Somerton seeks photos of city's history

Somerton wants your help with a giant scrapbooking project.

In a quest to preserve the community's history, leaders are asking past and current residents to search their photo albums for images and documents that tell the story of Somerton. Those images will be included in a commercially printed book.

“We are really excited about capturing the history of Somerton. I think the longer we wait getting this done, the more history we are going to lose,” said City Manager Bill Lee. “I know it can be a chore to go through old photos, but we're really wanting people to take the time and help us. I think the longer we wait to do this, the more history we are going to lose.”

The book will be available for sale at City Hall, as well as at businesses throughout Somerton.

“I think there is going to be quite a bit of interest in a pictorial history of Somerton,” Lee said. “There are a lot of families in the Yuma area that have roots reaching back to Somerton.”

Photos can feature events, landmarks or people who have lived, worked or played in Somerton from its founding in 1898 through today. The deadline to submit photos is Oct. 26.

Photos can be taken to City Hall, where the images will be digitally scanned. Donors do not need to leave their original photos.

Lee said that he asks people to also submit as much history about the photo as possible, ranging from the names of people photographed to a little background about the time and place. Donors are asked to include their name, phone number and email address in case city employees require additional information.

“It would be great if people would include a little bit of a story about the photos. Maybe the person in the photo was the first mayor in Somerton or maybe they were a state wrestling champ,” Lee said.

He added that not all of the images will be photographs, however. He pointed to the City Hall's copy of the very first resolution passed by Somerton's city council.

“It describes the logo for the City of Somerton,” Lee said with pride.

People who are unable to bring photos to city hall can make arrangements to have someone pick up the photos from the home. For more information, call Lee at 722-7343 or send an email to billlee@CityofSomerton.com.

“I've seen books before in various communities that had 50-70 pages and some had a couple hundred pages,” Lee said. “I would like to see us get as many images as we possibly can.”

Darin Fenger can be reached at dfenger@yumasun.com or 539-6860.