Reader Comments: What is history? | Payson Roundup

What is history?

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Tim Ehrhardt 6 years, 1 month ago

The Roundup article this week about Dr. Smith got me thinking about the question, what is history? I challenge people to think about this and post their thoughts, but here are mine.

History is different to everybody. It's usually something that connects to a part of our life. I know that my connection to Payson has grown since I realized the strong German connection to the area. Names like Pieper, Bonacker, and Hise, are definitely of that ilk, and it reminds me of the strong German heritage that I have.

The sawmills of the area remind me of my own family's sawing tradition - my Dad has a sawmill, his Dad had a sawmill, and my Great Grandfather had a stake in a sawmill with his three brothers.

Certainly, a variety of items can be very important. You wouldn't necessarily think that probate records from the 1880s would be tremendously useful for a historian, but as I found out last week when I visited the State Archives in Phoenix, they can be. Old receipts from stores in Globe were in some of the cases, providing a neat insight into that time.

What is history to all of you?