K'sMoH: McNary LbNA #22890

McNary, Arizona is “The Town Built by Train”. When a major lumber company decided to move to this area, they paid to bring the entire town of McNary, Louisiana here by rail – all of the residents and all of the buildings. Before long, it was a major city, even earning consideration as Arizona’s capitol. In the mid-70s, however, there was a fire at the saw mill and the local Indian tribe stopped selling them lumber, choosing instead to process it themselves at FATCO in Whiteriver. Shortly thereafter, the train stopped running and the town pretty much died.

Start in the center of town and take a circle drive around what looks to be a park. You can see the remnants of the saw mill to the south. The “Spanish” and “Colored” workers each had their own dormitories, cafes and meeting halls to the SE of the pond. The destroyed buildings along the edge of the hill were a hospital, dorm, general store, post office, theatre, indoor skating rink, and hotel. The square brick building that remains was the general store’s powder storage room. The town was full of extravagant houses, most heated by steam from the mill below. The mill superintendent’s house has been moved to Pinetop and is now the Coldstream Bed & Breakfast.

Head west on Hwy 260 and just before you get to the edge of town turn left on Ranger Road. After a large wooden sign that says “McNary Forestry Station”, turn into the next driveway on your right and park near the large oak tree on your left. These houses are for the government employees who work here. When we moved here in 1973, there were 4 houses where these 2 are now, and one more on the other side of each driveway. See the 2 large pine trees bisected by the chain-link fence? They were in our backyard and I had a tree house between them with a large slide coming down from the front. The other houses were filled with families of similar age. My first friend, and still one of my best friends, lived in the last house on the left. All of the dads have worked together for 30 years and are now retiring. All of the moms keep in touch and go to lunch. I have lots of great memories from the 3 years we lived here.

Walk west, past a large pine stump and then along the chain-link fence with razor wire on top. This compound contains many greenhouses and shade houses for millions of baby pine trees of all types and sizes. They will be used for replanting the forest after fires and/or logging operations. Continue through a well-camouflaged gate to where the fence makes a corner. Turn due south and find a 4’ tall stump on the edge of the field. My father and his buddies used to come to the fields back here and shoot clay pigeons. The box is on the west side of the stump, between the base and a large rock. The stamp is commemorative of my father’s favorite afternoon snack. Most days, my mom and I would walk to the greenhouses together to bring it to him, but very occasionally this 3 or 4 year old would get to take it to him all by myself! Ahh, the simple joys of childhood!

A bit of useless trivia… Most maps show McNary easily in Apache County, but locals know that the town is divided by the county line. Our old house, and this box, are in Navajo County.