Teskey Home Site | Arizona

The Teskey Home Site is a small homestead located along Big Bug Creek in the northern part of the Agua Fria National Monument. Visitors can explore the chimney remnants and a stone foundation. The quiet creekside setting offers a chance to enjoy desert wildlife and reflect on pioneer life.

Settled by Cornelius “Colonel” H. Teskey in 1940, the site remained home to his family until 1948. Colonel Teskey and his wife Phoebe farmed hay, grain, and pinto beans, tended livestock, and relied on early irrigation systems. Though the house lacked electricity or plumbing, it featured an innovative evaporative cooler and simple hand-dug well. The site reflects the resourcefulness and self-reliance of mid-20th-century homesteaders in Arizona.

Hours and Seasons

Open year-round. No restrictions. Best visited in spring and fall when temperatures are milder.

Features and Services

• Access and Parking: An unpaved road leads to a small pull-off.  
• Cell Service: Limited to none.
• Toilets: None.
• Drinking Water: None.
• Pets: Allowed on leash; please pick up after your pet.
• Camping: Primitive, dispersed camping is permitted on nearby BLM lands; check local regulations for fire and camping guidelines.
• Nearby Amenities: Mayer and Cordes Junction, about 10–15 miles away, offer food, fuel, lodging, and medical care.

Respect and Protect

Historic and archaeological sites are protected by law. Please leave artifacts where you find them and do not climb on walls or structures. By practicing responsible outdoor ethics, you help ensure future visitors can enjoy this remarkable site. 
History of the Teskey Home Site  

History of the Teskey Home Site

Homestead Beginnings

Cornelius “Colonel” H. Teskey came to Arizona from Wyoming in 1925. His nickname, “Colonel,” stuck because it was easier to say than Cornelius. In 1940, he built a small home on this site for his wife Phoebe and their baby daughter, Trudy. The house was later enlarged to make room for two sons, Bert and Fred, and Colonel’s mother, Emma.

Here the Teskey family farmed hay, grain, and pinto beans in fields south of the house and across Big Bug Creek. Water for the crops came from a reservoir that collected water from a canal upstream. A pipe carried water across the creek, suspended by steel cables. Phoebe also tended a small vegetable garden behind the house. Southwest of the home stood chicken coops, granaries, storage sheds, a barn, and a corral. Colonel raised cattle and bred Morgan horses, while Phoebe helped break the horses and tended animals on the range. Colonel also cared for the crops, maintained the irrigation canal, and worked at the manganese mine at the TH Ranch.

Life at the Teskey Home

The house had no electricity or plumbing. A simple pipe drained the kitchen sink, and water from the hand-dug well was carried to the house in buckets. Phoebe washed clothes outdoors with a hand-operated Maytag washer, heating water on the wood stove. She pressed clothes with heavy irons warmed on the same stove. Colonel designed an evaporative cooler to keep food fresh. The cooler hung from an oak tree west of the house, screened to keep out animals and insects.

The Teskey children made their playhouse in nearby trees and brush. Their toys included tin trucks, a syrup can, dolls, kites made by Colonel, and a model airplane. Trudy rode the bus to school in Mayer, but Bert and Fred were still too young. The family gathered with neighbors for meals, conversation, and playtime for the children. In 1948, the Teskeys sold the ranch and later moved from Mayer to the Dugas Ranch, about eight miles northeast of this site.

This information was researched and compiled by Friends of Agua Fria. Learn more at the Friends of the Agua Fria National Monument website.