Searching for Estrella Station, established 1881, near Phoenix, Arizona


Yesterday I began my journey to find out more about Estrella Station, by going there (or where it used to be, nothing is left). It was a station on the Southern Pacific Railroad, established in 1881.

No, there's nothing to see there, maybe some old concrete foundations, so it takes a LOT of imagination to see it the way it was. Let's time-travel.


I started with an entry from the 1935 "Arizona Place Names" book. According to that book, it was established in 1881, a few years before trains even arrived in Phoenix, which was platted in 1870. As close as you could get to Phoenix on a train at that time was Maricopa. The Post Office in Estrella was established in 1919, and after taking a look at historic aerials I determined that the buildings still existed in 1947, but were gone by 1961. Historic aerials images are copyrighted, so I won't post them here, but you can go over to their website and take a look-see for yourself if you want to. It's kinda tricky to use, but with patience you'll get it. https://www.historicaerials.com/


Its location isn't a secret, so I can share it here. It's on Arizona 238, near mile marker 22, west of Mobile. You have to walk a bit to stand exactly where the town was.

Like I say, there's nothing there to be seen, so don't expect to see old buildings, or anything. What you'll see is the train tracks, which are still there, and the desert, which would look pretty much the same as it did when people lived there. And people did live there.

Estrella Hill listing in the 1922 Arizona State Business Directory

The name of the community originally was Estrella Hill, and was also just called Estrella. I found a listing in a 1922 directory. There was a boarding house, and even a garage (gas and repair station for cars). I haven't found much else, but I'm still looking. I'll let you know what I find!

Cancelled from Estrella Hill in 1931, 1932

Comments

  1. HawkeyeBobOctober 29, 2019 at 3:42 PM

    Excellent research, Brad! Thank you for assembling in one "spot"! You're a great "run, seek and find" partner.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brad HallOctober 29, 2019 at 5:22 PM

      Thanks, Bob! I may not be able to run, but I can seek and find!

      Delete

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