By Ruth Noggle

Ruth continues with her memories of growing up in Prescott. If you lived in Prescott in the 1950s, you will remember the many places she mentions. If you are more recent to town, it will astonish you how Prescott has changed and grown since the 1950s.

I loved hearing the Santa Fe steam locomotive blow its horn coming into town and watch it roll across the Lincoln Street trestle on its way north or west to the two spurs. The men inside the caboose would often wave at us. Walking between the tracks was a favorite short cut east of Miller Valley Road all the way down to McCormick Street in town. Miller Valley Road was just a two-lane paved road. At the curve where the Post Office delivery driveway is now located was Gill’s Service Station. I remember two tall gas pumps with visible fuel tanks and white lights on top. We bought most of our gas at Gill’s.

Across the road was Gill’s Hatchery. Mrs. Gill ran the store. I loved to go in with mom or dad to choose our eggs from two or three tall racks of eggs on the counter. We recycled the same cardboard egg cartons. Each spring, the hatchery had floor racks of baby chicks in layers of wire enclosures. I felt sorry for those baby chicks cramped up together and finally got to buy two of them. I kept them in a large cardboard box for a while, then in the pen and hen house. They provided our family with a number of white eggs. One year, I entered Chrissy, my white Leghorn, in the Yavapai County Fair and she won a red ribbon.

The Frank Kuhne Youth Center opened with its new swimming pool on Whipple Street. An old Quonset hut was brought in and placed north of the pool. My mom and some other mothers started Girl Scout and Brownie troops and I joined with many of my friends. My brothers, Carl and Roy were in 4-H, Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts at Bud Brown’s house on Rosser Street. At that time, Rosser Street ended at the Brown’s driveway gate in the 500-block.

Evan’s Drug Store on the southwest corner of Miller Valley Road and Fair Street, opposite where Fry’s gas station is now located, was convenient for cold remedies, greeting cards and prescriptions. At Easter time, I remember the shelves in the middle of the store displayed white plush bunnies, yellow chicks and decorated toy eggs in round plastic containers.

J. R. Williams Supermarket was the place to meet friends while shopping. It was south of Evan’s Drug Store. Watermelons were 1-2 cents a pound and Log Cabin Syrup came in metal containers shaped like a log cabin. J. R. was friendly and everyone liked visiting with him while they shopped.

Sometimes we shopped at the Food Basket across town on White Spar Road. They had Crackerjacks there! Mr. and Mrs. Dave Hing were the owners and we knew them from the Congregational Church where we, too, attended. There were only two traffic lights in town: one at Gurley and Grove, the other at Gurley and Montezuma Street. When we went to the Food Basket, we would go via Miller Valley Road to Grove, left on Gurley and right on Montezuma. More often than not, the traffic light at Gurley and Grove would be on the blink. A policeman tried to direct a few cars coming and going. Dad said on approaching the intersection, "There’s another traffic impediment!" In the early 1950s, my dad wasn’t one to wait for a policeman to direct his truck in a particular direction. If the policeman was facing the other way, he sometimes drove right through the intersection. We kids thought dad knew what he was doing and didn’t think anything of it.

My first schooling was at Dexter School where I went to kindergarten. My teacher was Miss Doris Mylott. For a while, mom or dad drove me to the school on 1st Street in Miller Valley, about 8 blocks east of the current Fry’s intersection. Eventually, the school bus came up Willow Creek Road. I went to first grade at Miller Valley School. It was the ‘home’ of Mr. Foote, the Principal. I loved the smell of the shiny, waxed wooden floors. I liked the teachers and met many new friends there. The school was built in 1916 at the junction of Miller Valley Road and Iron Springs Road. In the 1950s, only a stop sign controlled traffic at that intersection in front of the school.

My brothers and I read a lot of nice comic books. Some of my favorites were Bambi, Bugs Bunny, Donald Duck, Gene Autry, The Lone Ranger and Tonto, Ivanhoe, Mickey Mouse, Porky Pig, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. They cost 10-15 cents and our dentist would always give us one free after our regular dental appointments. We looked forward to that comic book because our dentist didn’t use any anesthetic! My brothers remember the dentist saying that "kids don’t feel pain."

The Snow Cap Restaurant was across the street from Miller Valley School where Hastings is now located. Mr. and Mrs. Nick Pelletier owned and operated it for years. They served a chocolate-covered frozen custard cone and the best root beer. If someone asked for a plain ice cream cone, Nick would frown. One of my brothers’ friends in high school could chug one of their milk shakes down in three seconds flat. My family went there often for dinner and I always got my favorites: a flame-broiled hamburger, fries and a strawberry shake. My brothers liked the fancy lighted juke box for a nickel a song.

There’s more to Ruth’s memories of Prescott in the 1950s. Join us next week for Part 3.

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(bus5021p) Reuse only by permission.
Miller Valley School, built in 1916, is shown here in the 1940s. The school is located at the junction of Miller Valley Road, Whipple Street and Iron Springs Road, across the intersection from Yavapai Regional Medical Center. Ruth attended elementary school here beginning in 1953. Currently, the school has over 365 students from K thru 5th grade.