Elvin E. White Photographs

Elvin Edward White was born to Elijah Martin White (1870-1964) and Lura Alice May (Black) White (1876-1955) in Davis Creek, California on July 1, 1897. He was one of seven children, including Garland Martin (1895-1960), Irval Joseph (1901-1966), Walter Delmas (1909-1994), Lura Belle (White) Bobo (1915-1971), Lilly May (White) Iverson (1918-1996), and Ralph Lee (1920-1979). White attended Tempe Normal School until 1916, when he joined the Army to fight Pancho Villa and went on to serve in World War I. When he returned to Arizona in 1918, he considered becoming a builder and constructed a home for his parents and siblings at 730 N. Mill Avenue in Tempe using stones from the bank of the Salt River and railroad ties from the Santa Fe railroad bridge, which had been destroyed in a flood in 1891. This project earned White the nickname The Stone Man.

After completing the house, White went into agribusiness. He had previously helped his father establish small date palm and citrus tree nurseries and began his career supplying orchards. In 1937, the state of Arizona hired White to lead their landscape beautification program, including landscaping highways and creating a park where the Santa Fe railroad bridge had been. White held this position until 1941, when he returned to private industry. Later in his career, White managed citrus orchards for major Southwestern companies and worked in landscape architecture, including designing and building Mesa's Pioneer Park. Elvin White died in Mesa on October 7, 1991. He was survived by his wife, Alice Robina Janet (Laird) Harrington White (1897-1992), and daughter, Pearl (Harrington) Smith (1919-2008).