The Ultra-Lavish Yavapai Club Building

“The object of the organizers [of the Yavapai Club] was to induce a healthful mingling of recreation, pleasure, and business, and the object has been most successfully attained to the advantage of the club and of Prescott,” the Weekly Journal-Miner declared. “Important business enterprises, many of them of a quasi-public character, have been launched after excellent dinners, or in the course of enjoyable smokers, [when marijuana was imbibed.] Millionaire capitalists, statesmen of worldwide reputation, railroad magnates, distinguished authors, and captains of industry have been pleased guests of the Yavapai Club.” Indeed, during the first quarter of the 20th century, the Yavapai Club was the heart and soul of the business and social community of the county which bore its name.

Let's Visit 1870 Prescott

Diana Saloon on the left, Gurley St. on the right,
(Thumb Butte in the Middle).

When the capital moved to Tucson in 1867, many scoffers believed Prescott would wither away. Instead, in just three years, the town would be in the midst of its first big growth spurt.

1897 Rail Trip to Jerome Vividly Described

It was autumn when a representative of the Arizona Miner made a railway trip from Jerome Junction (today a part of southern Chino Valley), along the narrow-gauge line to Jerome. His description of the journey, published in the October 20th edition of the Weekly Arizona Miner, was delightfully depictive.

Miller Valley Founders Arrested & Bankrupt

 

To most people in Yavapai County and even the entire Arizona territory, the news produced a shock as great as an earthquake. 

On March 1, 1878, Samuel C (“SC”) Miller along with his brother Jacob (“Jake,”) were arrested causing “great excitement here in financial circles,” the Phoenix Weekly Herald reported. “They are charged with endeavoring to put property out of their hands with intent to defraud creditors. Much of their business seems to have been transacted in a loose way.” Those who were owed money from the brothers rushed to court, and the pair were declared insolvent and bankrupt.

Cowboys Deliver Instant Justice to Bandits

Paul and Jack Fodge were two brothers with dubious reputations. Aged 26 and 23 respectively, both had already spent time in prison. They didn’t exactly exhibit criminal mastermind-ship either when they decided to hold-up a large group of cowboys and their companions at an early, holiday-season dance November 14-15th, 1931.

The Great Flood of 1891

One year after the terrible storm that caused the Walnut Grove dam disaster, an even worse, two-part storm flooded Yavapai County.