Strawberry and Pine Arizona


My husband and I are looking for a house/cabin in the White Mountains of Arizona to have a vacation spot cooler than the valley, and in the woods.  We explored a couple of small towns that are about 15 miles southeast of Payson.  We liked both and they did have houses for sale.  We are not ready to buy, just exploring to see where we would like to vacation and eventually live fulltime.  We are still looking and will report on more small AZ towns hiding in the White Mountains.
Strawberry has a little over 900 people living there, and is considered a self-governing community.  Located in the northwest corner of Gila County, it began as a place where many Native Americans lived such as the Tonto Apaches and Yavapai people.  Throughout the 1860s soldiers intensified their presence in Strawberry pushing the tribes to move elsewhere.  By 1875, Mormons settled in the tiny community and named it “Strawberry” because of all the wild strawberries that grew in the area.  Some came to the region because of the gold, loved the town and stayed.  Besides the gold, there was a huge whiskey still north of Strawberry in Sandrock Canyon.  The Feds got wind of it and abolished over 700 gallons of “mountain whiskey” with a worth of $20,000.  They were able to arrest three men for running the still.



The Strawberry Schoolhouse was built in 1885 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

Pine is a bigger community but is also unincorporated.  Around 2,000 souls call Pine home and is right below the Mogollon Rim, 15 miles from Payson, and only a couple miles from Strawberry.  The town was founded by four Mormon families in 1879.  Both Pine and Strawberry are growing communities and ideal places where folks like to vacation and retire.  We have this tiny town on our "Possible Places to Live" list.







Comments

  1. I haven't seen that area in like 37 years. Wow, it's not changed a whole lot, just some more businesses. Lovely place.

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    Replies
    1. I can see living in Pine. Payson isn't that far away.

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