the rim review
FREE AUGUST 24, 2016
PAYSON, ARIZONA
Nyle Burnham Leatham photo courtesy of NGCHS
Surprise! When it comes to mail service, Payson residents stood in line at the post office back in the 1950s just like we do today. At the time, the post office was a small enclosed area inside a local market on the south side of Main, across from the Payson Womans Club.
Visit old Payson through photo exhibit
A Payson that only a few old-timers remember is captured in an incredible new exhibit at the Rim Country Museum. The museum is a treasure of artifacts and stories from the area’s past. This week it opened a special exhibit of about 60 photos by Nyle Burnham Leatham that will remain on display until another new program is launched. The photos on display represent only a small fraction of the Leatham collection donated by Carol Leatham, the widow of the photographer who died in 2007. She gave the museum more than 1,000 negatives of images of life in and around Payson, primarily from the 1950s.
Members of the Northern Gila County Historical Society, which owns and operates the museum complex, hope the public can help identify some of the sites and people featured in the photos. Leatham started taking photos as a student at Mesa High School and refined his skills with the U.S. Air Force, doing both aerial and still photography. He made a name for himself as a photographer working with publications such as Arizona Highways, The Arizona Republic, and Arizona Adventure. Leatham went on to worldwide acclaim with his work displayed in national and international periodicals and books. Leatham didn’t just pass through Payson and the Rim Country with camera in hand. He and his wife
Carol actually moved to Round Valley in 1950 from Mesa and later moved into Payson, where they lived until Leatham went into the Air Force. He had a number of stateside assignments and then was sent to North Africa, the Far East and Japan. Once out of the USAF, the couple came back to Payson and during that time is when he took most of the photos the Rim Country Museum will display. Leatham then moved on again, but eventually spent a few of his retirement years in the community. Historical society volunteer Wayne Walter writes, “The Nyle Burnham Leatham Collection is one of many collections stored and preserved in the Northern Gila County Historical Society’s archival department. CONTINUED ON PAGE 5