Oral History
Interviewee:  Jack Orr, Jr. (b. 06/14/1938 – d. xx/xx/xxxx)
Interviewer:  William "Bill" Neely
Audio Number:  1622
Duration: 00:12:50
Date:  April 24, 2016
Topics Discussed:  Jack talks about his involvement with moving the indigent graves into the Yavapai County Cemetery mass grave to make room for the Prescott High School football field located on Ruth Street.

Oral History
Interviewee:  Debra Jean Matthews (b. 06/19/1952 – d. 09/19/2020)
Interviewer:  Sylvia Neely
Audio Number:  1623
Duration: 00:59:01
Date:  July 6, 2016
Topics Discussed: Debra Matthews discusses her experiences as an antiques dealer and experiences regarding her hair art collections and as a Human Hair Art Specialist.  Debra participated in many Sharlot Hall Museum Folk Arts Fair as a human hair art demonstrator. 

By Mick Woodcock

Last week we learned about the August 16, 1898 explosion of the boiler of the Number 2 engine owned by the Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix Railway that killed two men and injured two others. Parts of the locomotive were thrown into town, the largest piece of which was the outside of the boiler and steam chest.

The other large piece of machinery sent airborne was an air pump. According to the newspaper, “The air-pump which landed in the middle of Cortez street, bounded about forty or fifty feet from where it struck, like a rubber ball, lighting in close proximity to a woman who was just crossing the street. Occupants of A. J. Head’s residence were badly frightened by the shrieking, singing noise of the pump as it passed over the house.”

Oral History
Interviewee:  Verle York (b. 09/25/33 - xx/xx/xxxx)
Interviewer:  Sylvia Neely
Audio Number:  1620
Duration:  00:59:53
Date:  November 17, 2015 
Topics Discussed:  Verde Valley, family history

Oral History
Interviewee:  Nancy (Cox) Kirkpatrick Wright  (b. 05/08/1926)
Interviewer:   Christy Hastings 
Audio Number:  1626 
Duration:  00:51:27  
Date:  March 20, 2017  
Topics Discussed:  Origins, education, library work, career, asociation with Margaret Maxwell

By Mick Woodcock

This was the headline for an article in the Arizona Weekly Journal-Miner published on August 17, 1898. What followed was a detailed account of a locomotive boiler explosion on August 16 in the railroad yard on the north end of Prescott on the banks of Granite Creek.

Today’s Depot Marketplace was originally the railyard for the Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix Railway. The current depot having not been built, the depot at the time was a one-story frame structure 150 feet long that housed offices, a waiting room and baggage storage. Cortez Street ended just short of the depot. Beyond it was the wood water tank that held 50,000 gallons of water to replenish the supply carried in steam engine tenders. Next to this was the two-stall wood roundhouse where locomotives were repaired.

By Worcester P. Bong

Today aerial tramways make it possible to soar above the terrain in a tram/cable car or chairlift. Before tramways carried people, they were used in the mining industry to transport ore quickly and economically over rugged, inaccessible terrain.
 

The concept of aerial tramways began in the early 1700s, but the European introduction of wire rope in the 1830s led to increased development and use. Wire rope is several strands of steel wire twisted to form a cable. Due to lighter weight and strength, it soon replaced hemp rope in many applications, including mining. Although numerous aerial tramways for mining were built worldwide, it wasn’t until after the Civil War that their U.S. construction expanded.
 

By Dan Bergan

In 1952 George bought his own house on nine acres on Meadowridge Road, moving his log studio to the site. It would serve as his studio for seven years during which his artistic production, reputation and fame grew. Son Darrell Phippen, born in 1954, noted “the huge change in dad. His art work blossomed.” George was now illustrating for major magazine publishers, producing covers and story illustrations for True West and Frontier Times, among others.

By Dan Bergan

With a wisp of imagination, he is there. His paint palette laid out on the work table, paint brushes standing upright in a jar, cowboy hat atilt on his head, smiling slightly as he fingers a small clay model of a steer, George Phippen has come home to the rough-hewn studio he built himself, home to the museum that bears his name and legacy.

Oral History
Interviewee:   William "Bill" G. Neely  (b.  06/24/1933 - d. 04/15/2020) and Jack Orr (b. 06/14/1938 - d. xx/xx/xxxx)
Interviewer:  Sylvia Neely 
Audio Number:   1615
Duration:  00:52:01
Date:  June 26, 2015 
Topics Discussed:  Indian Fire - Forest Service Fire Control and Service Tanker Base Operation