Place:Flagstaff, Coconino, Arizona, United States

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source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Flagstaff is a city in, and the county seat of, Coconino County in northern Arizona, in the southwestern United States. In 2019, the city's estimated population was 75,038. Flagstaff's combined metropolitan area has an estimated population of 139,097.

Flagstaff lies near the southwestern edge of the Colorado Plateau and within the San Francisco volcanic field, along the western side of the largest contiguous ponderosa pine forest in the continental United States. The city sits at about and is next to Mount Elden, just south of the San Francisco Peaks, the highest mountain range in the state of Arizona. Humphreys Peak, the highest point in Arizona at , is about north of Flagstaff in Kachina Peaks Wilderness. The geology of the Flagstaff area includes exposed rock from the Mesozoic and Paleozoic eras, with Moenkopi Formation red sandstone having once been quarried in the city; many of the historic downtown buildings were constructed with it. The Rio de Flag river runs through the city.

Originally settled by the pre-Columbian native Sinagua people, the area of Flagstaff has fertile land from volcanic ash after eruptions in the 11th century. It was first settled as the present-day city in 1876. Local businessmen lobbied for Route 66 to pass through the city, which it did, turning the local industry from lumber to tourism and developing downtown Flagstaff. In 1930, Pluto was discovered from Flagstaff. The city developed further through to the end of the 1960s, with various observatories also used to choose Moon landing sites for the Apollo missions. Through the 1970s and 1980s, downtown fell into disrepair, but was revitalized with a major cultural heritage project in the 1990s.

The city remains an important distribution hub for companies such as Nestlé Purina PetCare, and is home to the U.S. Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station, the United States Geological Survey Flagstaff Station, and Northern Arizona University. Flagstaff has a strong tourism sector, due to its proximity to Grand Canyon National Park, Oak Creek Canyon, the Arizona Snowbowl, Meteor Crater, and Historic Route 66.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Early history

The Sinagua people were a pre-Columbian culture that occupied a large area in Arizona between circa 500 and 1425 CE. The Northern Sinagua were living in the pine forests of northern Arizona before moving into the area that is now Flagstaff about 700 CE. The 1064 and 1066 eruptions of Sunset Crater covered the area in ash, which greatly enriched the soil for farming;^[1][2] this also caused a population growth in the area, with Ancestral Puebloans and Cohonina people also moving to the Wupatki site near the city.

The Northern Sinagua had various cultural phases, including Sunset Crater, the Rio de Flag (leaving the Picture Canyon site), Angell and Winona, Padre Canyon, Elden Pueblo, Turkey Hill Pueblo, Clear Creek,^[2] and Walnut Canyon. The Sinagua peoples left the area by the early 15th century, likely moving north and later becoming the Hopi. The San Francisco Peaks, which overlook Flagstaff, are a sacred site in Hopi culture.

Until western expansion in the 1860s, the Yavapai, specifically the (Northeastern Yavapai), occupied the land up to the San Francisco Peaks. The Yavapai land in the area saw overlap with the land of the Northern Tonto Apache that stretched across the San Francisco Peaks to the Little Colorado River. Of the Northern Tonto Apache, two tribes lived within the area of present-day Flagstaff: the Oak Creek band and the Mormon Lake band. The Mormon Lake band were centered around Flagstaff and were exclusively hunter-gatherers, traveling around places like the foot of the San Francisco Peaks, at Mount Elden, Lake Mary, Stoneman Lake, and Padre Canyon.

19th century

The area of Flagstaff had a wagon road to California in the 1800s, constructed by Edward Fitzgerald Beale's men.^[3] The first white (non-Native) settlement in the area was established by Edward Whipple, who opened a saloon on the wagon road in 1871. The first permanent settlement came in 1876, when Thomas F. McMillan built a cabin just north of the present-day main town. McMillan was a key developer of northern Arizona.^[4]

During the 1880s, Flagstaff began to grow,^[5] and by 1886, Flagstaff was the largest city on the railroad line between Albuquerque and the west coast of the United States. In 1888, McMillan purchased an unfinished building that sits at the present-day intersection of Leroux Street and Route 66/Santa Fe Avenue, turning it into a bank and hotel known as the Bank Hotel.^[4] Coconino County was created in 1891, and Flagstaff was chosen as its county seat over nearby Williams.^[5]

