(The following is some research that I did, voluntarily, for the Ash Fork Arizona Museum. I thought I would share this work with you, even though it has little to do with Saginaw.)
Ash Fork Museum Research Project: Notes and Observations; November 2025
Michael Branson
The Ash Fork Museum building is a historical structure in its own right, representing a surviving industrial-type structure from the early to mid-1900s. It also possesses a mystique, as having a connection with the Escalante Hotel complex. However, there has been questions raised as to when it was constructed:
Was the structure contemporaneous to the Escalante Hotel complex, and if so, what was the building used for? Was the structure built by the State for the Highway Department?
These questions can in part be answered by the structure itself. We only have to listen to what it has to say, by understanding the evidence in the construction
EXTERIOR CONSTRUCTION
Image of southeast corner. This is a good image of the concrete cap and window Lentils. Both appear to be made of the same concrete mix. Note how straight and well-pointed the stonework is at the corner of the two walls.
The steel doors on the east side. These have well-defined features indicating that they were added after the main building was constructed.
an overall view from the southwest corner.
WINDOWS
The windowpanes are similar in appearance but vary in size depending on their use.
What should be focused on is the style used in constructing the window frames. Take note of one feature: the dimple on the right frame. The non-dimpled frame also appears, but as you can see does so along the dimpled frame. This has commonality throughout the windows on the lower structure.
The next two images are from a photograph on display in the museum, revealing a number of features of the stone station in Ash Fork.
These windows have a similar metal frame; however, the glass panels are a different size. Probably a larger pane was used for the passenger station to allow in more light. If you look very closely at the window rails, a dimple like feature can be seen. At a minimum, the metal framing, and the dimple feature are contemporary with the museum structure's windows.
The upper windows show a more utilitarian construction; functional, not ornamental. It appears to be like the industrial buildings associated with a foundry, locomotive shop, etc.
One theory is that the upper structure was not part of the original stone sided building. The other is that they were built at the same time. Evidence shows both possibilities. At the moment, it appears the latter may be more accurate.
FREIGHT DOORS, SOUTH SIDE OF BUILDING
View of the doors on the South side of the building. There is a concrete Lentil over the doors; stones were used for the bottom.
It appears that the doors were added after the walls were built. The stonework seems to be disturbed. The stonework was chiseled to recess the doorframe. Note the top row of stones, which appear to not line up properly, and were repointed. This would indicate they were removed to place the door, and/or settled afterwards and were repointed.
The doorframes are steel like the doors, except that the frame was welded, and some average hinges were attached to the doors and frame.
The type of door handle is called "T Handle Door Latch." An unusual piece of hardware today, except for cabinet doors and such. The manufacturer can be determined by disassembling the door mechanism. Vintage hardware like this is somewhat rare but can still be purchased on eBay.
My general impression of the freight doors was that they were repurposed from another structure (the doors predate the frame.) The welded frame would indicate the work was done when the county used the structure. This would also apply to the main door entrance, and the two sets of doors on the west and east sides of the building.
THE HYDRAULIC LIFT
The hydraulic floor lift. This is an old-style lift that is manually hand cranked. What is significant is that the lift was installed at a later date, after the concrete floor slab was poured. The cut-out portion where the lift was installed can be plainly seen.
The simple conclusion is that the slab came first. A question arises, when was the floor slab poured, and was it the original floor? although an image is not provided, the concrete work was filled-in around the footings of the steel structure inside the building. In other words, it was overlaid on the footings and possibly on top of an earlier floor.
ADDITIONAL BUILDING DETAILS
A travel hook, one on each side of the main bay, suspended by a simple track on the structure's steel framework. Why?
An image of the construction techniques used to assemble the steel frame. There are no indications of the use of rivets; the fasteners are round head bolts with square type nuts.
The exterior siding. There is a small cutout hole, probably where a light was once installed. This reveals that the roofing and part of the siding is double sided.
According to Wikipedia, corrugated sheet metal was invented in 1829, by Henry Robinson Palmer. It was originally made of iron but was soon replaced by sheet steel in the 1890s. Although a date was not provided as to when it was started, the sheets were hot dipped in a galvanizing process. The corrugated sheet metal on this structure was probably replaced at some time.
An image of an access hatch, located on the central floor area. This was likely a sump installed in the floor at a later date. It appears to have a metal frame, and that the hatch is removable. It is possible that by removing this hatch, the floor structure will be revealed. This would help in determining if there were several prior floors, or that the existing slab was original to the building.
STONEWORK
The stone blocks are of the same thickness, which is consistent with the rest of the walled structure. The length of the stones varies. The joints are staggered to provide greater strength to the wall and minimize cracking along the joints.
Arizona Memory Project
This is the East side of the Escalante Hotel complex. I over pixilated the image on my computer and was able to determine that stonework was used to build this side of the hotel. It was cut stone, that appears to be of the same dimensions as that in the museum walls.
This image was copied from the internet and used solely as a reference. This is the Atlantic and Pacific Depot (freight and passenger) located in Flagstaff, Arizona. As can be seen, the stonework has the same general appearance to other structures on the railroad. This was built prior to the Ash Fork structures; however, it is possible that the same quarry and stone masons were used for a number of years. The Santa Fe system maintained strict specifications for building structures, with few exceptions. It is reasonable to assume that the Escalante had to meet these standards that were developed from prior years' experience.
The windows appear to be sliding windows, and possibly of steel frame construction. If similarities in design can be found, then it would be further evidence that the museum structure was built by the railroad. Further field work investigation will be required.
There is an excellent post regarding the quarries in the Flagstaff area on the Arizonarailsruinstrails.blogspot.com site. It also references several other books and articles regarding the local quarries. This would be an interesting aspect that requires further research. To quote from the article:
"Moenkopi sandstone, also known as Arizona or Flagstaff Red, was quarried locally beginning in the 1880s."
The stonework at the museum site has been referred to as Moenkopi stone, and the source would have most likely been from the quarries located in the Flagstaff area. There has been some speculation that the quarry was located in the Winslow area, however, this places it closer to Ash Fork, in the same time period when the Atlantic and Pacific R.R. was being built.
This is a repeat of an earlier image, this time focusing on the stonework.
A major difference between the museum and the station windows is that the station Lentils were made of stone, whereas the museums are concrete. The stonework is similar to the museum walls, with the same thickness and random lengths.
A bridge abutment located west of Williams, Arizona. The use of this type of stonework style would date from the time period when the A&P was under construction. The stones are more random in size; however, the rest of the masonry techniques are similar the buildings in Ash Fork and Flagstaff.
Interior image of the museum walls. It appears that random stones and left-over pieces were used as fill in the interior part of the wall, and that the technique of applying mortar between the joints left something to be desired. This would not be acceptable on a structure such as the hotel but would prove sufficient for a secondary building like a warehouse or shop.
The map shows the general layout of the spurs in Ash Fork. They changed over the years but generally were located in the same area.
General Conclusions: The stonework at the museum is consistent with the general appearance of the stones used on A&P and Santa Fe structures. These stones could have and were probably quarried in Flagstaff.
The windows have the appearance of being consistent with that of the railroad structures, when metal framed windows were used. Different time periods seem to use the same standardized techniques in frame construction.
The concrete floor holds several mysteries, which could be answered by uncovering the foundation. This could be done by the access panel in the floor.
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