Contact Dr. Emily Dale
Contact Mr. Timothy Maddock
Apex, Arizona Archaeology Project
Director: Dr. Emily Dale
Collaborating Institution: Kaibab National Forest
Project Information
From 1901 to 1968, the Grand Canyon Railway carried tourists, goods, and resources along the 64 miles between Williams, Arizona and the Grand Canyon. One of the main functions of the railroad was to supply ranching, mining, and logging camps and move the extracted resources to larger towns for use or sale. The Saginaw and Manistee Logging Company established a new headquarters at Apex, Arizona, 52 miles from Williams along the Grand Canyon Railway and in the middle of Arizona’s largest ponderosa pine forests, to harvest the timber for railroad ties, building materials, and other wood goods. In operation from 1928 to 1936, Apex was host to a railroad siding, logging spurs, maintenance buildings, homes, and a schoolhouse.
The Apex, Arizona Archaeology Project explores how the building platforms, domestic trash scatters, railroad beds, and privies still at the site reveal evidence of the Scandinavian logging employees and Mexican railroad workers and their families, providing important and largely unaddressed evidence of life in northern Arizona during the Great Depression. We are also committed to educating the public on the site, the associated timber and railroad industries, and historical archaeology in general.
Learn More
Historical Archaeology in Arizona, by Sean White, Emily Dale, Ashley Mlazgar, Charlie Webber, and Timothy Maddock, Educational Brochure
Archaeology on the Grand Canyon Railway, by Sean White, Emily Dale, Ashley Mlazgar, and Timothy Maddock, Educational Brochure
Archaeology at Apex, Arizona by Emily Dale, Arizona Preservation Foundation Webinar Series Presentation
Collaborative Archaeology of Apex, Arizona and the Grand Canyon Railroad by Emily Dale and Margaret Hangan, Grand Canyon Historical Society Virtual Outing Presentation
Two Years of Public Archaeology at Apex, Arizona: Life and Work in a Depression-Era Company Town by Emily Dale and Timothy Maddock, Pecos Conference Poster
Visitor’s Experience at the Apex Archaeology Field School, by Joey McCauley, Northern Arizona University Undergraduate Research Symposium Poster
NAU and Kaibab National Forest partner to open archaeological field school at historic logging camp near Grand Canyon by Joseph Giddens, Williams-Grand Canyon News
One Man’s Trash is an Archaeologist’s Treasure by Carly Banks, NAU Review Article and Video
Summer 2024 Field School
To apply, submit the Apex Application 2024 to Dr. Dale (emily.dale@nau.edu) by April 15.
Funding for this project is provided by the Northern Arizona University Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity, the Kaibab National Forest, Arizona Humanities, and the Grand Canyon Historical Society.