The Mystery of Prescott’s Mineral Fountain

Before the Plaza fountain we know today was constructed in 1910, the Plaza had a “Mineral Fountain,” (pictured above.)  Along its outside boundary were a number of what the Weekly Arizona Journal-Miner described as “peculiar red rock[s]…about which there has been much speculation as to what [they are].”

“The rock is peculiar in that it is susceptible of a good polish and it contains practically no grit," the paper continued, and is very soft, as it can be whittled with a knife like a piece of chalk. When the fountain was being built this rock attracted general attention from all who saw it, but no one seemed able to classify it.”

Then in April, 1903, two investigators identified the source of these peculiar rocks, not too far from Prescott. They gathered samples to take to several different assayers and what they found was a great surprise to everyone.

1921: A Highway Through the Granite Dells

When it was announced that the narrow single lane trail through the Granite Dells would be widened into a highway, Grace Sparkes was not alone in harboring apprehension. She feared “that the rude, rough and uncouth men with the TNT would ruin a lot of marvelous rocks and leave the road running through a scene of devastation,” the Weekly Journal-Miner revealed. The road would be built through what was then known as the Granite Dells Narrows, and now it would become the second approach to Prescott from the north and the beginning of a “short-line” road to Jerome: US Highway 79.

The Birth of Clarkdale, Arizona

The town of Clarkdale was a pet project for Senator William A Clark, owner of the United Verde mine in Jerome. It was the first planned community in Arizona and included all the makings of a modern town. It provided telephone, telegraph, electrical, sewer and spring water services for its residents. Situated at the bottom of Cleopatra mountain, it would be the smelter town for the mines of Jerome and the surrounding area. “To build a perfect town [was] to be the aim and ambition of former Sen. Clark,” the Mohave County Miner wrote, “and money will be lavishly spent to make it as near [perfect] as possible.”

Arizona's First Brick Building

The Miner Office 1866

 The Arizona Miner newspaper could hardly suppress its pride, and published a full-length article to prove it. The day was October 1, 1866, and the paper started life in a brand new downtown Prescott building—the very first brick structure in the Arizona Territory. 

Teddy Roosevelt in Arizona and Prescott

Roosevelt speaking in Phoenix, Sep. 1912 

The day the Buckey O’Neill Rough Rider monument was unveiled on the Plaza, (July 3,1907,) it was hoped that Teddy Roosevelt, the field commander of said group, would come to see the world-class sculpture for himself. After all, he donated an undisclosed amount toward its creation, himself!

Arizona's 1st Telegraph Pole Was Erected at Ft. Whipple

Officer's Quarters Ft. Whipple (1871)

As 1873 dawned, the Weekly Arizona Miner lamented that Arizona was “about the only great geographical division of the Union that is not now connected with the Capital of said Union…by telegraph.” Indeed, Lt.-Gen. George R. Crook, the man in charge of fighting in the Indian Conflicts, requested that the War Department build a telegraph line from California into the Arizona Territory in 1871. However, by 1873, Crook had already made peace with the Apaches and the “Indian Wars,” as they were called were winding down. Yet the wiring of Arizona to the rest of civilization would still be of great benefit in case of conflict from Mexico and Arizona “would no longer be isolated,” the Miner observed.