Territory of Arizona
MCMX ― MCMXI
Home for Aged and Infirm Arizona Pioneers
Established by act of the Twenty-Fifth Legislature under the administration of Governor Joseph H. Kibbey.
Erected under the direction of the Board . . . — — Map (db m33047) HM
To those responsible for the Arizona Pioneers' Home
A. J. Doran
Introduced enabling legislation - 1907
Supervised construction - 1910
First Superintendent – 1911
George D. Morris
Reintroduced
Successful enabling . . . — — Map (db m32903) HM
Originally this was the site of A.G. Dunn's Butcher Shop, which provided fresh locally grown beef from Dunn's ranch. This was followed by Hubbard's drug store which was later owned by W.W.Ross. The drug store was purchased by Harry Brisley in 1899. . . . — — Map (db m20292) HM
Coles Bashford arrived in Prescott in 1864 and was the first President of the Territorial Legislature. In 1874, Coles, his brother Levi, and son William formed a partnership with Robert Burmister. The Bashford-Burmister Company became one of the . . . — — Map (db m18806) HM
The International Society of Arboriculture and the National Arborist Association jointly recognize this significant tree in this bicentennial year as having lived here during the American Revolutionary Period. 1776 1976.
[Added brass . . . — — Map (db m18861) HM
Citizens Cemetery was founded in early June 1864 with the burial of Colorado legislator Joel Woods. Established on public land east of Prescott and southwest of Fort Whipple, the cemetery has been known at various times as “Town . . . — — Map (db m21668) HM
This Romanesque/Classical Revival building was constructed in 1895 and served as both a fire station (on the first floor) and the City jail (on the second). It is one of the two buildings facing the Courthouse Plaza that survived the fire of 1900. . . . — — Map (db m33090) HM
Since 1908, the area of Prescott now known as Ken Lindley Field has been used as a public park and ballfield. The land was deeded to the City of Prescott by Charles T. and Ada M. Joslin in 1922. As Mrs. Joslin requested, the City later . . . — — Map (db m21161) HM
There was a time when progress in Yavapai County was spelled S-P-A-R-K-E-S. Grace M. Sparkes came to Prescott, Arizona Territory, at the age of 14 in 1906. By 1911, she was working for the Yavapai County Chamber of Commerce as Secretary, a job she . . . — — Map (db m33137) HM
American History in Arizona is quite recent, although the history of the Native American, Spanish and Mexican occupation periods are much older. Encampments of Native Americans were drawn to the creeks, which offered a fairly reliable source of . . . — — Map (db m33064) HM
After ten years of planning, community leaders of Prescott finally raised sufficient funds to build a modern hotel which catered to the "auto tourist" in downtown Prescott -- The Hassayampa Inn. On February 28, 1927, at the site of the former Conner . . . — — Map (db m20621) HM
Colonel C. P. Head was in the hardware business in Prescott by about 1866. By 1875, Colonel Head was involved in several businesses including hardware, lumber and a hotel. He served in the territorial House of Representatives from Yavapai County for . . . — — Map (db m20296) HM
The cornerstone of historic "Whiskey Row", the Hotel St. Michael, represents the coming of age of Prescott's hostelries. Constructed on the site of the modest Hotel Burke, which burned in 1900, the new three-story hotel was designed by D. W. Millard . . . — — Map (db m33065) HM
The Hotel Vendome, referred to in a contemporary newspaper article as an "apartment house", was built on South Cortez Street in 1917 by J. B. Jones. An article in Yavapai Magazine in November 1917 refers to it as the "Hotel Vendome" and states "its . . . — — Map (db m18862) HM
J. I. Gardner came to Prescott with a pack train in 1879 and opened his first mercantile store in 1883. The J. I. Gardner Store was built on this corner in 1890. Gardner's motto was "all goods guaranteed to be first class". They carried every type . . . — — Map (db m41960) HM
Stone Marker:
