Historical society seeks Southwest Valley artifacts, images

By Kelly O’Sullivan
Twitter: @AzNewsmedia

The keepers of the past at the Litchfield Park Historical Society know well that one man’s junk is another man’s treasure, and they’re making a plea to the Southwest Valley community: show us your old stuff before you throw it away.

“I know there are things out there in sheds and attics,” historical society board member Judy Cook said during a recent interview at the society’s museum, 13912 W. Camelback Road in Litchfield Park. “I think we all live history and we don’t think we’re a piece of it.”

Ms. Cook, who is in charge of collecting images and artifacts from around the Southwest Valley for the historical society’s collections,  is looking for anything that helps tell the story of Avondale, Goodyear, Litchfield Park, West Phoenix and Tolleson.

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Original photographs (no copies), Indian relics, toys from the 1920s through the 1940s, business ledgers and records; anything that could be of interest to historians, is welcome.

Donations to the historical society over the past year include old records from Southwest Cotton Co. brought in by an Avondale man in his 80s, who rescued them from a trash can at The Wigwam years ago; maps and drawings of area golf courses; and original plans for the second home in Litchfield Park built by city founders Paul W. and Florence Brinton Litchfield after their 365-acre estate became too much for them to handle. A toy tractor given to farmer Bill Kaufman when he was 8 years old and a matate used to grind herbs found buried in the soil on the family’s 40-acre farm in Liberty are also among artifacts donated.

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Another donation that particularly excited Ms. Cook: four pieces of currency dating back to colonial times from Margaret McMicken Bartol, the granddaughter of Kenneth McMicken, a cousin of Mr. Litchfield who ran Goodyear Farms for more than 40 years.

“It was printed between 1775 and 1780,” Ms. Cook said of the money, which came from Massachusetts Bay and New Jersey colonies. “Who knows who owned these?”

Mr. Litchfield, who was born in Boston, is a descendent of colonists who arrived on the Mayflower in 1620, and the bills will be among the many artifacts on display when the historical society opens its new P.W. Litchfield Heritage Center in the family’s historic home.

Fundraising for the project is still under way. Once the historical society reaches its $3.5 million goal, construction to transform the 5,400-square-foot home into an 11,000-square foot museum, collections archive, research library and event space will begin. When it’s complete, the four colonial bills will join more than 4,000 other artifacts on display or archived at the center.

Anyone who thinks they may have something of interest to the historical society may call the museum at 623-535-4414 and leave a message for Ms. Cook.

“They may have a gem out there,” Ms. Cook said. “If you’ve been here three to five generations, you undoubtedly have something.”

Kelly O’Sullivan can be reached at kosullivan@newszap.com or 760-963-1697.