Riordan Mansion State Historic Park

Riordan Mansion State Historic Park is located in downtown Flagstaff by the Northern Arizona University campus.  It consists primarily of the 45 room Riordan Mansion and the estate grounds. Roy and I love old estates and this one is well worth the visit!

A visit to the park begins in what was once the mansion's six car garage built in 1914, and what is now the visitor's center. The middle table has some hands on items from the time.  I spent some time trying to figure out what the metal cone attached to a stick to the forefront of the picture was.  I concluded that it must be some sort of a torch when held with the cone upward, but later found out it is called the Rapid Wash and is the clothes washing improvement over the washboard!  It does appear that it would be easier and faster than a washboard!  The items that look like wooden bowling pins are early exercise devices for the women to twirl through a variety of patterns.  The visitor's center is nicely done for period gadgets to look at and a history of the Riordan family.

In the top left corner of the display is a picture of Edward Ayers.  He established a lumber mill in Flagstaff in 1881.  Mathew Riordan (Pictured closest to Ayers picture), was the oldest of 3 brothers from Chicago.  Matthew came to Flagstaff in 1884 during its early beginnings looking for opportunity.  He went to work as a manager for the Ayer Lumber Company and by 1887 purchased the mill.  The name of the company was changed to the Arizona Lumber and Timber Company.  He invited his brothers  Michael (center) and Timothy to come to Flagstaff and help him oversee the mill operation.  The mill became quite successful as railroad ties for the Atlantic-Pacific rail line project were in high demand.  Michael and Timothy ran the logging and mill operation after their brother Mathew moved on to travel the U.S. and overseas promoting sales.

In 1904 Timothy and Micheal Riordan had a 13,000 square foot duplex home designed and built for their wives who just happened to be sisters, Caroline and Elizabeth Metz.  Their individual and similarly designed 6,000 square foot homes were attached through a 1,000 square foot shared family room.  The individual homes were designed so that front entrances gave them the privacy of totally separate homes.  

Pictures are not allowed in the home, but I did manage to find a few online!  This is the family room that joins the two homes.  Timothy and Caroline had two children and Michael and Elizabeth had five. The families gathered evenings in the shared family room for time together having fun.  Note the ample lighting!  The home had electric lights, central heat, hot and cold running water, a fire hose system, and telephones.  Note the cut-off posts coming straight down from the roof through the cross beams.  Roy says these are roof supports that would have come down to the ground as the home was being built and then later cut back to the cross beams.  I love this kind of early workmanship!

This is a side view of Timothy and Caroline's home.  The stone arches at the corner of the house extend around to the front and is this wing of the mansion's main entrance.  Note the stained glass across the tops of the lower level windows!

This is the front of Timothy and Caroline's home.  The mansion as a whole is in the Arts and Crafts style.  The Arts and Crafts style was popular from the early 1900s into the 1920s.  This style of architecture strives for simplicity, craftsmanship, and the celebration of nature.  There was a tennis court at one time near this portion of the mansion with only some visible signs of it left today.

This is the front entrance to Michael and Elizabeth Riordan's home. Items in the interior and the exterior indicate to me that Elizabeth may have had more modern tastes than her sister.

Since we couldn't take pictures indoors I couldn't get a picture of this wonderful wood stove, but happened across this old photo on the Internet!  This has got to be one of the fanciest wood cook stoves I've ever seen!  Check out the fancy metal work, shelves, waffle iron, toaster, and warming oven!  The large cylinder to the left of the stove heated water for baths.  The tour guide said it was best for baths to be taken while the stove was in use and providing hot water!  This stove was located in the kitchen of Timothy and Caroline's kitchen.  The one in the sister's home was much more sleek and modern looking.  Timothy and Caroline employed a cook and two servants, whose quarters were within the home.  It wasn't stated whether Michael and Elizabeth had their own servants, but I would assume so.

The kitchen led though a wonderful pantry with framed glass cabinet doors displaying lots of dishes and glassware.  The service pantry looked into this breakfast room.  The larger connecting room is the formal dining room.

The formal dining room was built as in an oval shape to help sound be carried throughout the room. The table was canoe shaped so the people at the table could more easily see one another and be heard better as well.  The adjoining area through the arch on the left is the main entry way. There is a fireplace with and area for guests to sit and warm themselves and a place for a piano. The archway on the right goes into Timothy's office.  Across the main entry hallway is a room called the swing room!

