Clarkdale Heritage Conservancy
The materials of the Clarkdale Heritage Conservancy are located in the Clark Memorial Clubhouse and in the library building. The Clubhouse and library, along with the Clarkdale Town Hall (formerly the Administration Building) are located north of the intersection of Ninth Street and Main Street in Clarkdale.
Clarkdale, located in the Verde Valley, was an exemplary company town built in the first quarter of the twentieth century. United Verde mine owner, William Andrews Clark, constructed a town that was meant not only to house but also to edify company employees. The well-designed community included employee housing, a clubhouse, swimming pool, library, and other essential facilities.
The purpose of the Clarkdale Heritage Conservancy is to preserve Clarkdale history by storing, maintaining, and displaying historic materials and artifacts. They are continually attempting to acquire copies of photos and other archival materials pertinent to the history of Clarkdale. The Conservancy Board also frequently provides input with regard to the preservation and restoration of local historic buildings. They have produced "A Historic Resource Survey of Clarkdale Arizona" (1989), as well as a brochure on Historic Clarkdale. Both are available to the public. Members of the Conservancy also organize an anniversary celebration each year during National Archives Week.
The collection of the Clarkdale Heritage Conservancy is noteworthy for its preservation of original blueprints of this unique company town (see list below).
People interested in doing research in the areas under the care of the Clarkdale Heritage Conservancy should contact the Town Clerk or a representative of the Clarkdale Heritage Conservancy (phone: 520-634-9591).
Documents located in the Clubhouse:
School related materials
- School district records, District #29
Attendance reports, 1916-June 1, 1917 no names, 4th grade
Jan 15-1917-2-9-1917, 8th grade (no names)
Attendance reports, four handwritten reports with names (no date)
Various attendance reports for 1943-1950
Annual report, no year listed
- Board of Trustees for School District #29 Special elections-ballots, notices: letters, minutes, various documents from 1915-1950
Some information on textbooks, 1915-17
Tally sheets, poll lists, for most years prior to 1920
- Large Collection of Clarkdale High School posters
Various posters from the 1930s of students and teachers
Various posters of school activity groups prior to 1940
- Yearbooks, Clarkdale High school
1923-35 and 1951
Area records and information
Area cookbook, "1924 Community Recipes"
- Clarkdale Country Club index
Membership records, 1918
- Clarkdale Improvement Company: Various records primarily from 1924-28
Accounts receivable, 1927-38
Voucher records, 1920-24
Ground rents, Lib. Bond, accounts receivable, 1919
General ledgers and accounts receivable, 1920
Bank books: 1924-28
Cash books: 1923-28
Rental records (no date)
Payroll, 1920-1928
Payroll, 1916-19
Various additional registers
- Clarkdale town records
Petty cash 1958-June of 1983
- Court information
Miscellaneous dockets for the Clarkdale Precinct, mostly from the 1920s
- Library records
Day books, accession records, various lists of borrowers and circulation records, mid 1920s-1990
- Local ledgers and journals (various companies)
Accounts receivable ledgers, 1925-28, no company identity
Insurance lists: 1928-53 (by street, insured value and premium)
Various ledgers, not always identified with company name, from the 1940s and very early 1950s
- Phelps Dodge United Verde Branch
Information on miscellaneous properties and dwellings, mostly in the mid-1930s
- Phone Directory 1939
Jerome-Clarkdale
- Upper Verde Farm and Orchard Company ledger and journal 1913-28
Also miscellaneous ledgers, stock, and other business information
- Upper Verde Public Utilities
Various accounts and vouchers, mostly from 1920
Some accounts and records from the 1940s and 1950
Cash receipts, accounts, and some bank records, 1923-37
Cash books, 1913, 1919, 1923-38
Miscellaneous vouchers, maintenance records
Payroll, 1920-28
Clarkdale Customer, various years between 1924 and 1938
Vertical files:
This list includes only those materials that would be of interest to the researcher.
