Description

In 1867, Yavapai County rented courthouse space in a two-story wood building three doors north of the corner of Gurley and Cortez (east side), where the Masonic Temple was built in 1907. The courthouse building, located at 121 Cortez Street, housed the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office and featured an adjoining jailhouse. In 1869, the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors voted to authorize the Sheriff to have a door cut in the county jail’s north end and the Clerk to advertise for painting the Courthouse to preserve the building’s appearance.

By the mid-1870s, talk had increased of the need to build a second courthouse on the Prescott Plaza. On January 12, 1877, the Weekly Arizona Miner newspaper called for a new courthouse and a new Prescott jail to be erected with proposals wanted to build fences around the jailhouse yard to prevent prisoners from escaping. Construction work on a second courthouse began in 1877. The town of Prescott was invited to inspect the new building on September 6, 1878 and on September 20, 1878 an open house was held there with General William Tecumseh Sherman. The old Courthouse building at 121 N. Cortez Street was remodeled in 1885 and re-opened as the Bellevue Hotel on November 9, 1887.

Next to the courthouse is the H. V. Cram Variety Store, which is listed in the 1876 and 1878 business directories.

This image is a cropped version of photo 1403.0538.0002.