This is the swing room!  The swing was said to face the fireplace in the Winter and toward the front of the house and gardens in the Summer.  I had to chuckle at seeing this room as I've always thought it would be cool to have a swing in a home.  I thought I was being so innovative and to think someone else had the same thought over 110 years ago!  The doorway on the left goes across the front entryway to Timothy's office.  Across the hallway through the door on the right  is the formal dining room.

This is Timothy's office.  Note the floor lamp, as this home was said to have only seven electrical outlets.  Although the home had electric lights, it was at a time when electric appliances for homes were just being invented.

I was surprised to hear that this type light socket adapter was an early invention.  It was designed to increase electrical outlets for appliances without homeowners having to rewire their homes.

Roy and I pondered what some of the first electrical appliances for homes might have been.  Besides lamps I guessed these old style fans might have been among the first appliances.  Sure enough, this fan was invented in 1902.  The Riordan Mansion was built in 1904. The other early household electrical appliances were those that saved physical labor, such as irons, vacuum cleaners, toasters, coffee pots, refrigerators, hair dryers, and dishwashers.  They may have been rudimentary, but they were a start to providing people with increased leisure time.

This was the cook's bedroom.  She was allowed a larger nicer room to herself, as she had a wider scope of responsibilities.  There was another bedroom that two servant girls shared.  Timothy and Caroline had separate bedrooms which was common for the times among those that could afford to do so.  The two children each had their own bedrooms and there was one guest bedroom.  The bedrooms were all on the second floor.

It was disappointing to find that Michael and Elizabeth's home was furnished as a museum, as the overall tour was so enjoyable and we were looking forward to seeing more.  In reality, though, the tour was about an hour long and going through all of the second home might have been too much.  If you love old estates and are in Flagstaff, be sure to take the time to see the Riordan Mansion.

Arizona Time

Arizona is said to have the weirdest time system in the nation!  It is technically classified as being on Mountain Time, but if you set your clock to Mountain Time without knowing that the state of Arizona does NOT observe Daylight Savings Time you may or may not be setting your clock correctly depending on the time of year!  To further complicate things, some areas of Arizona observes DST and some don’t!  Let’s discuss the time in general first and then the exceptions to the rule by location.  As stated earlier Arizona is technically Mountain Time, so when Daylight Savings Time isn’t in effect Arizona will match the other Mountain Time states.  Daylight Savings time ends the first Sunday in November, so on that date your clock would be set to Mountain Time until Daylight Savings Time started again.  Since most of Arizona does not observe Daylight Savings Time, beginning on the second Sunday in March you would have to set your clock to Pacific Time for it to reflect the correct time in Arizona!  We discovered that our computers and phones actually have settings called Arizona Time!!!  Clocks without an Arizona time setting will have to be switched between Mountain Time and Pacific Time to account for the state not observing Daylight Savings Time.  Now if all that isn’t confusing enough, here are a few more things to be aware of in regards to time in Arizona.  The Navajo Nation, who governs a large area of land in northern Arizona, chooses to observe Daylight Savings Time!  This keeps their time in sync with the Mountain Time states, but out of Sync with the rest of Arizona during the Daylight Savings Time months.  Are you totally confused, yet?  Only one more thing to know!  If you are in the vicinity of Tuba City, Arizona on the Navaho Nation Reservation, there is an area within the reservation dedicated to the Hopi Indians.  The Hopi Indian portion of the reservation has chosen to align themselves with the rest of Arizona and NOT observe Daylight Savings Time.  Now you know!

Arizona Here We Come!

We left Kerrville, Texas August 25th and drove at a leisurely pace heading for Flagstaff, Arizona. We pulled into r.v. parks by 2:00 p.m. to avoid traveling in the peak heat of the day, as the furry crew ride in the camper.  Our first stop was Ozona, Texas which is located a short distance before Fort Stockton.  There were lots of oil workers in the area and we felt lucky to get into an r.v. park with full hook-ups, even if it was just a gravel lot!  The driver's side brake rotor was setting up a substantial racket as we arrived in Ozona.  Roy picked up the needed parts to make a repair and we booked in for two nights at the I-10 R.V.Park in Fort Stockton at only $20 a night with full hook-ups!

At one time Fort Stockton was considered the main hub for the outlying smaller communities, but I wouldn't think it would be now. The small communities look self sufficient and Fort Stockton appeared to be a dusty rundown desert town.  It has a restored historic fort called Fort Stockton and some other historic buildings in the old downtown area.  This picture was taken at the visitor's center which is housed in the restored 1911 Kansas City, Mexico, and Orient Railroad Depot.

Here is another picture of the visitor's center and historic railway station.

