By Randi Wise

In the 1870s, a hospital was desperately needed in Prescott. Help was sought from the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondolet to open a hospital in the Prescott area. From the recently formed Western Provence in Tucson, Sisters Mary Martha and Mary Rose arrived in Prescott in the fall of 1878 with the financial aid of the Territorial Governor, John C. Fremont and his wife, Jessie. The Sisters opened their hospital in a small frame house on Alarcon and Willis streets. Their living quarters were in one half of the house and they treated sick and injured in the other half.

From the beginning, when the Sisters had few patients, they began teaching the Catholic children in the area. The hospital was discontinued in 1885 by Bishop Peter Bourgade who felt strongly that the building would be better served as a school, "…as the need for fine education in the area is great." With that proclamation, the healing of the sick was given to the Sisters of Mercy while the Sisters of St. Joseph devoted themselves to the school. Once the hospital was closed, the house was remodeled and reopened a year later as St. Joseph’s Academy, a boarding and day school for girls. Boys were accepted in the elementary grades only. It was dubbed the "Catholic Pioneer School of the West," even though the Tucson school opened fifteen years earlier.

In 1890, with enrollment expanding, a move to larger quarters was necessary. A two-story building was found near where the Sacred Heart Parish Church was being built on Marina Street (now in use by the Prescott Fine Arts Association). Grammar school boys were boarded in a small house nearby, called "The Cottage." Because most students came from ranches and outlying mining towns, boarding was a necessity. Fees were $20 a month for board and tuition with day students only $5 per month.

Within a short time, it was obvious the facility was becoming overcrowded. Mr. Frank Murphy, a local land investor, donated a 10-acre tract of land known as Murphy Hill for the construction of a magnificent mission-style three-story edifice of native granite. It was located three blocks northwest of the Courthouse Plaza on a hill overlooking the city (near where the present Catholic Church is located). It was opened in 1904. The third floor dormitory could house 35 students. Mr. Murphy continued to be a benefactor, including supplying books for the library.

St. Joseph’s Academy always kept dramatic art a high priority with an end of year production held at the Elks Theater. With debate, speech and literature interpretation on the curriculum, as well as extra-curricular clubs such as Spanish, Latin and French, it was obvious that St. Joseph’s was sending well rounded graduates into the community.

By 1910, the boarding school for girls was at capacity and a separate school for boys 6-12 was in operation. By 1956, Sacred Heart opened a separate Parochial School to elementary students while St. Joseph’s Academy continued to maintain the coed high school. In 1966, the building, then 62 years old, was no longer sound and needed many upgrades and repairs. At the close of that school year, the building was demolished.

Over the years, the building housed and taught many area children, some of whom became prominent figures in the Prescott community. For instance, Grace Sparks (class of 1910) served many years as Yavapai County Chamber of Commerce secretary. She was proactive in many aspects of the community. A more recent alumnus is Sharlot Hall Museum’s own Jody Drake, who not only is the current Curator of Education at the museum, but also the alter-ego of Sharlot Hall herself. As a true "St. Joe’s" graduate, she also holds dramatic arts as a high priority, evident in the many quality plays she presents as the director for the Blue Rose Theater.

A Blue Rose Theater production, "Ladies of the Garden, To New Beginnings," is being presented June 17 & 18, and June 23, 24 and 25. Please call the museum, 445-3122 for performance times and ticket prices. The play is about a local family whose women have contributed much to the community. Many are graduates of St. Joseph’s Academy beginning in the 1920s and many in the family have been inducted into the memorial Territorial Women’s Rose Garden on the museum campus. Come a little early for the play and browse the beautiful memorial rose garden.

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(bus5004pb,bus5003ph) Reuse only by permission.
From its humble beginning in 1878 (inset) located on Alarcon & Willis streets to the final year of operation in 1966 on Academy Hill (Murphy Hill), St. Joseph’s Academy upheld the Catholic tradition of academic excellence in Prescott.

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(bus5097p) Reuse only by permission.
A formal photograph of the girls of St. Joseph’s Academy, shown here in 1901, three years before the new school building was built on Murphy Hill.

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(bui168pa) Reuse only by permission.
The music room at the new building on Murphy Hill, seen here in the 1920s.