14 Inf. N.Y.
John Towhey
Wounded
Here
1861
Plaque Attached to Stone:
-- January 1970 --
This stone with inscription of incident was originally located on the Yavapai Indian Reservation . . . — — Map (db m21966) HM
With the exception of the Courthouse, the Knights of Pythias Building, also known as the Tilton Building, has always been the tallest building on the Plaza at 46 feet. It was dedicated on November 27, 1895, and is one of the few buildings that . . . — — Map (db m21625) HM
In early 1908, the Prescott School Board decided that a new school was needed in Prescott. On July 12, 1908, a school bond election was held and approved by the voters 119-1. In August 1908, the three acre site on Park Avenue on the west side of . . . — — Map (db m33049) HM
The one hundred block of South Montezuma Street has long been known as "Whiskey Row" for the numerous saloons which once lined the street. As Prescott poet Gail Gardner once wrote of "Whiskey Row":
"Oh they starts her in at the Kaintucky bar, At . . . — — Map (db m20622) HM
Originally a part of the Capitol Block, which was set aside in 1864 for a Territorial Capitol Building, the south half of the block was sold at auction. John Lawler, a miner, capitalist and real estate developer, bought the entire block and built a . . . — — Map (db m20618) HM
The Water Table By March of 1881, fire wells like this one were hand-dug on the four corners of the Courthouse Plaza. At the time, the water table was high enough to allow bucketing of water for fire emergencies. These wells were abandoned . . . — — Map (db m157663) HM
Pioneer • Prospector • Scout • Guide
Pauline Weaver
Truly a Great Man
Born in Tennessee in 1800
Died at Camp Verde
June 21, 1867
He was born, lived and died on the frontier of this country, always in the ever advancing westward . . . — — Map (db m33051) HM
Known as Prescott's first citizen, Weaver was a trapper, miner, Army Scout and friend of the Indians.
He was camped near this spot in 1863 and 1864 when gold miners and government officials first entered the area. — — Map (db m33052) HM
The Pioneer Trail was developed in 1932 to give access to the Pioneer Monument and commemorative plaque at the end of the trail.
Improvements to the trail were completed in May 2019 as a joint project of the Yavapai Questers and Cole Ortagus' . . . — — Map (db m151185) HM
As early as 1865, Lucian Bonaparte Jewell organized a Brass Band in Prescott, but by the 1870s the regimental bands from Ft. Whipple began to dominate the local music scene. The original Plaza Bandstand, built in the late 1800s, had survived the . . . — — Map (db m59299) HM
Prescott, Yavapai County Seat, founded 1864 on Granite Creek, source of Placer gold. Named for William Hickling Prescott, Historian, first Gov. JN. N. Goodwin, Appointee of Abraham Lincoln. Established first territorial capital of Arizona here. At . . . — — Map (db m18805) HM
Founded 1864 on Granite Creek, early source of placer gold. Former territorial capital of Arizona. Now a center for ranching, mining, health, especially asthma relief. Located here on site of old Ft. Whipple is Whipple Veterans Hospital. Seat of . . . — — Map (db m20298) HM
Three very prominent buildings once stood on East Gurley Street between Alarcon and Marina Streets – The Territorial Capital Building, Prescott High School and the Yavapai Club.
Originally, the property between Alarcon and Marina streets . . . — — Map (db m33095) HM
The Prescott National Bank was organized by William Bashford, R.N. Fredericks and others in March, 1893. In October, 1900 Bank President Frank N. Murphy announced the construction of a new bank building on the "Old Wooster Block" at Prescott's . . . — — Map (db m27224) HM
Prescott was one of the first towns in Arizona to have a National Guard Unit. Companies B and C of the First Territorial Rifles were organized in Prescott in 1865 and Company M of the First Arizona Infantry was organized in 1910. Company M of the . . . — — Map (db m33136) HM
Prescott's modern public library was dedicated on May 18, 1975. However, the history of a public library in Prescott goes back to August 1895, when seven local ladies founded the Women's Club of Prescott (now the Monday Club). They gathered a . . . — — Map (db m52912) HM
The City of Prescott had its beginnings in the Spring of 1863 when a party of explorers and would-be gold miners led by the famed Joseph R. Walker arrived near the headwaters of the Hassayampa River. On May 10, 1863, at a location some six miles . . . — — Map (db m20623) HM
The Ruffner Plaza Stables were built on this lot purchased from Frank Murphy for $3,600. In May 1898, a local newspaper reported that it was "one of the most substantial as well as ornamental improvements which has been put up for several . . . — — Map (db m20297) HM
In the fall of 1878 the Sisters of St. Joseph came to Prescott. Money was raised in the community for a hospital to be run by the sisters and by 1881 the hospital had been completed on North Marina Street. In June of 1891 construction was started . . . — — Map (db m21603) HM
Prescott’s first railroad arrived on December 31, 1886. The current depot was built by the Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix Railway, also known as the “Peavine”, in 1907. Designed in the Mission Revival style of poured concrete with a . . . — — Map (db m18767) HM
This is the site of ‘the crossing' on the Mojave-Prescott "Hardyville" toll road. The road was authorized by the first territorial legislature and was built by W. H. Hardy, connecting Prescott with Hardyville on the Colorado River.
