By Richard Gorby
In 1870, Prescott was only six years old, but on Gurley Street the largest edifice was called "The Old Capitol Building".
In 1864, Governor Goodwin had declared that the legislature of the new Territory of Arizona should assemble on September 26 "at the house provided for that purpose". The problem was that there was no such "house" and no money to build one. It was at this time that Van Smith, possibly Prescott's first entrepreneur, offered to build a structure for business purposes that could temporarily be used by the legislature. "It is to be of hewn logs, carefully put up, and will be upon Gurley Street, on the north side of the Plaza". The finished product was not very satisfactory to those who had to use it. The floor was dirt and the partitions did not go to the ceiling, so that voices carried from one room to the other. The furniture was unpainted pine tables and chairs (two chairs are now in Sharlot Hall Museum's Governor's Mansion).
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