Sierra Vista, AZ History

Tuesday, June 24, 2025

THEN: The Lewis Springs train depot built by the El Paso & Southwestern railroad in 1902.

Abijah Smith posing with his daughter, wife and 2 friends as they are waiting for the next train in 1909. Arizona Historical Society/Tucson photo.

Sunday, June 22, 2025

NOW: What the train depot location looks like, with the help from my friend, Gene.

Saturday, June 21, 2025

The only remaing standing building in Lewis Springs, the railroad water pump house.

I'm taking a look at the electric breaker panel that powered the electric water pump. In front of me is the concrete slab that the pump was bolted on, on the right is two pipes that go through the wall. The bottom is the source, from the well, the top pipe went to the

water tower.

Sunday, July 24, 2022

Lewis Springs, Arizona, check out https://scihistory.info/lewis-springs.html for a great historical article.

Saturday, July 23, 2022

Photo of the the large Lewis Springs 60' x 70' dancing pavilion.....

.....that was completed on July 7, 1907. The large artificial lake was constructed in 1913

by the new owners of the property, The Boquillas Land & Cattle Co.

Photo courtesy The Bisbee Mining & Historical Museum.

Sunday, July 17, 2022

1910 Lewis Springs picnic with the Bisbee Fair Store lady employees.

There were prizes given to the first and second place winners. Photo courtesy The Bisbee Mining & Historical Museum.

Friday, July 15, 2022

Circa 1930 with the newer remodeled Lewis Springs train depot.

The only standing building at Lewis Springs today is the small pump house building on the left next to the water tank tower. Photo courtesy The Bisbee Historical & Mining Museum.

Lewis Springs event gathering in 1905.

Posing with his friends and family is William Sparks, front right. High resolution photo zoom in. Arizona Historical Society photo.

1910 excursion train cars to Lewis Springs from Bisbee, Az.

Bisbee residents load onto train cars to go to LS in the morning and return late afternoon /

evening for $1.00 adults and 50¢ for children. Photo courtesy Don L. Hofsommer.

1909 Lewis Springs picnic.

Photo courtesy The Bisbee Historical & Mining Museum.

1907 Lewis Springs Serbian picnic.

Photo courtesy The Bisbee Historical & Mining Museum.

The Army Fry Amusement Center aka The Green Top......

.....shown here on dedication day, March 27, 1943. Photo courtesy Signal Corps, U.S.Army.

Tuesday, March 9, 2021

Photographer's location on above photo.

A 1949 / 1950 aerial view of The Green Top. I'm not exactly sure of the

photographer's location, so I took a guess, the red circle is where I think

the photo was taken from.

Sunday, September 6, 2020

High ranking officer reading from his notes during the dedication of the Green Top on March 27, 1943.

Photo courtesy Signal Corps, U.S. Army.

Sunday, August 30, 2020

Military and civilian group pose for a picture at the African-American Recreation Center dedication.

Photo courtesy Signal Corps., U.S. Army.

Friday, July 31, 2020

Arizona Governor Sidney Osborn speaking at the Recreation Center Dedication for the African American troops at Fort Huachuca, Arizona.

Photo courtesy Signal Corps, U.S. Army.

5 of 7 Murals. Painted by William E. Scott.

Bottom black and white photo from The California Eagle March 24, 1943.

4 of 7 Murals. "Fighting for Uncle Sam" 1942. Mural painted by William E. Scott.

Black and white photo from The California Eagle March 24, 1943.

3 of 7 Murals 1940 measuring 52x118 inches. Mural painted by William E. Scott.

Black and white photo from The California Eagle March 24, 1943.

2 of 7 Murals. 1939 measuring 54x119 inches. Mural painted by William E. Scott.

Black and white photo from The California Eagle March 24, 1943.

The Famous Green Top...

