1870 Christmas in Prescott

From Harpers Weekly, Dec. 1870

“The mountains back of Prescott contain many wild turkeys,” the Weekly Arizona Miner crowed just after Thanksgiving. However, by the time Christmas came, they must have scurried away. The price for a “good-sized” wild Christmas turkey cost a whopping $12 (or nearly $300 in today’s money). Despite this, the feature that best defined Christmas in 1870 was the numerous Christmas dinners that were held. On Christmas Day, “at nearly every home there was a Christmas dinner,” the paper explained. “At many places there was a Christmas tree, laden with gifts for the dear ones.” 

Christmas Celebrations in Isolated Mining Camps, 1903

Iron King Mine

Despite being isolated in the wilderness of Arizona, mining camps still enjoyed wondrous and touching Christmas celebrations in 1903.

Disaster! Four Yavapai County Banks Fail on 11/25/1925

November 25, 1925, was a disastrous day in Yavapai County. Four banks suddenly and permanently closed their doors, and people’s deposits were frozen and unavailable—a mere month before Christmas!

A Christmastime Murder in Bumble Bee

People living in the Bumble Bee district were concerned when Thomas Glasgow, a 60-year-old prospector, missed some appointments. 

“Glasgow…was arrested about two weeks [previous] on a charge filed by [Charles] Wagoner, who claimed [Glasgow] jumped his claims,” the Prescott Evening Courier explained. The case was dismissed, “but bad blood is said to have developed between the two men as a result.” Following the dismissal, Glasgow “told neighbors that if he ever was missing, to arrest Wagoner for murder.” 

The sheriff’s office was called to investigate his disappearance. It was Christmas Day, 1925.

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.

Christmas 1915: Santa Brings Mountain Bell

Before 1914, the December Prescott newspapers would be heavily sprinkled with short blurbs describing various Christmas activities around town. But with the start of World War 1 on July 28, 1914, the paper's attention turned to the Great War in Europe, even though America would not enter it until sixteen months later. Despite the lack of coverage surrounding Christmas, Prescott still celebrated.

1921: A Christmas Season Bright

Christmas 1921 in Prescott would see several dances, children’s events, charitable acts, and a new set of street lights for downtown. It would prove a season bright in every way.

1934: Christmas Spirits Prevail!

Pioneers' Home, Christmas Dinner

As Christmas 1934 approached, the Great Depression was hanging on doggedly. Yet by this time, people were anxious to begin to get back to normal. Although money and (due to prohibition,) whiskey were scarce, people adapted and determined to make the season bright.

The Plaza Gazebo: A Fixture Since 1895

(Courtesy Tim Gronek)

Originally, the Plaza “gazebo” (as many call it today) was the Prescott Bandstand. It was constructed in 1895 and has enjoyed a rich and colorful history—even at its genesis. The June 26 issue of the Weekly Journal-Miner reported: “The construction of the bandstand on the Plaza has not had a very quieting effect on the nerves of Loske and Shultz, who have been convicted of the murder of McNary. The other prisoners told them that it was the gallows scaffold which was being erected, right in plain view of them.”

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.

Christmas 1950: The Children’s Voices Rise

As winter approached in 1950, anxiety about the Korean conflict and the effect it might have on America’s booming economy was palpable. However, in the midst of this, it would be the children of Prescott who would bring the cheer of Christmas.

The Heartwarming Christmas of 1920

The Christmas of 1920 was both old-fashioned and heartwarming.

Christmas 1909: Big Snow, Big Gifts

As December 25th, 1909, approached, citizens of Prescott were optimistic about the local economy. Ore prices had revived, and it was announced that the Humboldt smelter would restart the following Spring.

Yet that particular Christmas would be remembered for a colossal snow blizzard and two gifts so extraordinarily generous, it was thought that they would never be forgotten—although they largely have been.

The Stay-at-Home Christmas of 1918

Above all other Christmases, 1918 was the biggest “stay-at-home” Christmas in the 20th century. This was due to the practicalities of dealing with the lethal Spanish influenza pandemic. Yet 1918 would also provide the world with one of the best Christmas gifts imaginable.

Prescott's Goldwater Store: "The Best Always" from 1876-1978

For over a century, Goldwater's general merchandise store not only offered the staples of life but also brought first-class merchandise of elegance and good taste to Prescott.

Although its tenure in this city started in 1876, the Goldwaters had been merchants in Arizona starting in the early days of Anglo history, 1862--passing on the business to each generation.

When the family first arrived in the territory, it was not to become merchants, but rather freighters. "Michael Goldwater was quick to see the possibilities of what was to become Arizona. He established himself and his family in the thriving town of La Paz and settled into a busy life as a freighter."

The Invasion of the Horseless Carriage!

It was 1903 when the first automobile drove into Prescott, and before the year was over, the city fell in love with the new contraption!

Well, mostly...

Still, these "machines," as they were often called, would begin to infiltrate every aspect of life in Prescott.

Downtown Store Windows in the 1800s

A trip to downtown Prescott in the 19th century often included a gander into the store windows. Generally, merchants would display the very latest arrivals to their stock, but this wasn't always the case.

Fortunately, the newspaper was keen to mention what was being displayed at stores--particularly when those same stores were regular advertisers. These mentions offer insight into what a 19th-century visitor to Prescott would see as he walked around the square.

1864: Prescott's First Christmas

Winter began early in 1864, "and by the middle of December the trails were mostly snowed under and lost--all but those often traveled which led to the placer gold mines on Lynx Creek, or to Walnut Grove and the camps on the Hassayampa."

In what would be a rare "white" Christmas, "the snow lay white over the hills; the tops of the high peaks were crystal white and cold; and the pine and cedar and juniper trees were sparkling like trees on a Christmas card."

There were roughly 200-300 anglos around the Prescott area and the few houses that did exist in the tiny burg happily opened their doors to all that arrived.

1853: The First Christmas in Northern Arizona

"Ten years before the tents of Ft. Whipple were pitched in Chino Valley in 1864, the man for whom that post was named, with a small reconnoitering party, spent two weeks exploring the southwestern slopes of Bill Williams mountain and the basins between it and Picacho Peak [Partridge Creek and the Big Chino Wash]."

This time included December 25th, and the first Anglo Christmas ever celebrated in northern Arizona would combine with modest commemorations from cultures here previously.

The "Secret Agent Man" Christmas of 1966

The Cold War had an effect on Christmas in 1966. With "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.," James Bond, and even "Get Smart" invading pop culture, boys dreamed of being "secret agents" and Christmas toys reflected that.

In Prescott, the Senior High opened its home basketball season against McClintock in its brand new, saucer-shaped gymnasium. Prescott won. (*1)