Memories of Gurley Street in 1970 Prescott

In 1970, Prescott, Arizona, was still a small town. According to the Census Bureau, the population that year was 13,631--an increase of 770 from 1960, or roughly, just one new family every four weeks. Similar to other towns this size, one of the great weekend pastimes for teenagers was cruising, and in Prescott, that meant driving up and down Gurley Street. 

The businesses on Gurley then were largely different from those today.

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.” 

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.

Let's Visit 1870 Prescott

Diana Saloon on the left, Gurley St. on the right,
(Thumb Butte in the Middle).

When the capital moved to Tucson in 1867, many scoffers believed Prescott would wither away. Instead, in just three years, the town would be in the midst of its first big growth spurt.

Arizona's First Brick Building

The Miner Office 1866

The Arizona Miner newspaper could hardly suppress its pride and published a full-length article to prove it. The day was October 1, 1866, and the paper started life in a brand new downtown Prescott building—the very first brick structure in the Arizona Territory. 

Gurley: The Man Behind the Street Name

 

A year following John Addison Gurley’s untimely death on August 19, 1863, the first edition of the Arizona Miner wrote: “Be it ours to erect to him a lasting monument, by giving his name to one of the loftiest hills, or to a district glistening with the brightest gold.” Instead, the downtown main street of Prescott, Arizona’s first territorial capital, would be named in his honor.

The story of why is most compelling.

Dudley House: First Real Hotel in Prescott

It is the Juniper House that is rightly designated as Prescott's first hotel. However, the Dudley House was the first hotel to offer something more substantial than a canvas roof!

1921-23: Downtown Prescott Becomes Modernized

“Yesterdays in Prescott are memorable for their mud, their amiable let-it-alone [attitude] and their slow fight to weld public opinion into a lever,” the paper editorialized in 1922. “Tomorrow, Prescott will be a city, beautifully located, clean, sightly, and well cared for. Today, Prescott is in its period of transition. 

“By fall, at least, this city will have been transformed. No longer will its charm consist only of the scenic setting, the beauty of its women, and the open-hearted hospitality of its citizens. It will have the city touch.” 

The Hassayampa Inn Was a Community Project

Particularly during big events, Prescott perennially has suffered a shortage of hotel space. Even today, people attending the World’s Oldest Rodeo often have to stay in Cottonwood.

After the Congress Hotel burned down, the situation became especially acute. No one interested in building a hotel in Prescott could be found. As a result, the community decided to solve the problem and finance it by the sale of stock. So in December 1924, the Hassayampa Hotel Company was incorporated. “The Chamber of Commerce and business leaders had decided that a grand hotel would attract tourists and opportunities for enterprise in Prescott.”

The community was optimistic that a replacement for the Congress Hotel would be constructed quickly, but it would be nearly 3 years before the doors of the “modern, beautiful, and fireproof hotel” would be open.

Congress Hotel Fire Changed Prescott

The Congress Hotel was located on Gurley St.
on the western lot of today's Hassayampa Inn.

It was just before 3 am, July 12, 1923. EA Chase, a guest at the Congress Hotel, was awakened by a woman screaming, “Fire!” As soon as he raised up, he noticed his room was quickly filling with smoke. When he placed his feet on the floor, his heart filled with trepidation as it had already grown sizzling hot...

A nursemaid caring for the grandson of US Senator Henry Ashurst panicked when she saw the flames and left the building without the 1-year-old child...

Unfortunately, the city’s fire siren was out of order. Someone fired three pistol shots into the air to try to attract attention, but it would be 10 minutes before the fire department finally arrived at the scene...

The Story Behind Prescott's Street Cars UPDATED!

"Today, May 19, 1903," the newspaper proclaimed, "will mark the beginning of a new era in the industrial progress of the city of Prescott." That day saw "the beginning of work on the first electric street railway in northern Arizona, and Prescott now takes her place among the up-to-date cities of the west."

It was this level of excitement that announced the mundane arrival of the first railroad ties for the Prescott and Mt. Union Railway Company.

Rich Ranchman Tries to Get Away With Murder

1918's "trial of the century" was the first murder case ever heard in today's Yavapai County Courthouse. Details of the case were so lurid, salacious, and popular that column-inch coverage of the trial was greater than the concurrent, closing weeks of World War 1!

Cast of Main Characters:
Robert J. Miller: 36-year-old ranch-hand and kindly lady's man; worked on the Stephens' ranch and was gunned down April 2, 1918, in a clothing store downtown on Gurley St.

Joe Stephens: Wealthy cattle rancher from the Simmons area and family patriarch. It would take an average 1918 worker over 130 years to earn what Joe Stephens was worth. Despite prohibition, he was known for frequent drunken tirades.

Mrs. Stephens: 45-year-old, besieged wife of Joe Stephens. At the very least, she was a victim of drunken verbal abuse. Although the subject of domestic violence was not broached in 1918, contemporary readers might discern disturbing symptoms of such.

Harry "Bud" Stephens: Sophomoric son of Joe and Mrs. Stephens. Considered a World War 1 draft dodger. There was no disagreement that this 22-year-old was the gunman who killed Miller.