Deadly Train Sabotage: March 1924

The northbound Santa Fe passenger train No. 42 left Phoenix at 6:10 p.m. on March 7, 1924, heading toward Prescott. Little did they know that this train was bound for disaster.

The Masonic Temple is Built and Dedicated

Brand New Masonic Temple, 1908

“Provided present plans are carried out, within another year Prescott Masons may well claim to have the grandest and best appointed Masonic Temple in the Territory,” the Arizona Weekly Journal-Miner reported, “and another substantial building will be added to the many that now adorn both sides of North Cortez Street.” The Lodge, it was said, got “tired of paying rent and worrying with landlords…”

Gail Gardner’s Mysterious Love Scandal

Gail Gardner around the time of the incident.

"One of the richest scandals in high life is to be revealed to the public gaze in a suit for breach of promise,” the Weekly Journal-Miner anticipated. The opposing parties were Gail Gardner and a “charming plaintiff…whose identity has been concealed.”

1885 Conflagration Changed Ash Fork Forever

“Saturday, April 25, 1885, 3:40 PM: The town of Ash Fork is now on fire,” the Albuquerque Evening Democrat proclaimed. “So far nine buildings are in ashes…” 

“A telegram was received at Fort Whipple announcing the almost entire destruction of the town of Ash Fork,” the Tulare County (California) newspaper pronounced.

“The greater part of the town was destroyed,” the Sacramento Union declared.

Shocking Food Prices and Travel Times Before the Railroad

Before the arrival of the railroad on January 1, 1887, prices for groceries, travel, and nearly everything else were astonishingly high, and travel times were lengthy. 

Here are some staple food items and what they would cost at today’s (2026) prices:

Prescott's Airport is Dedicated to Ernest Love (1928)

It was a far-sighted Dan Fain who offered a square mile of land north of Prescott for use as an airport under a ten-year lease. Previously, “aeroplanes” would have to search for a suitable, level place to land, sometimes using Prescott’s target range. But in its earliest days, Prescott’s airport was little more than a cow range littered with prairie dog holes.

So when an Army airplane circled Prescott unable to locate the airport, it was obvious that improvements were needed. This prompted the Kiwanis club to appoint an aviation committee for this purpose, which the Chamber of Commerce adopted as its aviation committee as well, and improvements started quickly.