Library Services and Technology Act
The creation of Navajo County Library District’s local history page is the result of a Library Services and Technology Act grant Administered by the Arizona State Library Archives and Public Records from the Institute of Museum and Library Services in Washington, DC. The Library District worked in cooperation with the Navajo County museums to create the photo albums about different regions of the county. Please click on the link at the top to view the various photo albums. This is a work in progress with more information being added on an ongoing basis.
Thanks are due to the:
- Hopi Museum
- Navajo County Historical Society Museum in Holbrook
- Nohwike Bagowa Museum and Culture Center in Whiteriver
- Old Trails Museum in Winslow
- Pinetop-Lakeside Historical Society Museum in Lakeside
- Show Low Historical Society Museum
- Stinson Museum in Snowflake
- The Taylor/Shumway Heritage Foundation Museum in Taylor
- as well as the Petrified Forest National Park for their contributions.
Featured Collections
Hopi Life and Culture
Photographs of the Hopi people and their architectural, cultural, and artistic accomplishments. Most of these photos are from the early 20th century.
White Mountain Apache Life and Culture
Photographs taken in Whiteriver and Fort Apache. This collection includes photos from the Theodore Roosevelt Boarding School.
Silver Creek Region: Woodruff
Early 20th century photographs of Woodruff, a small unincorporated town southeast of Holbrook. It was settled in 1867.
About Navajo County, Arizona
Navajo County is located in the northeastern part of Arizona in the United States.
The population is 107,449 according to the 2010 Census.
Navajo County initially was formally part of Yavapai County. In 1879 the area was split off and added to the newly formed Apache County. Navajo County as it is today was formed on March 21, 1895 as the final act of the Territorial Assembly before it adjourned at midnight.
The county seat was determined to be in Holbrook, following an election with a close majority vote for Holbrook over Winslow. Commodore Perry Owens was named the sheriff of the new county.
The railroad had been running in the county for over a decade before it became part of Navajo County. At this time North America’s third largest ranch, The Aztec Land and Cattle Company near Holbrook, had already been established. The company acquired one million acres of land from the railroad at 50 cents per acre. The Hashknife Outfit brought 33,000 Longhorn cattle and 2,200 horses to northern Arizona from Texas.
Almost 66 percent of Navajo County’s 9,949 miles is Indian Reservation land. It includes parts of the Hopi Indian Reservation, Navajo Nation, and Fort Apache Indian Reservation.
Today the principal industries are tourism, coal mining, manufacturing, timber production, and ranching.
Navajo County is over 122 Years Strong!
Film about Winslow native son – David Solis
Ally Huang, a student from a high school in Texas, undertook a project to memorialize a serviceman whose name is on the Vietnam Memorial Wall. She chose David Tobias Solis, who grew up in Winslow, AZ. He lost his life in the Vietnam War.
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