A history of Williams,
since 1881
Postcards, papers and photographs of Williams from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Founded in 1881, Williams was named for William Sherley "Old Bill" Williams (1787–1849), a famous trapper, trader, scout and mountain man, who often trapped in the area. A statue of "Old Bill" stands in Monument Park, located on the west side of the city. The large mountain directly to the south is named Bill Williams Mountain. The city was incorporated on July 9, 1901.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Williams’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
2 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewWilliams News Sat Feb 11 1905, 1905: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Williams, decade by decade
1930s
CommonsWilliams AZ - Air View of Bill Wiliams Mtn. and Wiliams, Ar…1941
LOCWilliams (vicinity), Arizona. A sign marking the Arizona di…1943
LOCWilliams, Arizona. Going through the town on the Atchison, …1943
LOCWilliams, Arizona. On the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Ra…1943
LOCWilliams, Arizona. On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Rai…19431990s
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Williams News Sat Feb 11 1905 (1905) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (2) and the Library of Congress (4). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.