Vertical files are located in the office adjacent to the Clerk of Court's office. Access can be arranged only by contacting the Clarkdale Heritage Conservancy.
- Arizona Historic Property Inventories, compiled 1989 for "A Historic Resource Survey of Clarkdale Arizona" booklet, 86 pp, available from Heritage Conservancy; the file also contains photos and original materials for the Project.
- Business files for Society's activities, grant applications, various Society materials
- Clubhouse 70th anniversary, October, 1997
Newspaper clippings, planning materials
Blueprints and Plans
Most of these are kept in flat drawers in the Clarkdale Clubhouse.
- Smelter blueprints
A few are dated 1914, most are dated 1916 and 1917
- Research lab, 1928 (listed under "Smelter")
- Power House plans: 1924
- Coke Storage Bins: 1916
- Roaster Plant #2: 1919
- Powerhouse: 1924
- United Verde subdivision renderings of blocks 61, 62, 63, 64: houses, streets, pipelines, sewer lines, and lighting, dated October 1927
- Blueprints for Clubhouse: complete, original architectural renderings
Various drawings, details of areas
Pool, various drawings, including pipelines
Library, alterations, etc.
- Original of the specifications for Clubhouse by Fitzhugh and Byron, Architects, Phoenix, for Verde Valley Copper Company "Clubhouse, Clarkdale" (not dated, but buildings were erected in 1927)
- House plans for company houses (built between 1914 and 1925):
3 room
4 room
5 room, various styles,
plans for remodeled houses
5 room brick cottage
- Town of Clarkdale Historic Resource Survey, Clarkdale Townsite
- Copy of plan for proposed general office building for United Verde Copper Company, dated 1914, but never built, various views
Oral histories
- DeVault, Barbara (born 1927) and Robert DeVault (born 1925), interviewed in January 1998 (14 pp)
- Haltigan, William (born 1925, Jerome), interviewed in October 1997 (14 pp)
- Kane, Virgil E. (born 1922), interviewed in January 1998 (13 pp)
- King, Ed (born 1925, Jerome) interviewed January 1998 (14 pp)
Photos
Frank W. Staley Collection
This collection contains approximately 25 8x10 black and white photos taken by the noted photographer, Frank W. Staley. These photos depict the interior and exterior of the Clubhouse shortly after it was erected.
Phelps Dodge Collection
The Conservancy members selected approximately 35 photos from the Phelps Dodge Permanent Collection located in Phoenix, Arizona. These copies are of Clarkdale in the 1930s. They depict the downtown area, smelter, interior of plant buildings, company equipment, and the local Country Club. There are also portraits of Mr. And Mrs. Tom Taylor (Mine Administrator), "Noel," the first librarian at Clarkdale Memorial Clubhouse Library, and Dr. Carlson, Chief Surgeon for the company.
Scrapbook: Clarkdale Heritage Conservancy: Photo Copies
This three ring binder contains approximately 75 double-sided, plastic enclosed pages with photos of the area. Many are copies of those listed in the above collections.
The scrapbook is arranged as follows:
- Clark family: approximately 15 informal photos of various members of the Clark family
- Clarkdale (town): approximately 8 photos show the town in 1915
Approximately 75 photos are more recent. This selection includes photos of the town business
district, the town center, and local citizens.
- Smelter: There are approximately 25 photos of the smelter, probably taken from the early days to the present.
- Country Club on Peck's Lake: Approximately 40 photos show the Country Club earlier in the century.
Two colored photos are modern and 10 black and white snapshots show the Country Club in the
1980s or early 1990s, before it burned.
- People: There are approximately 30 photos from early in the century of local citizens. The photos are not identified by date or subject.
- Landscape: There are approximately 10 photos of the area, not identified by date.
- Club house and area: There are approximately 25 photos of the Clubhouse in its early days (probably primarily from the Staley Collection, see above)
Wall-Mounted: Photo of Clarkdale baseball team, no date (probably 1920s)