Here is some information in regards to the history of the train station and railway.  If I'm understanding the information correctly, it appears the railway is still operational and is one of only 7 rail gateways between the United States and Mexico.  The 391 mile long South Orient line is the only significant amount of rail owned by the state of Texas.

Comanche Springs of Fort Stockton while historically not the beautifully landscaped picture it is today has a very rich history!  It was once considered one of the largest artesian spring systems in Texas and provided 60 million gallons of water per day in the middle of a desert!

For those of you with an interest in history take the time to read the information sign about Commanche Springs.  A lawsuit in the 1930's attempting to stop well owners from interfering with the normal flow of water from Commanche Springs is what defined Texas groundwater laws!  I've developed quite a love of history from our travels.

A local artist creates these wonderful metal silhouettes.

The Comanche War Trail came though Fort Stockton with Comanche Springs being a stop over. The numbers of native people making the journey from north to south during the September full moon or what was also known as the Comanche moon was so numerous as to make a trail a mile wide!

Here are some silhouettes representing the 9th cavalry.  The 9th cavalry established their first headquarters at Fort Stockton in July 1867 when the fort was reoccupied following the Civil War.

Here is the history of the fort and the troops that were stationed there.

This is a small portion of the expansive restored Fort Stockton located in the old downtown.  Fort Stockton was named for Commodore Robert Field Stockton, a naval officer who distinguished himself in the Mexican War.

These silhouettes represent the early settlers.

The great movement into the west took place from 1840 to 1890. Fort Stockton and Pecos County played an important role in this great migration.

These silhouettes represent the Vaqueros.  Vaqueros are the cowboys of the Spanish colonial period.

Vaqueros were hired by ranchers to drive cattle from New Mexico to Mexico City and later from Texas to Mexico City.  Many of the techniques for wrangling longhorns were established by the Vaqueros.

We headed out of Fort Stockton for Carlsbad, New Mexico.  We considered stopping at Carlsbad Caverns for a different cave tour than the one we did before and opted to bypass the caverns.  We hate to start sounding like my dad in his later years, but we've seen enough caves!  We opted to stay at Brantley Lake State Park outside of Carlsbad.  It's a nice little r.v. park sitting way out in the desert.  There is access to swimming and boating in the lake.

This pine needle nest was in a branch of the conifer tree in our campsite.  A brief Internet search suggests it may be a red squirrel nest.  From our stay at the state park we went to Roswell to visit friends we made on our last stay at the Red Barn R.V. Park.  We just stayed one night, but had a great time visiting!

We traveled the familiar Billy the Kid Trail out of Roswell through the Hondo Valley and the historic community of Lincoln into new territory for us starting with the blip in the road called Pie Town!  It appears that this pie shop may be all of Pie Town!  We, of course, had to stop in for pie and coffee. When we got our pieces of pie, we instantly exclaimed that we should have shared a piece, as the portions given were large.  It was amazing how fast our pieces of oatmeal pecan pie disappeared and how quickly we considered whether we could eat another piece!  If passing through Pie Town, NM be sure to stop in for a piece of one of their delicious pies!  I heard the waitress say that if a person calls ahead, they will make the pie of your choice and have it waiting for your arrival!

After our pie and coffee break, we moved on to Socorro, NM.  Little did we know that Socorro is home to the world famous Vary Large Array radio telescope research station!  It sits just outside town on Hwy. 60.  Entrance to the visitor's center is free and has some nice displays with mind blowing information!  It's interesting the things that go on in our world that we have little knowledge of!  This is the site where the Jodi Foster movie "Contact" was filmed.

After hundreds of miles of desert, we finally made it into the mountain meadows and pine forests of Flagstaff, Arizona!  It's hard to capture a community, but I felt this walk into Cococino National Forest right behind our r.v. park gives a good feel for the area.  The mountain community of approximately 68,000 people is bordered by Cococino National Forest and wooded mountains. Flagstaff is at an elevation of 7,000 feet.  It is a college community hosting Northern Arizona University.  The community has an outdoorsy feel with sporting goods shops and mountain bikes with super fat tires on display.  There is downhill skiing locally.  Our first impression of Flagstaff is that it is worth a trip here just to breath the mountain air and that it is a place that would encourage a person to get physically fit!  The dogs, Roy, and I are enjoying  hikes out through the pictured meadow, and I've made it my goal to make it to the base of the mountain before our month's stay is over.  We arrived around the first of September.  The daytime temperatures are in the 70s and the evenings are dropping into the 50s.  Although we could probably stay here through October, we have decided there are enough signs of cold weather coming that we'll head further south in Arizona at the end of the month.