Filed Under Arizona and the Wider Southwest

Beardsley Arizona

 

By William M. Bercu, Ph.D.
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Beardsley originated around a railroad station that honored Will H. Beardsley.

Beardsley began developing an irrigation project in the 1880's. For years it served as a sheep shearing point on the Santa Fe, Prescott & Phoenix Railroad. Beardsley was also the original junction of the branch of the SF and PP Railroad to McMicken. The junction was later relocated to Ennis 4.5 miles east of Beardsley. His company, The Agua Fria Construction Company, also built a canal named the Beardsley Canal, from Lake Pleasant to ranches as far as 30 miles away.

Images

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Sheep-dip and Ship Point
Sheep-dip and Ship Point Shown are collecting pens and processing point for livestock in the Beardsley area. The railroad loading point was nearby. Source: Peoria Historical Society Date: c. 1900
Corrals and holding pens
Corrals and holding pens Beardsley was a train stop where ranchers and farmers could bring their livestock for transport to Phoenix and beyond. Source: Peoria Historical Society Date: c.1900
William Beardsley
William Beardsley William Beardsley standing atop diversion dam. East cableway tower and construction camp, Camp Dyer are visible in the foreground. Photographer James Dix Schuyler, 1903 Source: Schuyler report. - Waddell Dam, On Agua Fria River, 35 miles northwest of Phoenix, Phoenix, Maricopa County, AZ Source: Peoria HIstorical Society Date: c. 1910

Location

Metadata

Citation Info

William M. Bercu, Ph.D., “Beardsley Arizona,” Salt River Stories, accessed May 13, 2024, https://saltriverstories.org/items/show/241.
Published Dec 8, 2016. Last updated Sep 13, 2023.

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