We are very proud to announce that our Friendly Higley Historians have been hard at work with the volunteers at the San Tan Historical Society in Queen Creek, and are gearing up to do a history project 100 years in the making, Crossroads of Historic Higley.
For new readers, when Higley was settled in the years leading up to Arizona becoming an "official" state in 1912, the town was representative of the whole San Tan farming community, providing postal, educational, and commercial services to the expansive lands around San Tan Mountain. As the years passed, the unincorporated town became smaller when communities moved forward on their own including Rittenhouse (Queen Creek), Chandler Heights, and Combs. What we now know as Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport was Higley Field before it was Williams Field Air Force Base. And we are most familiar today with the last bit of Higley holdings near Williams Field and Higley Roads annexing into the Town of Gilbert again proving wherever you look, you can always find a little bit of Higley.
Although the endless miles of land in Higley's past are gone, Crossroads of Historic Higley will record the voices of our community, creating a narrated driving tour of the people's history around the San Tan Mountains. The project will be produced over the next year and will aim to inform residents and tourists alike of the area's heritage so in Higley's 100th year, its legacy will not be forgotten.
Visit San Tan Historical Society's web page for information about the kick-off to our project on Saturday, October 24th, 2009. We will host an open house and special guest speaker, Dan Shilling, who will discuss the relationship to Civic Tourism and its place-based approach in creating sustainable communities.
We welcome all who would like to attend the free event and hope you all can be there to share and learn the stories of YOUR heritage... in Historic Higley.
Update - 10/19/09
Project Aims to capture Higley's History by Amanda Keim - East Valley Tribune
Update - 10/22/09
Public can get early look at Higley history project Saturday
by Astrid Galvan - Gilbert Republic
http://www.azcentral.com/community/gilbert/articles/2009/10/22/20091022gr-historyproject1023.html
Thursday, October 1, 2009
History Abound in Higley
Last Sunday, 9/27/2009, the Arizona Republic released a special edition filled with "Good News" in the Southeast Valley's papers. The feature touched on "More good news, good people, good things" with all stories relating to the history of Chandler, Gilbert and Mesa and the community's central role in preserving it. Below is a link to the series of articles on azcentral.com:
http://www.azcentral.com/community/mesa/articles/2009/09/20/20090920mr-gn-linkset0920.html
For obvious reasons, the "unofficial" town of Higley was not given its own section within the special edition; however, we were rather proud that our history was distinctively featured under all three cities, proving our findings that wherever you are, you can always find a little of bit of Higley :)
http://www.azcentral.com/community/mesa/articles/2009/09/20/20090920mr-gn-linkset0920.html
For obvious reasons, the "unofficial" town of Higley was not given its own section within the special edition; however, we were rather proud that our history was distinctively featured under all three cities, proving our findings that wherever you are, you can always find a little of bit of Higley :)
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