Historical Info
Verde Valley, The Valley Of Grapes
Page Springs was named after the Page family who farmed the area at the turn of the century and also for the abundance of artesian springs. Wild grapes grow throughout the riparian green belt of the Verde Valley, once known to ancient cultures not as the Verde (green) Valley but Valley Of Grapes.
Original family farms and ranches still exist here. The vineyards have helped to keep the integrity of the area in agriculture use. Early settlers grew grapes in Arizona's Verde Valley prior to prohibition, for Arizona that was in 1914 which was before the rest of the nation. Below, a rare historical photo taken in 1933 of Mary Hancock (pioneer and owner of Hancock Ranch). She is shown here tending her concord grape vines which were originally planted in 1915 by homesteader Joe Johnson. The vineyard has recently been revived by Kevin Chadwick who consulted Rod Snapp (owner, founder of Javelina Leap Vineyard & Winery). Kevin is now adding zinfandel vines from Javelina Leap.
The Javelina
The first part of our name is Javelina. What is a Javelina ? A Javelina ( hav a leen a ) is a member of the Peccary family and resembles a wild boar. They are native to our area and often seen in packs with their cute little ones and do not bother the grape vines at all, they prefer cactus, roots, nuts and bulbs. Many Javelina are seen around the vineyard at dusk, night or early morning. Javelina have very poor vision relying mostly on smell. Although they usually avoid humans, javelina will charge if they feel threatened, especially with little ones around.
