Estimated Time on Tape

Topic /Subject Discussed

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Prescott schools 1900

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Old schoolhouse sat in front on present Washington School

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Built of brick – 4 rooms

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2 rooms on each side of a hall

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Brick portico – white cupula and school bell in cupula

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In Territorial Building where present Jr. High stands (Gurley Street and Pleasant Street)  higher grades were conducted

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Most of the grades were 2 grades to a room

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Higher grades and kindergarten were in Territorial Building

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Present Washington School was built during 1901 and 1902 behind the old school

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School wasn’t interrupted when Washington School was being built

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Brick layers

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Miller Valley School  - 2 room schoolhouse –taught mainly lower grades

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Well was latticed in

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Janitor would draw buckets of water and set them in the portico

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2 buckets on girls side and 2 buckets on boys side with tin dippers in each bucket

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Source of water

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Plumbing was in the back yard

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Multi-hole houses

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Boys wrote on white washed walls

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Wrote forbidden Anglo-Saxon words

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Rod was not spared in those days

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Teacher had a grip like a pair of horse nippers

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Paddling

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If parents learned of a paddling at school, child would also get paddled at home

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Recreation

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Top season

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Marble season

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Marbles for keeps

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Gail had cola can of marbles and half dozen agates

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Kite season

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Fights

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“Haven’t seen a good kid stand up fight in 20 years”

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Fights were forbidden on school  grounds

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Place to fight was the alley behind the Congregational Church (Alarcon and Gurley)

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Queensbury Rules observed

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Seldom any fight without spectators

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Spectators saw to it that there was no hitting when one was down

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No kicking, no biting

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No bouncing rocks off your opponent’s bean

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Draw – spectators would suggest shake hands

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New boys – whipped by older boys

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Found place rapidly

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Camp Verde lad – well-mannered cowpuncher’s kid

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Wouldn’t pick a fight

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Town strong boys jumped Camp Verde boy – Camp Verde boy won

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“King of the Walk”

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Classes were small

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First 4 year high school class graduated in 1905

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Had 4 or 5 graduates

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1906, 1907 and 1908 -  6,7, and 8 graduates

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Gail’s graduating class of  1909 – 7 graduates

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Schools were very good

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Recited every day in every subject

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Teachers were excellent

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Best teacher ever had in school, collect or  school of aeronautics was a teacher at Prescott High School

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 Diversions [Entertainments]

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 Bulls lived in the woods

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 Miners would turn bulls out at the edge of town to graze

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 Boys would catch bulls and ride them around

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 Easily caught

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 Take a nose bag and could catch any bull

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 Some of the boys had ponies they rode to school

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 Mrs. Bozarth and Mrs. Robbins (Virgie and Catherine Hite) rode ponies from Miller Valley

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 Tied ponies to Territorial Building and rode home for lunch

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 Gail made a mistake

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 Caught bull and took it home

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 Tied bull to young apple tree

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 Bull gnawed off all the bark of the tree and killed it

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 Learned lesson through the seat of his pants

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 July 4^th Celebrations

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 Hose races on the Plaza with the volunteer fire companies of Prescott

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 Dudes, Toughs, OK’s and Hook and Ladders

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 Each had a hose team

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 Rather a spectacular event

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 Hose cart with reel of hose started

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 5 men pulling the cart

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 Man in the lead – Spike man, 2 men on the handles

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 Hose puller – pulled hose out of reel when he crossed the white line

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 Coupled onto hydrant

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 Hydrant man turned on the faucet

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 Nozzle man put nozzle on the hose

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 Water was turned on

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 When water came through hose at the other end, that was time

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 Contests

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 Had teams from Jerome and from as far away as Gallup, NM

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 Quite an event – last team would turn the hose on the crowd

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 Miner’s drilling contests

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 Great rock sat on the side of the Plaza

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 Platform around it – holed started in it

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 Single and Double Handed Drilling Contests

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 One miner would start on single jack

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 Would hit drill, change steels as drill got farther down into the hole

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 Won by the depth he could drill in 15 minute interval

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 Double Handed Drilling Contest

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 One miner held drill and the other one hit the hammer

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 Changed off – Hammer would never miss a strike and drill would never miss a turn

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 Made surprising distance in granite rock

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 Fred Curtis was a participant

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 Children’s sports

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 Bicycle races, bull races

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 Pie eating contests, greased pig contests

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 Pie eating contest – tied boys and girls hands together with a handkerchief

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 Bench and plates with quarter of a pie on them

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 Kids had to eat pie without hands

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 Kid that finished eating the pie first got the prize

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 Foot races for kids around the Plaza

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 Jack Schull – Boy who would run every race

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 1900 – Large Chinese population in Prescott

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 Ran restaurants, laundries and vegetable gardens

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 All of Miller Valley was leveled and cultivated by Chinese

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 Chinese restaurants were something to see and something to eat in

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 You could get bowl of noodles laced with roast pork across the top for 15 cents

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 Chinese had influence on minds of the young boys of Prescott

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 Generous people

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 Chinese New Year – would give little boys lychee nuts and coconut candy

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 Vegetable man would give carrots

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 Joss “Josh” House on Granite Street

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 Temple of sorts

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 Chinese New  Year – would hang strings of firecrackers as tall as the ceiling off the  balcony of the temple and light them

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 Chinese New Year was in February

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 Great thing for a little boy

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 Loved firecrackers

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 After summer rains, Chinese would bring out great kite from the Joss House balcony

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 Kite was as long as room is wide

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 Made of paper

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 Dragon shaped

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 Would fly kite all over Chinese side of town

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 Oriental [Chinese] Customs

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 Chinese funerals

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 Customs of the Chinese

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 Funeral procession preceded by Chinese Band

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 Composed of single stringed instruments

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 Gongs and cymbals

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 Man sitting on carriage threw sheets of rice paper

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 Had nine slips of paper in it

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 Evil spirit had to fly through holes in each paper before departed became a Celestial

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 Personal effects of departed carried out in express wagon

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 Effects were all burned in a fire

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 Candles, roast chickens, bowls of rice, bowls of noodles set on grave

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 Boys never disturbed graves

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 Poked around ashes – found handful of silver dollars

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 Silver dollar in 1900 would buy $1.00 worth of candy

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 Today, would have purchasing power of 27 cents

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 1900 – no pennies in Prescott

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 Prices advanced or declined in units of 5 cents

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 Banks of tellers windows had racks of gold, $20.00 $10.00 and $5.00 on one side  and other side had racks of silver

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 Payroll was paid in gold and silver

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 Currency in 1900 – most  everything was gold and silver, some paper

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 Business was brisk in 1900

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 3 business houses operating today that were in Prescott in 1900

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 Sam Hill Hardware

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 Goldwater’s – Goldwater brothers still active in that

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 Moore’s Insurance – Fred Moore

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 Also Hazeltine’s Bank – 1^st National Bank of Arizona

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 Business was good but all had difficulties

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 Deliveries were a problem

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 Deliveries were made in one-horse or two-horse wagons

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 Streets were not paved

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 Delivery of flour bogged down at Eagle Drug Corner (Cortez & Gurley Streets)

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 Had to bring one-horse wagons to lighten the load to un-bog the wagon