Graham County Historical Society President Harvey John presented the legacy award to Marge Shade at the association’s 2021 symposium held at the Discovery Park ranch. – David Bell Photography/Gila Valley Central
SAFFORD — The Graham County Historical Society recently announced some good news. . . We promise more good news later this month.
“After a long wait, the Graham County Historical Society is pleased to announce that it has been awarded $150,000 by the FMI Foundation to reopen the museum,” said Denna Moeller of the association.
Moeller said the museum’s new location will be announced at the Graham County Historical Society’s annual winter meeting and symposium on Saturday, January 14 at 10 a.m. on the ranch at Eastern Arizona College’s Discovery Park campus.
The Historical Society’s collection of artifacts was housed in a museum in the old Thatcher Middle School building, but the museum was closed in the early 2000s when the Thatcher Unified School District demolished the building to build the current middle school. The item was stored. school.
In 2017, when Circle K announced plans to build an upgraded, larger convenience store and gas station on U.S. Route 70 east of Safford, the Historical Society received a demolition of the Safford Carpet building donated by Circle K. I was.
The plan was to reassemble the building on land Graham County made available in the Fairgrounds, but the cost of construction proved too much for the all-volunteer Historical Society.
In addition to the presentations, the symposium will include presentations on the history of the Gila Valley and the Heritage Award presented to Robert Parsley.
Participation is free and open to the general public.
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