Tuesday, March 31, 2015
How much does it cost to build a new school today...how about it the 1920's? Geo.V. Tolley would build one as big as a block for $198,000.
George W. Tolley was born in Ephraim, Utah in 1860 while his father-Wm. Fisher Tolley, was constructing the road from Nephi to Sanpete County. The son kept up the construction trade and moved from Juab County to California, where he started the Geo. W. Tolley Contractor and Builder company. He would periodically write home to his Nephi sister-Elizabeth Tolley Jones, and report his success. Here are some photos related to he and his business. The Gridley Memorial building was finished in 1924, and looking at their website, it is as beautiful now as it was when the Nephi boy built it. Although it is uncertain what year he built the store, the vintage cars in front may date back to the late 1920's. This Tolley construction man died in 1936. He was married to Esther Christensen. Efforts will be made to see if the Galt School and Veterans Memorial would like these photos.
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Thank you for posting these!
ReplyDeleteThe George W. Tolley who married Esther Christensen and died in 1936 was George William Tolley. It was his nephew, George Warren Tolley (my great-grandfather), who ended up as a builder in Gridley and undertook the projects in these photographs.
George Warren's father, Samuel, removed to Canada when George Warren was young. George Warren served as a missionary to the British Isles and on his return was called to serve as a bishop in Orton, Alberta. It was during this service that he met my great-grandmother, Phyllis Maude Sillito. They married in 1907 and immediately moved to Gridley, where they raised ten children. George Warren died in 1933 at the age of 50 and is buried in Gridley. His descendants still have a reunion every two years at the LDS Church in Gridley.