Anecdotes of Prescott History Brought to Life From the Pages of Old Newspapers and Other Sources.
The White Spar Road is the portion of Arizona State Route 89 that is located within the boundaries of the Prescott National Forest. And for that reason, it was the US Forest Service that paid for the entire 18-mile stretch of the road, committing $145,000 in 1922 (worth nearly $3 million today) for the project, but much more money and over two years would be required to finish construction.
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 Weekly Journal-Miner and the residents of Yavapai County were absolutely enchanted. The President of the United States, William McKinley, would be visiting the Arizona Territory, and his first step upon the young territory’s soil would be in Yavapai County!
It was early February 1894 when the announcement was made in the Journal-Miner that Robert Todd Lincoln, son of President Abraham Lincoln, would be visiting Prescott the following month. Accompanying Lincoln were three millionaires from Chicago: Marshall Field, “the many times millionaire” department store mogul; NK Fairbanks, the millionaire meat-packer; and Norman Ream, a manufacturer of agricultural implements.
The trip was extremely important to Yavapai County at a time when capital was needed to develop both mines and railroads, and it would ultimately be the first of three visits by Lincoln.
