Shocking Food Prices and Travel Times Before the Railroad

Before the arrival of the railroad on January 1, 1887, prices for groceries, travel, and nearly everything else were astonishingly high, and travel times were lengthy. 

Here are some staple food items and what they would cost at today’s (2026) prices:

Miller Valley Founders Arrested & Bankrupt

 

To most people in Yavapai County and even the entire Arizona territory, the news produced a shock as great as an earthquake. 

On March 1, 1878, Samuel C (“SC”) Miller, along with his brother Jacob (“Jake,”) was arrested, causing “great excitement here in financial circles,” the Phoenix Weekly Herald reported. “They are charged with endeavoring to put property out of their hands with intent to defraud creditors. Much of their business seems to have been transacted in a loose way.” Those who were owed money by the brothers rushed to court, and the pair were declared insolvent and bankrupt.

Early Independence Day Celebrations

Surrounding the Civil War, not everybody was inclined to celebrate Independence Day. Many who lived in Yavapai County were sympathetic to Southern causes. “There was an apprehension that such diversity might exist here,” the Prescott paper observed, “and interfere with a genuine and hearty observance of the day.”

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.