotel) and Williams House are also the proprietors of the buzz wagons.”  

J. F. McCarthy, owner of the Stoddard Dayton car, also operated the Maricopa Hotel. According to the article, “…McCarthy was very modest about it when he told Perry Williams, the owner and manager of the rival house, he was very sorry that the place was not paying enough to permit him to own an auto, too.”

Up to this point, Perry had not shown much interest in automobiles, but this was a challenge he could not ignore. Therefore, he woke up early the next morning, packed his gear and boarded the M&PRR to Phoenix. He was gone for a couple of days and returned with an Overland purchased from the Pratt-Gilbert Company in Phoenix. This was a reason for much rejoicing in the community.

How did this affect his business rival across the way? Well, McCarthy had to rejoice, too. He suggested to Perry that they take lots of trips together, but concluded with….”the Overland, of course, does not compare to the Stoddard Dayton ($3,000) anymore than the Williams House compares with the Maricopa (Hotel).” 

The following day, McCarthy discovered to his dismay that his prized Stoddard was on the blink and whether it was spark plugs, steering gear, carburetor…no one seemed to know. However, the Overland was running just fine, and Perry decided he would take it on a little road test around town to get the parts operating smoothly.  Problem was…the best road he could find for this drive was around McCarthy’s hotel.   According to the jovial reporter from Bisbee, there was a lot of honking going on…  McCarthy went to the door a few times and shook his fist at Williams, advising him of “better places, he could go a sight warmer than Maricopa.”  However, Williams was not interested in blazing any new and strange trails and politely suggested that McCarthy go ahead in the Stoddard-Dayton.

In a couple of days, McCarthy had repaired his Dayton, and both Williams and McCarthy were friends again. 

Photo courtesy of the Maricopa Historical Society

Editor’s note:  Maricopa factoids are a regular feature on InMaricopa.com. They are provided by the Maricopa Historical Society, a branch of the Friends of the Maricopa Public Library. Most of the photos and information come from “Reflections of a Desert Town” by author and historical society chairperson Patricia Brock.