By Richard Gorby

On July 4th, 1864, Prescott held its first Fourth of July Celebration. Like all celebrations should be, it was happy and exciting, and like all Prescott celebrations should be, it was held in Prescott's Plaza. Prescott was only thirty-five days old, born at the May 30th meeting of Governor Goodwin and his staff just down the street (Montezuma Street) in a log building (now moved to the grounds of Prescott's Sharlot Hall Museum). In the southeast corner (across from the present downtown post office) of a Plaza covered with pines and junipers, a tall pine staff was erected for the Stars and Stripes.

By Danny Freeman 

The first formalized rodeo was planned and staged in Prescott, Arizona Territory, during the 4th of July celebration in 1888. Others may claim to be older but Prescott can prove when its rodeo started because it was written up in the local paper at the time. 

By Jack Suderman 

My mother recently fired up my memory when she handed me a small white pin in the shape of a bow. My great grandmother wore the pin from the 1880s through the period of 'prohibition' here in the United States. If you're like I am, the 'Temperance Movement' is a historical fact, bound to show up on a high school history final. It has been a long time since high school. The pin from my great grandmother peaked my curiosity.

By Jody Drake 

Back in the days when the railroad was connecting this great country, as a new section of rail was laid, a town would spring up nearby to service the needs of the rail workers. And, of course, the world's oldest profession was generally among those services. When a railroad employee was visiting one of these ladies, he would hang his lantern outside. That way if he was needed, he could be found. Now everyone knows the color of a railroad lantern. And the connection just sort of stuck. So as the pages of history began to turn forward we had 'The Red Light District'.

By Warren Miller 

In early Prescott the village smithy may not have stood under a spreading Chestnut tree, but his presence was vital to all building and commerce. The blacksmith's hand-forged iron was critically important on the frontier and in Territorial Arizona, where manufactured goods were difficult to obtain and expensive, and often unavailable at any price without the lengthy wait required for orders to travel to and goods be shipped from the manufacturing eastern states. The ability to make iron tools, implements, utensils and hardware, from wagon fittings to door latches to harness fastenings, on the spot and using available materials, aided the advance of civilization. 

By Pat Atchison 

Memorial Day, or Decoration Day as it was then called, was first widely observed in the United States on May 30, 1868. The original intent was to honor the Union soldiers killed during the Civil War by decorating their gravesites. 

Decoration Day was not mentioned in the local newspaper until May 27,1881. That brief announcement stated, "Next Monday will be Decoration Day, and it is to be generally observed in the States." Tuesday's edition said simply "Yesterday was Decoration Day."

By Michael Wurtz

Merle Allen, a Prescott resident of seventy-seven years, passed away on March 4, 1997. His business career, beginning in 1920, included a milk depot, a grocery store that grew into three stores, and a wholesale grocery business. Much of the Allen family history, including an oral interview, is documented at the Sharlot Hall Museum Archives and Library. Within the collection is this article that appeared in the Prescott Evening Courier on June 26, 1936.

By Mona McCroskey 

In 1914, George and Addie Allan moved to Prescott for the health of their son George. They also moved their greenhouse and flower shop business from Princeton, New Jersey, to Prescott. The Allan's purchased the old Sanders ranch in Miller Valley and built their first greenhouse at what is now 350 Whipple Street, in the area known as Allandale.

By Sylvia Neely 

In light of the recent closing of Mata Dexter School the Sharlot Hall Museum felt it is appropriate to reiterate who Dexter was and what she meant to the community of Prescott. 

In his book Meeting The Four O'clock Train, Dixon Fagerburg, Jr., recalls his first-grade-teacher, Mata Dexter:

Submitted by Michael Wurtz

Few events in Prescott's history have so stirred the community as the death of Margaret Hunt McCormick, wife of the Governor. On the 130th anniversary of her death, the Sharlot Hall Museum presents her obituary from the Arizona Miner, May 4, 1867:

"DIED At Prescott, Arizona, on Tuesday April 30, 1867, at 7 p.m., Margaret Griffiths Hunt, daughter of Isaac L. Hunt, Esq., of Rahway, New Jersey, and wife of Hon. Richard C. McCormick, Governor of Arizona. Aged 24.