Early Life in Taylor, Arizona

The artifacts and historic sites that are included in this collection not only serve as examples of daily pioneer living in Taylor, Arizona, but also provide insight into the changes which occurred as the citizens of Taylor adjusted to world, national and community development. This collection has images of items from each of the below historic sites and organizations.

Taylor Museum
Location: 2 North Main Street, Taylor, Arizona
Hours: Open from 10am to 2pm Monday through Saturday
Contact information: For info call 928-536-6649

The Taylor Museum, opened in 2005, is a time line museum, created to show the development and growth in Taylor from its founding in 1878 to the present. It is housed in the restored A.Z. Palmer/Hatch Brothers store in the center of Taylor. From ice cream and food supplies to gas and insurance, the Palmer & Son Store provided nearly everything local ranchers would need. It was a community-gathering place. George P. and Dora Palmer Hatch, Reed and Burt Hatch and Lloyd and Mildred Hatch Willis, were subsequent owners. In 1956, the "Hatch Bros. General Store" closed but other small businesses utilized the building. The town of Taylor purchased the site in 2000, and with the help of the Taylor/Shumway Heritage Foundation and many volunteers, it became Taylor's main museum and the Chamber of Commerce. Recorded narrations of exhibits add detail to the guided tour.

Veteran's Memorial and Mural of Historic Taylor Sites
Location: 2 North Main Street, Taylor, Arizona (Adjacent to Taylor Museum)

The veteran's monument features veteran's names from World War I to the present. It is placed in the center of an attractively landscaped and lighted plaza. A mural of beloved Taylor sites overlooks the monument from the South wall of the Taylor Museum. It is a sacred spot, built to honor the brave men and women from Taylor who have represented Taylor so well.

Margaret McCleve Hancock Log Cabin: 1884
Location: Located at the intersection of East Willow Street and Main Street, Taylor, Arizona
Tours and hay wagon rides can be scheduled by calling 928-536-6649. Hay wagon rides occur between July 4th and Labor Day. Donations are appreciated.

Born in 1838 in Belfast, Ireland, Margaret McCleve made the 1300 mile journey from Illinois to Utah with the 1856 Mormon Handcart Company. She married Mosiah L. Hancock and in 1879 they left Utah to help settle Taylor at the request of Brigham Young. Upon her arrival, she was "set apart to minister to the needs of the sick and to midwife." Mosiah and Margaret M. Hancock raised 13 children in this small cabin, located on East Willow and Main in Taylor, Arizona. In 1914/1915, the cabin served as a schoolhouse for the lst and 2nd Grades. In the grove behind the Margaret McCleve Hancock Log Cabin stands a small fort built with logs from Ft. Wingate (New Mexico).

Standifird Home: 1890
Location: 304 S. Main Street, Taylor, Arizona
Contact Information: Call 536-6649 for a guided tour

The Standifird Home has many original family heirlooms donated by Standifird descendants. John Henry Standifird and his children were co-founders of Taylor in 1878. In 1905, Aquilla Standifird, son of John, purchased the distinctive 1890 stone house built by the Brimhall family. In 2004, Aquilla's son, Jack Standifird, generously donated the Standifird Home to the Taylor Heritage Foundation. The home itself, with its three-foot thick walls plus many original family heirlooms donated by Standifird descendants, creates a yearning for yesteryear.

Pioneer Museum / The Jane Hatch Camp: 1930
Location: 50 S. 400 East Street, Taylor, Arizona
Contact Information: Call 928-536-6649 for a guided tour

This house was built for meetings held by the local branch of Daughters of Utah(DUP) Pioneers and to preserve treasured artifacts of pioneer settlement times. The townsfolk adopted the house as an ongoing project, contributing building materials, labor and maintenance. Soon after completion, it was dedicated by DUP President Kate B. Carter as "The Jane Hatch Camp." During the 1950s, the timeworn house fell under the loving wing of the "20-30 Club," a Taylor social group. Energetic volunteers made the needed repairs. In November 1987, the LDS Church deeded the building to the 20-30 Club. Ten years later, the 20-30 Club collaborated with the Taylor/Shumway Heritage Foundation to create the "Pioneer Museum." Filled with authentic pioneer memorabilia, doors to the Pioneer Museum opened to the public July 5, 1997.

Shumway School
Location: One block east of the highway on the Old Shumway Road, Taylor, Arizona
Contact Information: Call 928-536-6649 for a guided tour

Created from locally fired soft red brick, a pristine 1900 schoolhouse, shaded by cottonwoods, remains in the heart of Shumway. The voices of its frontier children have grown quiet. The Shumway Schoolhouse enjoyed total restoration during the 1990s and eventual dedication on Memorial Day 2001. Descendant of Mormon pioneers and celebrated quilt maker, the late Laura Saline, started the wheels rolling to save this surviving frontier schoolhouse during the 1960s. The Shumway Schoolhouse has been recognized as a living legacy. Today, visitors can see the names of yesteryear's schoolchildren etched into the soft bricks, vintage furnishings and treasured photographs.

More information on the Taylor Arizona Museum can be found at https://taylorazmuseum.com/.