Peters and Nall Road: Johnny Peters and Chester Nall (1947)

Rosemary Peters remembers her grandfather was a cotton farmer in Coolidge, Ariz., in the 1940-50s.

“He helped my father (Johnny Peters) and Uncle Chester Nall to get started with farming in Maricopa in 1947. They cultivated the land and raised cotton for many years in Maricopa. The Juan Sanchez family worked for them during their cotton growing years in Maricopa. Chester Nall was married to my dad’s sister, Bobbie Peters Nall. Aunt Bobbie is the only one living from that family. She is 86 years old and lives in Kingman, Ariz. My dad and Chester Nall (Peters and Nall Road) were also active throughout their Maricopa years with community projects and both served on the school board.” 

What are some of Rosemary’s more vivid memories of living in Maricopa in the 1940-50s?

“I remember every year at flood season when water came running through our living room, and my dad took us to Coolidge to my grandparents. My father, Chester and the Sanchez men would stay up all night building a dike with the caterpillar and shovels. We got new carpet every year.”

According to Rosemary, “I remember when the Maricopa Pool was built. Until then we went swimming in ditches until Craig’s dad, Rufus Cooper, dug a dirt hole at Porter’s Ranch (NE Porter Road & Maricopa-Casa Grande Hwy) with a caterpillar. It was called Porter’s Swimming Pool. Kids came from miles around to swim in that pool, and teenagers spent many nights splashing and visiting with one another.

“I loved growing up in Maricopa. There was only one school bus when I was in the first grade. It made two trips daily to pick everyone up before school started. The kids who lived in our area, which included my brothers, sisters, the Sanchez kids, and myself, were able to ride on the first trip. We were lucky because we got to play softball and other sports until the bus got back with the second load. That is why we were all so good at sports.”

Rosemary reminisced, “I went to kindergarten in Coolidge, but when I was six years old, we moved to Maricopa where I started first grade in the 1914 two-room schoolhouse.  First grade through fourth grades were in one room, and fifth grade through eighth grades were located in the other. I graduated from the eighth grade as co-valedictorian with Linda Miller.” 

After these students graduated from the eighth grade in 1954-55, the community made a decision to build a high school so their children did not have to travel such a great distance to high school. It was Rosemary’s eighth grade graduating class that started as freshmen at Maricopa High School in 1955, using the same building that served as the office for Maricopa Elementary School in 2006. 

Rosemary and her future husband, Craig Cooper, were members of the first Maricopa High School graduating class in 1959, and Rosemary was its first valedictorian. “At the time, I wanted to go to Casa Grande High School so badly, but when I look back on it, I realize we were the pioneers in helping to start the high school, and I have many happy memories of those times!” 

After graduation, Rosemary married her high school sweetheart Craig Cooper, and they moved to California. “We have three wonderful children who live in California. They are Kim, who is 46; Rod is 44 and Greg is 43. In addition, we have four grandchildren. I worked for Imperial Irrigation District, a water and power company for 30 years. We moved back to Arizona in March of 2004 after living in California all those years.”

Photo: Courtesy of Trini Sanchez Byrd (bottom row 2nd from left Trini Sanchez; sixth from left Edna Farrrell and 7th from left Rosemary Peters)

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 information comes from “Reflections of a Desert Town” by author and historical society chairperson Patricia Brock. 

Gift Cards are available for Brock’s the new book: “Images of America: Maricopa” along with a short story of Maricopa. Contact Brock at 480-821-0604 or [email protected] to purchase a gift card or to reserve a copy of the book.