In 1894, A. E. Douglass recommended Flagstaff to Percival Lowell as the site for the Lowell Observatory, where it was built on Mars Hill. Flagstaff also became incorporated as a town in 1894.^[3] The city grew rapidly, primarily due to its location along the east–west transcontinental railroad line in the United States. In the 1890s, the Arizona Lumber and Timber Company was founded by the Riordan brothers to process timber. Michael and Tim Riordan worked in Flagstaff, and introduced electricity to the town for this purpose.^[5] The Riordan brothers established the first library in Flagstaff. The CO Bar Ranch was opened in about 1886 by the Babbitt brothers for cattle. The Babbitt family would be very influential in northern Arizona for decades.^[6] In 1899, the Northern Arizona Normal School was established; it was renamed to Northern Arizona University (NAU) in 1966.^[7]

On January 1, 1900, John Weatherford opened the Weatherford Hotel in Flagstaff. Weatherford opened the town's first movie theater in 1911; it collapsed under heavy snowfall a few years later, but he soon replaced it with the Orpheum Theater. The Weatherford Hotel and Orpheum Theater are still in use today.^[5]

1912–1969

The state of Arizona was admitted to the Union in 1912. Flagstaff saw its first tourism boom in the early years of the 1900s, becoming known as the City of Seven Wonders, as the "Seven Wonders" of the wider Flagstaff area – listed as the Coconino National Forest, Grand Canyon, Oak Creek Canyon, San Francisco Peaks, Sunset Crater, Walnut Canyon, and Wupatki National Monument – were more widely known.^[5]

In 1926, Route 66 was completed and ran through Flagstaff; the Babbitts and Riordans had staunchly supported it for the town. The railroad, which became the Santa Fe Railroad, had largely controlled Flagstaff until this point. The Santa Fe Railroad opened a new depot in Flagstaff in 1926, to combat Route 66. As part of the celebrations, Front Street was renamed Santa Fe Avenue. The people of Flagstaff collectively funded the Hotel Monte Vista, which opened on January 1, 1927, preparing for the next tourism boom.^[8] Flagstaff was then incorporated as a city in 1928,^[7] with over 3,000 residents,^[8] and in 1929, the city's first motel, the Motel Du Beau, was built at the intersection of Beaver Street and Phoenix Avenue.^[9] Flagstaff became a popular tourist stop along Route 66, particularly due to its proximity to the natural wonders.^[8] In the last years of the 1920s, tourism took over from traditional industries.^[8]

During the Great Depression, Route 66 brought unemployed workers heading to California, known as "auto nomads" in Flagstaff, who became unpopular as they could not afford to buy gas or food, financially damaging the city by taxing its resources and not contributing to the economy.^[8] Flagstaff had also been highlighted on the map by Clyde Tombaugh's 1930 discovery of Pluto from the Lowell Observatory.^[10] However, the importance of Route 66 to cross-country travel, and thus to Arizona's interests on a national level, did mean that it received a large share of state funding through the Depression, with highway maintenance and unemployment acts providing over $1 million of funding in May 1933. In 1935, many residents had enough disposable income to remodel their homes or build new ones.^[8]

In 1955, the United States Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station was established.^[11] Through the 1950s the city conducted the Urban Renewal Project, improving housing quality in the Southside neighborhood that was largely populated by people of Spanish, Basque, and Mexican heritage. Flagstaff grew and prospered through the 1960s.^[10] During the Apollo program in the 1960s, the Lowell Observatory Clark Telescope was used by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to map the Moon for the lunar expeditions, enabling the mission planners to choose a safe landing site for the lunar modules.^[12][10]

1970s–present

As the baby boomer generation began to start their own families in the 1970s and 1980s, many moved to Flagstaff based on its small-town feel, and the population began to grow again; there were not enough jobs to support the many educated individuals moving to the city. The city did not expand its infrastructure downtown despite the growing population, causing problems. Several historic buildings from the 1800s were also destroyed for construction of new ones, or leveled completely.^[13] Downtown Flagstaff became an uninviting place,^[13] and many businesses started to move out of the area, causing an economic and social decline.^[9][13]

During the 1990s, the city redeveloped. Store owners in downtown supported the Main Street programs of preservation-based revitalization,^[13] and in 1992, the city hired a new manager to improve the area: a different mix of shops and restaurants opened up to take advantage of the area's historical appeal.^[9] Heritage Square was built as the center of the revitalized downtown,^[14] the local Flagstaff Pulliam Airport began running more flights to Phoenix, allowing commuting, and the school district was expanded with a third high school, Sinagua High School.^[13]

On October 24, 2001, Flagstaff was recognized by the International Dark-Sky Association as the world's first "International Dark-Sky City".

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