Railroad development overview:

First Railroad came through Skull Valley in 1894. It was called the Peavine because of the way its tracks wound through the boulders and clung to the cliffs. It went from Ash Fork to Phoenix, reaching Phoenix on March 13, 1895.

Some of the track cost $40,000 per mile to lay – a lot of money in those days. The first spike for the Santa Fe/Prescott/Phoenix line was driven at Ash Fork on August 17, 1892. In April, 1893 graders making a cut near Iron Springs discovered gold, and there was trouble. Many of the crew quit to stake claims, and construction almost halted for a while.

However, the find petered out, and the men staggered back to work. An article in the Phoenix Gazette dated November 14, 1971, quoted a “Phoenix 1896” bulletin: “There will be a Thanksgiving Ball at the Railroad Eating House in Skull Valley, Thursday evening, and November 26th. Music will be furnished by the Whipple Barracks Orchestra. Tickets, including supper, are $2.00 per couple. One fare will be given for a round trip from all points of the Santa Fe Railroad.”

 

 East- West transcontinental Railroads

#1. The first was completed in May 10, 1869, From Alameda, CA. through Ogden Utah, to Omaha, NE, and on to the Atlantic Coast. It was a Federal Government subsidized program cooperatively under taken by Union Pacific Railroad & the Central Pacific Railroad of California.

#2.The first transcontinental RR to cross Arizona was by Southern Pacific RR going from Los Angeles, thru Yuma,(1877), Phoenix, Tucson(1880), to El Paseo , Texas, by (1881) . This was made possible only after the Gadsden Purchase in 1853 supposedly settling the USA & Mexican Boundary location

#3.The Santa Fe Railroad completed their route from California across Northern AZ through Kingman, Flagstaff & Winslow and on to Albuquerque, NM in 1883, with connections on the East coast.

 

 The North South Railroad inter-connection Ash fork to Phoenix, “The Peavine RR” came through Skull Valley (S.V.) in the spring of 1894.