Holbrook
"Elevation 5,080 feet. County Seat. Formerly known as Horsehead crossing. "Named, 1880, after H.R. Holbrook, first chief engineer of Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. He was the builder of the Rocky Ford Colorado Irridation system." A.G.W. James H. Wilson was the first P.M., September 18, 1882. Orestes P. Chaffee, brother of General Adna R. Chaffee, USA, was PM and quartermaster agent here from March 4, 1888, to September 9, 1989. He was a crippled Confederate soldier."

Barnes, Will C.; Granger, Byrd (ed.) Arizona Place Names University of Arizona Press. 1997
P. 208

In 1881 John W. Young, a railroad contractor, set up headquarters two miles east of the future Holbrook, where a little community was already in existence. Juan Padilla had built the first house immediately east of Horsehead crossing above the junction of the Puerco and Little Colorado River in 1871. Berado Frayde (or Freyes) was in charge of Padilla's saloon and the place came to be known as Berado Station, a main crossing for travellers en route south. Padilla, his boss, was at best a haphazard merchant, pricing all articles at fifty cents regardless of their true value. In 1881 the first railroad tracks were laid at Berado adn extended west. In 1882 Holbrook came into being and Berado began to vanish, with Berado himself moving to Albequerque. Gradually Horsehead Crossing disappeared as Holbrook grew in importance. Young named it in honor of H.R. Holbrook. It became the county seat in 1895 and is today an important community serving numerous ranches and trading posts. PO Est Sept. 18, 1882 James H Wilson first pm."

Barnes, Will C.; Granger, Byrd (ed.) Arizona's names : X marks the place Falconer Pub. Co. : distributed by Treasure Chest Publications, c1983. P. 302-303

Websites

Arizona Department of Commerce Community Profile- Holbrook, Arizona
http://www.commerce.state.az.us/pdf/commasst/comm/holbrook.pdf

Holbrook, Arizona Local Government Website
http://www.ci.holbrook.az.us/

The Arizonan.com Holbrook, Arizona
http://www.arizonan.com/Holbrook/

Holbrook Public Library
451 N. 1st Ave. Holbrook, AZ 86025
(928) 524-3732
http://www.navajoco.lib.az.us/
 

Books/Manuscripts found in the ASU Library Catalog

Gunfight in Apache County, 1887 : the shootout between Sheriff C. P. Owens and the Blevins Brothers in Holbrook, Arizona / as described by Will C. Barnes ; edited by Neil B. Carmony.
F819.H6 B37x 1997

A history of Holbrook and the Little Colorado country, 1540-1962.
F819 .H6 W3x
 

Items on the Arizona and Southwest Index

Papers of Lloyd C. Henning, 1900-1968
CM MSS HENNING,L

Half-A-Century 1884-1934
CE EPH DTO HOLBROOK.1

Holbrook Gun Club Tournaments
CE EPH FS-40

Holbrook: A Self Guided Tour of the Real West
CE EPH DTO-HOLBROOK.7

Sheriff Commodore Perry Owens: Pawn of Apache County?
CM MSM-517

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Last Updated: July 18, 2002
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