by Stu Jordan

In Robert Groom’s 1864 survey laying out the town of Prescott, two entire but non-adjacent blocks fronting Gurley Street were set aside as public spaces, the Plaza and the Capitol Block. Both were to be connected by Union Street. The Capitol Block was designated for eventual civic buildings, including one to serve as the capitol. Meanwhile, the new territorial government had business to conduct.

For the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Legislative Assemblies (1864/1865/1866), the delegates gathered each autumn in Van C. Smith's “Legislative Hall,” a log structure erected on Gurley Street directly across from the Plaza, intended for future commercial purposes and the present location of the Union Block building. The 4th Assembly (1867) was held in the R. George Soule building, later occupied by Jackson & Tompkin's Saloon and current site of the Arts Prescott Gallery. Shortly thereafter, the territorial capital relocated to Tucson.

By the time the capital returned to Prescott in mid-1877, the 60-day-or-less legislative assemblies were only being scheduled every second January. A new Yavapai County Courthouse having just been raised on the Plaza, the 10th Assembly (1879) convened in the old courthouse on N. Cortez Street, the location of the Masonic Temple today. The 11th and 12th Assemblies (1881/1883) took place in the imposing City Hall Theatre owned by George W. Curtis and located on the west bank of Granite Creek. This site is now a parking lot adjacent to the only remaining Curtis Cottage at 125 S. McCormick Street.

By Bob Boze Bell

Hard to believe now, but when my family moved to Kingman in 1956, there was a dirt road to Phoenix (actually Highway 93). There was a nefarious reason for this that involved Prescott, but I'll get to that.

Over the years, my father operated numerous gas stations on old Route 66 going back to 1946 when he ran a Mobil Oil gas station in Peach Springs, but the one that stands out was Al Bell's Flying A on Hilltop, outside of Kingman. Back in my day "Service with a smile" meant crisp uniforms with caps and bow ties (yes, bow ties!) with the service station attendant's name embroidered over his heart and at least four guys, dressed in white, who attacked every car that came in the driveway.

By Stuart Rosebrook

Arizona’s first territorial capital became a commercial transportation hub soon after its founding in 1864.

On December 31, 1886, the first Prescott and Arizona Central Railway locomotive pulling freight and passenger cars arrived in Prescott from Seligman, where it connected to the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad, a subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. The hastily built rail line wasn’t successful or dependable, leading to the construction of the Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix Railway between Ash Fork and Prescott, which began operations in 1893.

By Kelly Cordes

Most people familiar with the Prescott area and Goldwater lakes assume those lakes are named after Barry Goldwater, who was a longtime U.S. senator from Arizona and the 1964 Republican presidential candidate. However, the lakes are actually named after Barry’s Uncle Morris.

In 1923 a dam was constructed, and the resulting lake was named “Lake Goldwater” by a vote of the city council to honor Mayor Goldwater’s leadership throughout the years.  This would become Lower Goldwater Lake in 1932 when another dam was built, creating Upper Goldwater Lake, which people today are most familiar with. 

Sazerac Saloon – The Gem of Gurley Street

By Lucas Shaw
Rivaling all the early Prescott drinking establishments for prominence and longevity was the Sazerac Saloon, which occupied prominent locations across from the plaza on Gurley Street from 1872 until the great fire of 1900 reduced the saloon to ashes.
 
Established by early Prescott pioneer Fred Williams in February 1872, it went under the unimaginative name of "Fred Williams' Saloon." Its original location was one door west of the single-story  Levi Bashford’s mercantile store on Gurley Street. Early reports describe it as “the handsomest saloon in Prescott” and an “orderly place.” By 1874 Williams’ saloon was known as the "Sazerac Saloon," distinguishing itself with “fine chaste pictures” and supplying “the ‘boys’ with that which cheers but does not intoxicate” — an appeal to soldiers and officers from Fort Whipple to visit often, but not raise hell while in town.

By Marjory J. Sente
In 1904 Prescott’s beer lovers got their first taste of the Arizona Brewing Company’s (ABC’s) new brew, and it was free. A notice in the May 4, 1904, Weekly Journal-Miner stated, “During carnival week, the Arizona Brewing Company will be pleased to have everybody call at the brewery and sample their first brew of beer, free of charge, which is now ready for market except the putting into kegs.” May 10, 1904, marked the first day beer was sold.

By Worcester P. Bong

Of the numerous structures located on the grounds of the former Whipple cemetery (now the Prescott National Cemetery) in Prescott, one that stands out is a monument dedicated to the unknown soldier who has been laid to rest. This monument was built by Donald Owen Nanke, a master stonemason, and his friend, Dan Leigh.

By Mick Woodcock

Mention of Easter in early Prescott doesn’t show up in newspapers until 1876, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t being celebrated in town before that. According to the June 15, 1867 Arizona Miner, the Prescott Sunday School had been open for a year. The July 15, 1867 Arizona Miner had the following announcement: “Religious Service. – By an announcement in our advertising columns it will be seen that hereafter, religious service will be held in Prescott every Sabbath, at 11 o’clock, A. M. at the building of Messrs. Blair & Elliott, on Montezuma street. We understand these gentlemen generously agree to furnish the building free of cost, and Rev. Mr. Blake offers to preach upon the same terms….” 

By Marjory J. Sente
In February 1902, Nelly Peery Price and her seven-month-old son Peery traveled by train from Elkader, Iowa, to Phoenix. They, along with Nelly’s mother and a sister who traveled from California, visited the Valley of the Sun until spring. 

By Stuart Rosebrook

On January 11, 1873, The Arizona Miner newspaper reported one of the first baseball games played in the Arizona Territory, a Christmas day game at Camp Grant: “In the forenoon, an exciting game of base ball [sic] took place. This occupied the attention [of] both of the combatants, until one o’clock, when the welcome call to dinner was wafted to our ears, and readily responded to.” While The Arizona Miner didn’t report the game’s outcome, it reveals that two years after the first professional league, the National Association, was organized in the East, baseball was played in the remote West. Baseball was becoming the national pastime.