Description

Eva M. Holbert Pusey (b. 1908 estimated) at age 12 is shown in the 1920 United States Census as living in Poncha Springs, Chaffee, Colorado.  She was born in Iowa, the daughter of Charles McDevitt Holbert (b. 1861 – d. 1948) who was born August 12, 1861 in Ashland, Iowa and died January 31, 1948 in Phoenix, Arizona. His death certificate shows that he lived in Phoenix and in Arizona for 23 years. His occupation is listed as Retired Custodian, Phoenix, South Mountain Park. The 1970 census shows him as living in Maricopa, Arizona. He was married to Adelaid “Addie” Cora Redfield who was born in Minnesota. Charles M. Holbert is shown in the Sharlot Hall Museum archives photo PO-0930, with Sharlot Hall and Winifred A. Hynds.

Eva was married to Howard Pusey, Secretary, Castle Creek Hot Springs & Improvement Company.  Information is available on the famous Castle Creek Hot Springs Resort in the Bradshaw Mountains, not far from Lake Pleasant, northwest of Phoenix, Arizona. In its heyday, the resort attracted a dazzling guest list from Rockefellers to Carnegies to Vanderbilts to Presidents Teddy Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy. The Castle Creek Hot Springs Resort passed through a number of owners, including Arizona State University. In 2016 it was purchased by a group of developers interested in reviving the Resort.

The back of this photograph carries the handwritten reference: "Eva Pusey (age) 12 yr. 7 mo, 28 days."

Sources: Arizona Highways 1974, Arizona State Department of Health/Division of Vital Statistics, Arizona Journal Miner, United States Census, 1870, 1920, 1970.