William John . . . — — Map (db m72625) HM
George W. Curtis came to Prescott from California in 1864, and in 1867 purchased an interest in a sawmill. He purchased a building on Granite Creek on South McCormick Street, and he and his brother John enlarged and modified the building in 1878. . . . — — Map (db m33062) HM
The Goldwater Brothers, Morris and Michael, arrived in Arizona from California in 1876. They opened one of the area's first general merchandising stores on the southeast corner of Cortez and Goodwin (where City Hall is now located). Three years . . . — — Map (db m20616) HM
The southeast corner of Goodwin and Cortez Street was the site of Howey's Hall, which was built on the first lot sold (for $175) in Prescott by James Howey in 1876. The Goldwaters had their first mercantile store here. It was later converted to an . . . — — Map (db m33092) HM
The courthouse you see today, constructed in 1916 and listed in the National Register of Historic Places, is not the original one on this site. The first courthouse constructed on the Plaza, one of two city blocks set aside in 1864 for government . . . — — Map (db m18132) HM
A beautiful Victorian Cottage which faced East Sheldon Street was built on this site by W. B. Jones. On November 15, 1893, William Owen (Buckey) O'Neill and his wife Pauline moved into the house. O'Neill used a portion of the upstairs as his office . . . — — Map (db m20619) HM
This free-spirited Son of the West, sensitive to the changing era in which he lived, portrayed the western epic in marble and bronze. Our "Bucky O'Neill" monumental bronze is among his greatest works, and is acclaimed by art critics as one of the . . . — — Map (db m21165) HM
(Statehood Tree marker) (north side of monument) Statehood Tree Planted Feb. 14, 1912 • • • Monument presented to people of Arizona by Cub Scouts of Prescott, 1960 (Centennial Witness Tree marker) (south side of monument) The . . . — — Map (db m157657) HM
A bank was an important asset to a new and growing community. Chartered by Solomon Lewis and M. W. Kales in 1877, the Bank of Arizona was the first business in the Arizona Territory devoted exclusively to banking. The partners built a two-story . . . — — Map (db m20295) HM
Prescott's first library consisted of over 300 volumes brought to the Territory in 1864 by Secretary of State Richard C. McCormick. In 1870, a group of local women opened a reading room with 263 books collected from local citizens and out-of-town . . . — — Map (db m20814) HM
The Day Octagon is the oldest known fired brick building in Arizona. Built in 1877 by Lowell and Crouch for Dr. Warren E. Day, it is significant as the first surgical hospital in Arizona Territory, where Dr. Day pulled teeth, delivered babies, . . . — — Map (db m33138) HM
Joseph and Margaret Ehle arrived in Prescott, Arizona Territory, on July 13, 1864 with their children, John Henry, Mary Jane, Amy E., Olive Joan, Sarah F. and Margaret Viola. Mr. Ehle helped to build the log Governor's Mansion (now part of Sharlot . . . — — Map (db m33133) HM
A disastrous fire on the night of July 14, 1900 changed the face of downtown Prescott. Starting in a room in the Scopel Hotel on the southwest corner of Goodwin and Montezuma Streets, the fire quickly hopped across Goodwin Street and proceeded to . . . — — Map (db m20811) HM
Arriving from New York on July 13, 1910, "Lady Ermintrude" graced the Courthouse Plaza for more than 60 years. Over time, the fountain began showing signs of wear and, in 1976, was removed and placed in storage at the Sharlot Hall Museum.
In . . . — — Map (db m136155) HM
Completed in August 1901, the Mulvenon Building was one of the first buildings constructed after the fire of 1900. It replaced a one-story wood-frame saloon building which was destroyed in the fire. Built by William J. Mulvenon, who arrived in . . . — — Map (db m20615) HM
The exact age of Prescott's Palace Saloon is something of a puzzle. The first reliable documentation is an item from the September 21, 1877 Arizona Weekly Miner: "Mess'rs Shaw and Standefer have fitted up the Palace Saloon in the most superb . . . — — Map (db m21163) HM
Founded in Jan. 1921 and named after the famous Rough Rider William "Bucky" O'Neill, the post is the oldest active VFW post in Arizona. Born Feb. 2, 1860 in St. Louis, Missouri, his many accomplishments include being a Lawyer, Judge, Sheriff, Editor . . . — — Map (db m68732) HM
The first public school in Prescott was opened in 1867. In 1876 a four-room brick public school building was erected here. It was known as the "Prescott Free Academy". In 1903 that building was torn down and replaced by Washington School. Washington . . . — — Map (db m33094) HM
Founded in 1864, Prescott is Arizona's Mile High City and seat of Yavapai County government. Named for historian William Hickling Prescott, it was established on the banks of Granite Creek in 1864.
Today it is the home to the Bob Stump VA . . . — — Map (db m33042) HM
By the early 1870s a full block of saloons, gambling halls and hotels made this the wildest part of town. Some of the saloons brewed their own beer and most drinks sold for 12½ (cents) each. On July 14, 1900 a disastrous fire swept the Row and . . . — — Map (db m21164) HM
A wooden stockade fort named for Lt. Amiel W. Whipple was established here May 18, 1864. Also known as Whipple Barracks and Prescott Barracks. The post was headquarters for the Department of Arizona. Begun in 1870, and the center for campaigns . . . — — Map (db m216628) HM
