The story of Avondale is so entwined with a place called Coldwater that both stories must be told concurrently.
There was a man named Billy Moore who owned a freight station on the west bank of the Agua Fria River which means in Spanish “Cold Water” where he had a well with cold water.
For the river name and his clear, cold water well he called his place Coldwater. Still many old-timers referred to it simply as Billy Moore’s. His freight station was near a ranch known as Avondale. The railroad established a station a mile west of Coldwater. The station was on the Avondale ranch, however it was called Litchfield. A budding metropolis began to form.
When Moore’s freight station lost importance the name Coldwater was abandoned. It is not known why the United States Post Office, was established as Coldwater on July 2, 1896 and discontinued October 3, 1896.
On March 23, 1911, the United States Post Office was re-established using the name of Avondale, instead of Coldwater. The United States Post Office ruled that a once used post office name could not be re-instated. |
