1909: Passenger Train Boiler Explodes

 It was nearly 3:30 pm August 17, 1909 when engineer Joseph Reese put his hand on the throttle, and Engine No. 11 began to pull a heavy six car passenger train out from the Iron Springs Depot. Little did he know he was a mere two minutes from disaster.

The Old Courthouse Became a Living Wreck

Note: This was originally written as a "Days Past" article in June 2018. However, since the Sharlot Hall Museum website was hacked, it's been unavailable to read. Therefore, it is republished here. 

UPDATE: A week after this post was published, the author received word that the situation had been remedied. However, this article posting is being retained because it includes the sources used. The address for the original article is this: the-old-courthouse-became-a-living-wreck

As Yavapai county grew at the turn of last century, the Old Courthouse had become too small. At a cost of $6000 an addition was constructed, but the old building never had the structural integrity to support it. 

Christmas Shopping in 1897 Prescott

The Christmas of 1897 was a bright one for Prescott. “It is only two days until Christmas, yet the very air breathes of the coming event,” the Journal-Miner noted.

After a nationwide economic slowdown, the economy was finally rebounding. The Postal Service reported that money orders “evidently intended as Christmas presents, [indicated] a tremendous increase… These conditions are accepted as a pronounced indication of the return of better times and improved financial affairs,” the paper reported.

Yet, there was something else that had recently transformed the downtown business district into a virtual box of consumer eye candy.

The Senator Highway

 There was a time when Senator Highway was being considered as being a part of the north-south territorial highway, connecting Prescott to Phoenix, but it would never make it.

Yavapai Co's First Prohibition Sting

Prohibition went into effect January 1, 1915 and Sheriff Joe Young was intent on making it stick. It was the middle of May when he made his first big sting. Before all was said and done, however, one of the informants would be charged with soliciting a bribe.

The Chinese Den of Iniquity

 

No one knows what the business was actually named. A Sanborn-Perris mapmaker identified it only as “Chinese” in 1895. 

This writer might have considered it “The Chinese Entertainment House,” but authors of the archeological report, "Celestials and Soiled Doves..." used biblical verbiage to describe it as a “den of iniquity.” Specifically, it was found to be a “gambling parlor/saloon/opium den/drugstore, [that] filled many needs.”