...a page from the book- FORT HUACHUCA The story of a frontier post, by Cornelius C. Smith Jr. :
"Notwithstanding the fact that post officials did everything possible to keep soldiers entertained and happy at Fort Huachuca, soldiers exercised the age-old perogative of looking for diversion and comfort off base. Adjoining Ft. Huachuca was a small clusters of buildings named Fry, described by the Post Commander, Col. Hardy, as a 'small rather sordid town.' As the post grew with the influx of soldiers from other army establishments, so did Fry."
"It became a boom town of tents and ramshackle buildings filled with prostitutes and sleazy bars. Some post officials compared Fry with Tombstone in the latter's heyday, but noted that Fry was probably tougher. The place was a 'natural' for trouble. Brawls were frequent and knifings were not uncommon."
"Post commander Col. Hardy then interested a black entrepreneurial group in Chicago in establishing an amusement center in the small town of Fry. The place was designed by the noted black architect, Paul Williams, of Los Angeles, and because of its domed oval roof (covered with green asphalt roofing) it was dubbed by the soldiers the "Green Top". It opened its doors in March 1943, costing the government about $100,000 for construction. A handsome mural entitled, 'New Peace With Victory' was painted by William E. Scott, a Chicago artist. The mural ran for some distance behind a bar 120 feet long, one of the longest in the country at that time. (After doing more research, this article is not entirely correct. There were 7 murals displayed through out the 6400 sq ft building.) Rumor has it, that World Heavyweight Boxing Champ Joe Louis Barrow was a silent partner at the GT. No hard liquor was served, but the place was generally filled with soldiers drinking beer. Consumption of beer at the 'Green Top' amounted to about two-and-half (train) carloads of draft beer monthly."
"Oddly, a portion of the Green Top was used as living quarters for some 25 black officers and their wives. The space had been designed for use by employees, but so critical was the housing situation that rooms were assigned to division personnel rather than Green Top workers."

Quoting Mr. Jack Sabin, who moved to Sierra Vista in 1954, from an Oral History interview in 2005 says about the Green Top, "Just prior to reopening the Fort in the '50s there, the Green Top Cafe was in there, the Green Top building burnt down. That was the building Joe Lewis supposedly had built for the troops. It was a big building, it was just 1x4s and tarpaper on the outside."

The domed Recreation Center building burnt down on January 7, 1955. Roy Brockbank acquired the property and built a shopping center on the same location.
In the up coming years, The Green Top Apartment building was rebuilt twice, the third time it burned, it was demolished. 1963 McLellan's was built on that same location. Today, that same building at 256 W. Fry Blvd. is vacant.

Check this out-

*Early 1900s Outside of the main gate, to the north and alongside what is now Garden Avenue and Highway 90, there was a row of small wooden shacks (cribs) connected by one roof overhead. The structures were all painted white, and became known what the military referred to as "White City." The homesteaders and "dry landers" referred to the cribs as "sporting houses" and they were off-limits to all newcomers.
* February 1955 Tony Giacoma, manager of Geronimo Theater submitted plans to build a drive-in theater which opened on July 29, 1955.
*1955 The Huachuca Herald printed their first newspaper edition on October 7.
*1956 Stanley Wenc started construction on Stanley's Apts. on Garden and Wilcox. Mr. Wenc was issued the first building permit from the newly incorporated city.
*1956 El Rancho Roller Rink held their Grand Opening in November. Built by Roy Brockbank Enterprise for $200,000.
*1957 Virginia and Joseph Hilb built and operated the Dairy Queen on Fry Blvd..
*1957 The El Coronado Lanes was built by Roy Brockbank Enterprise for $250,000. Grand Opening was held in April.
*1957 Sierra Family Drive-in Theater was built.
*1958 The Gateway Times printed their first edition newspaper on April 24.
*1961 Highway 92, the street which extended east from the
main gate of the fort, and later, as a result of a naming contest, was named Buena Highway was changed in 1961 when councilman Louis Broitman recommended to the city council that the main thoroughfare be re-named Fry Boulevard in honer of Erwin Fry. After a discussion concerning the matter, the council voted in favor of changing the name from Buena
Highway to Fry Boulevard.
*1962 Halloween party was held at the "El Rancho Roller Rink" for the first time.
*1965 The first traffic light was installed on Fry Blvd and North Ave. The cost of a traffic light that year was $12,452, installed. The city's share: $5,820. The state paid the balance.
*1967 The Huachuca Herald merged with (bought out) The Gateway Times.
*1968 As the city grew Sierra Vista had three traffic lights installed: Garden/Fry, North Ave/Fry and Carmichael/Fry.
*Dec. 25,1971 Geronimo Theater's auditorium was gutted by fire, destroying the indoor seating area. (Note: before the auditorium was built, they parked a school bus on the last row, where kids sat in the bus and watched the movie).
MORE TO COME