Two Ghost Towns You Never Heard Of

Some Yavapai County townsites were as speculative as the mineral worth of the ground they stood on. Two towns had particularly short existences: the oil town of Heslet in Chino Valley, and what could be described as a suburb of Jerome named Oxford.

Two Train Wrecks in Two Weeks

It was the height of summer, late July 1912, when two railroad accidents occurred on the Santa Fe, Prescott, and Phoenix railway.

The Intriguing Story of Cathedral Cave

Dud Clark had been contracted to build a road from Prescott to Ash Fork when Lee Burhans called out to him. “Burhans was a member of a picnic party and was going through a large cave that had been well known for years, when he found a small opening that he had never before perceived,” the paper described. Peering through the hole with a match, he noticed that this opening was just below the roof of a large cavity. Lee got Dud, who then lowered a rope and descended to the cave floor with an “automobile lamp.” When he turned it on, his jaw went slack.

Famous Harvey Houses Supplied by Del Rio Ranch

"Fred Harvey civilized the west with his '3000 Miles of Hospitality' that consisted of an extensive chain of hotels, shops, and restaurants along the Santa Fe Railway, staffed by a professional, customer service army which included the famous Harvey Girls."

To supply his hotels and restaurants with milk and cream, he had a dairy farm, the Territory's first, in Peach Springs. However, the water supply was problematic at that location, and in 1912, Harvey moved the entire operation to Del Rio Springs, north of Chino Valley.

2 Large Meteor Strikes Within 8 Months & 150 Miles! UPDATED

Although tons of material regularly enter Earth's atmosphere, very little reaches the ground. In fact, the number of all witnessed and recovered meteorite strikes on the entire planet is only around 1100! So when two meteors strike 150 miles apart, separated by a mere eight months--it's nearly unbelievable.

Yet in 1911-12, this did happen near a small railroad stop called Supai, east of Ash Fork, and later over Aztec, another stop on the same railroad line! The explosive force of each was colossal and caused great panic and alarm for all who experienced it.

Historic News Clips of 1911

As this author researches newspapers for this blog, he finds some stories that are historic or interesting, but individually would be too short for a full blog. So then, here is a pictorial blog presenting these news stories.

Story Behind the Names: Route 89: Prescott to Ash Fork

In this edition of "Stories Behind the Names," we look at: 

Prescott, Chino Valley, Paulden, Drake, Hell Canyon, Ash Fork, and other minor locations along the way.

Prescott: (Includes Early Street Name Origins)

Most students of Prescott history are aware that the town "was named in honor of Massachusetts-based historian William Hickling Prescott, who was already deceased at the time and had never set foot in the West.  (*1)

It was unusual for towns to bear the names of people who were not involved with their founding, yet the start-up community of Fort Whipple officially renamed itself Prescott in May 1864. (*1)