The memories included here are from a different time and place. The place is still called Heber, Arizona, but the Heber of today is much different from the Heber I remember. The Heber of the 1950’s and 1960’s was a small quiet town with a population of less than 500 (if you included the dogs, cats, cows and horses). The Heber of that time was rather isolated. It had one store, a post office, one gas station and café, one church building and one three room elementary school house (an additional classroom and gym were added later). Most of the men worked in jobs associated in one way or another with the lumbering industry (forest service, sawmill, pulp mill, or the cutting and hauling of logs or pulpwood to a mill). Those few not involved with the lumber industry were cattle ranchers.

In a small town like Heber in that era, everyone knew everyone else in town. In many cases families were related, sometimes closely and sometimes more distantly. But regardless, this resulted in a closeness that was an advantage at times, and at other times a big disadvantage to boys growing up in Heber.

For all practical purposes, the town of Heber ran from the Phil and Sheila Webb home on the west bank of Black Canyon Creek to the Porter Sawmill on the east side of town (about where the current High School is located) and from highway 260 on the north, to a few homes down Buckskin Canyon just south of the current Capps elementary school.

My brothers and I grew up in Heber in the 1940’s, 1950’s and 1960’s. We were fortunate to have lots of friends about our same age. Part of the inspiration for collecting these memories came when the daughter of a close friend of mine (who grew up in Heber at the same time) indicated that she knew very little about the Heber of her father’s childhood because he never talked about it. There may be others from her generation who would be interested in reading or hearing about some of our experiences growing up in this small community. One only needs to look around Heber today to see that there are many who only know the Heber of the present time. They may also have some interest in learning more about the Heber of the past. If so, I hope you enjoy reading or hearing about some of my memories.