The History of the Northern Gila County Genealogical Society 1979-2000
By Marge Templeton and Lettie Cale - last updated 12-8-2001
In 1979, an informal group was meeting at the Payson Public Library [it was located on Main Street at that time] between 7 and 9 p.m. on Tuesday evenings to share their love of and their expertise in Family History Research. The group grew and in October 1980, it was decided to join an organization in Phoenix, the Genealogical Society of Arizona, which was trying to help organize genealogy chapters all over the state. We were required to have officers, by-laws, and a constitution. The library had provided space for our meetings, our small shelf of books, and space for a couple of microfilm readers that one of our members had purchased from an army surplus sale business. In September of 1982, it was decided that we would incorporate and break our ties with the Genealogy Society of Arizona as we were managing by ourselves so well. We became the Northern Gila County Genealogical Society, Inc.
In appreciation of the courtesy of Payson Public Library for allocating us a space, our small group of volunteers donated several hundred dollars toward the purchase of the first copy machine in the Payson Public Library.
Our members were recording the cemeteries in Northern Gila County and the land records and history of the county’s pioneers. Our space was so small in the library that we needed another place to hold our monthly meetings. After searching, we found we could rent the School Board office at the High School for $3 a meeting. Then in September of 1983 the school notified us that they would need the office for a classroom, so the search was on again.
Mount Cross Lutheran Church would rent us a room at the time, so we had our meeting there. We continued to have “work nights” at the Public Library on Tuesday nights, as our books and equipment were still there. The Public Library was growing even more crowded, and they were building an addition to their building. Their personnel had changed, and the new managers were in attendance. We knew we would have to vacate our corner. We had a locked cupboard there; but the cupboard was to be left unlocked, and our books were disappearing. The library staff could not watch our belongings as they were too busy with their own business.
We decided to ask the town if they could give us a grant to help rent space for our library. After much discussion, pro and con, the town decided that there were too many non-profit organizations that could use their help — they could not help everybody, so they couldn’t help us. They did recognize that we were doing a good thing for the town by recording the history of the area and the pioneers. They had a small storage building in Rumsay Park that we could move into as a stop-gap until we could find a more suitable place. We refurbished the building and moved in October 1985. We held an open house on March 8, 1986. That building became too small very soon. It was not insulated, so it was impossible to heat and cool. It had been built for storage, not to stay in and study for hours. We knew again that we needed to be looking for another place as soon as possible.
A group of our members went to the State Genealogy Library in Phoenix, learned their library reference numbering system, and proceeded to get our books and materials organized. A tremendous amount of time and energy went into this project.
The Payson Public Library decided that it could no longer house the Payson newspaper morgue [Payson Roundup and Mogollon Advisor], and they asked if we would accept it. This collection dates from the early 1950s, the earliest one is a 1947 edition, and it takes up a lot of space but we are delighted to have it.
In November 1987, we changed our monthly meeting place from Mount Cross Lutheran Church to the Payson Care Center. We stayed there a few months, then moved into the Historical Society meeting room in the Ranger Station on West Main Street. When the Historical Society got their new building finished, they asked us to use the upstairs of the new building for meetings. We had members who were not able to climb stairs, so we had to move again (remember, the genealogy library was still housed in the Ranger Station).
In December 1987, work was received that maybe we could have the use of the Ranger Station Office Building if we would refurbish it to their satisfaction. The Northern Gila County Historical Society had acquired the property to use as a museum, and they were not using the smaller building. The Archeology Society wanted to share it with us, but it was determined that we would need all of the space, as we had acquired more film and fiche readers and a copy machine.
In February 1992, we moved to the Payson Public Library in the Women’s Club meeting room. The parking there became impossible, so we moved again in October 1993 to the American Legion Hall on Highway 260.
In February 1994, we decided that we would try to have our meetings at our library at the Ranger Station. It was crowded, but we made out. Then our lease expired with the Historical Society, and that left us with no place for our library or monthly meetings. The Historical Society gave us extra time but they finally had to have their building. We searched for a place to move our large collection of books and materials.
During this time, we held free Beginner’s Seminars and special monthly meetings in the Masonic Lodge Hall, Arizona Public Service meeting room, Assembly of God activity room, Apace Indian Tribal Council Facility, Manzanita Manor community room, Veterans Administration Building in Star Valley, and the Women’s Club building in Payson.
The Payson Hospital came to our rescue in August 1994 and let us move into a mobile home with “add-ons” north of the hospital, at 708 South Ponderosa. So, after another renovation was completed we snuggled in again and hoped to stay a long time. Our book collection was “worked over” again and reorganized to be more convenient for our patrons, but that is a never-ending job in a library. We were able to have our monthly meetings in the largest of the added-on rooms so we were happy to have everything in one place again. Our dream of having some land and a building of our own is still uppermost in our minds, but this would have to do until we could do that. We were so grateful for all of the help so that we could exist at all.
But alas! Like all more or less temporary arrangements, our happy state at the mobile home came to an end when the hospital authorities asked us to vacate in late 1999. The hospital was planning to enlarge their facility and they needed the space for temporary offices during the process.
The members had decided to start a building fund a few years before and it was hoped that one day they could buy a piece of land and build a permanent home. In November 2000 the Society had been offered “For Sale” a very small piece of land at the corner of W. Bonita and Colcord Road. It was a nice location but very small and not enough room for much parking. With the help of a member loaning money to the Society, the purchase was made. Then, a few months later, Charter Member Sue Owen and her husband Robert offered (only to the Sc0iety) “For Sale” a much larger lot on East Bonita Street., which was their own personal property. The Society decided to accept the offer if the particulars concerning the town rules and regulations could be met. The rules were met and so the Colcord property was returned to the market to be resold. The plans to have a permanent library are very much in progress, and the members are working like beavers to make the building fund grow and looking forward to the day when we will have a permanent library so that we will not ever have to move again.
In the meantime, we still had to move from the hospital property. The compassionate Hospital Administrator advised us that we should check with Payson Care Center, and they have allowed us facilities in their building until they need them. Some of our belongings were put in storage because of the small space, but most of the essentials were moved into Payson Care Center rooms 104 and 106. By the summer of 2000, we were back in business, and they gave us permission to have our monthly meetings until we have our own permanent place on E. Bonita Street. After more than 20 years of hopping around here and there, wherever somebody would have us, it looks as if, eventually, we will have a place where all our books and belongings can stay, on a PERMANENT basis.
