LETTERS AND E-MAIL

Church Square Celebrates Centennial

Grace United Methodist Church and the First Baptist Church in Douglas celebrated centennial birthdays this spring. The churches are two of four chapels located between 10th and 11th streets and D and E avenuesknown as Church Square-a historical landmark listed in the 1930 Ripley's Believe It or Not as the only block in the country with a chapel on every corner. Considered architectural landmarks, the buildings preserve the history of early 20th-century design in the West. The southern Arizona town, founded in 1901 as a center for copper smelting by the Phelps Dodge Company, was named for Dr. James Douglas, then the company's president. Phelps Dodge closed its smelting operations in 1987, but the town, 118 miles southeast of Tucson, remains the site of several historical landmarks, including the five-story Gadsden Hotel built in 1907.

Sculpting a Place in History

Beside the tracks in downtown Flagstaff stands a statue of a railroad worker swinging a spike maul over his head. The Gandy Dancer, by Sedona sculptor Clyde "Ross" Morgan, commemorates the men who built the ribbon of rails that crisscross the country and to which Flagstaff owes its existence. The term "gandy dancer" derives from the Gandy Tool Company, which made the tools that section gangs used, and the workers' rhythmic sort of "dance" as they laid down the heavy rail and drove the spikes. Morgan's bronze figure, slightly larger than life-size, is exquisite in detail, down to a rip in the knee of the man's jeans. His face was inspired by someone Morgan knew, but who remains anonymous. Gracing the Santa Fe Plaza at West Route 66 and San Francisco Street, the sculpture stands beside the city's first passenger depot and near "Old Two Spot," a parked steam locomotive used in early logging days.

To Market, To Market

Beneath cooling umbrellas and colorful canopies, growers have trouble keeping up with demand at the Flagstaff Community Farmer's Market. Adorning the tables are vases of bright sunflowers, buckets of sweet basil and baskets of yellow and green squash, so fresh the dew has barely dried. Because the first year proved popular, the weekly market has expanded into July, says coordinator Art Babbott. Beyond the immediate pleasure of freshfrom-the-field food, Babbott hopes the market will let people "make the connection between the food they eat and where it came from. It helps close the circle." The mellow scene of bicycles, strollers and string bags does not include even one robotic price scanner. Regional farmers load up buyers' sacks with golden pattypan squash, royal purple eggplant and fresh white onions-nearly all organically grown. You can buy herbs grown in Cornville, peppers from Wolfberry Farms in Chino Valley, greens from Whipstone Farms in Paulden, apples from Garland's in Oak Creek and honey from Richard and Gayle Clark's Cowboy Honey Company in Camp Verde. There's even a backyard growers' table where gardeners can divest themselves of their surplus zucchini. If you come on an empty stomach, savor a warm muffin baked by Flagstaff chef Donny Marcellus. Or take home one of Mrs. K's pies (that's Melissa Klatzker and her husband, Adam). The Tortilla Lady - Pam Kline and partner Brenda Romero - offer healthful flour tortillas. Each one is handstretched, says Kline, and "that's why they're not perfectly round." The market is held on Sundays, 8:30 A.M. until the goods are gone, July through September. It's located at South Beaver and Phoenix streets by the Amtrak station. Parking is available across the street in the Flagstaff Visitor Center lot. Information: (928) 774-7781.

THIS MONTH IN ARIZONA

1864 John B. Allen makes the first application for homestead land in Arizona.

1871 Hancock's General Store is the first retail building constructed in Phoenix.

1872 The Great Diamond Hoax begins with a San Francisco corporation supposedly developed to mine diamonds in northern Arizona.

1873 Phoenix vigilantes hang a thief for stealing a widow's cow.

1876 Yuma Territorial Prison is completed.

1876 The cost of feeding a prisoner in Yuma Territorial Prison is 39 cents a day.

1880 Charles T. Hayden sells 80 acres of land to Mormon settlers for $3,000. The site, southeast of Phoenix, eventually becomes the city of Tempe.

taking the off-ramp Arizona oddities, attractions and pleasures