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History · St. David

St. David’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of St. David. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

1877established
0old images & papers
4recent photos

The story

from WikipediaRead it all ↗

St. David was established as a result of the Mormon Battalion having earlier passed through the San Pedro River valley in 1846. One of the founders of St. David, Philemon C. Merrill, was a member of the battalion. The Mormon settlers of 1877 were part of a group that originally was to settle Lehi, Arizona. The town was named after David Patten Kimball. The early St. David settlers played an important role in establishing the subsequent surrounding settlements, such as Fort Huachuca and Tombstone, as they did much of the logging in the Huachuca Mountains to provide lumber for the construction of those locations.

As a tight-knit Mormon community, St. David managed better than other small towns in Cochise County during the Great Depression.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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Start St. David’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how St. David’s history is told.

0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Famous people from St. David

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George Nicholas GoodmanGeorge Nicholas GoodmanBusiness
By decade

St. David, decade by decade

Before
2000
No old photos in the archives yetWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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Today4 photos
A closed former grocery store ("Grandma Goodman's") named after the town's first grocer (in another location in the 188…LOCA closed former grocery store ("Grandma Goodman's") named a…2018The "bath and brush" at this little establishment in the tiny southeast Arizona town of St. David refers to a pet-groom…LOCThe "bath and brush" at this little establishment in the ti…2018This little commercial building in the tiny southeast Arizona town of St. David may be out of business, but there's sti…LOCThis little commercial building in the tiny southeast Arizo…2018Since this photograph was taken five months after the spooky American holiday of Halloween, it's difficult to describe …LOCSince this photograph was taken five months after the spook…2018
National Register of Historic Places

Nothing in St. David is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean St. David has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Smith-Beck House in Benson, 7 miles away.

St. David and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = St. David. Tap a dot.
Smith-Beck HouseHi Wo Company GroceryRedfield-Romine HouseMartinez, W. D., General Merchadise StoreTreu, Max, Territorial Meat CompanyBenson Historic Barrio

Closest to St. David

Smith-Beck HouseBenson · Building7miHi Wo Company GroceryBenson · Building7miRedfield-Romine HouseBenson · Building7.1miMartinez, W. D., General Merchadise StoreBenson · Building7.1miTreu, Max, Territorial Meat CompanyBenson · Building7.1mi

How a place gets listed

1Talk to the stateEvery nomination goes through the State Historic Preservation Office. Owners, towns and historical societies can start one.
2Try a local or state list firstMany states keep their own register with a shorter form, a common first step for old barns, halls and schoolhouses.
3Write it upA nomination covers the history, photos and a map. Smith-Beck House’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in St. David?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to St. David’s story, or a memory of it.
📷 Add a photo of an old place
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places · photos from Wikimedia Commons

Then & now

When neighbors add old photos, retakes from the same spot appear here side by side.

Stories next door

nearby towns’ history
📜 Benson📜 Tombstone📜 Huachuca City📜 Sierra Vista

From the Library of Congress (4). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/19 · 2025-01-01
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