The Great Fire Changed the Plaza Forever

Before the Great Fire of July 14, 1900, the Courthouse Plaza was described as a “desolate and neglected waste.” The white rail fence surrounding it was beyond repair, and the Weekly Journal-Miner called for its removal five years earlier. 

It was the Great Fire that brought an end to the fence. Not by burning, but by being knocked down and tossed aside as businesses set up shanties and other temporary structures upon the Plaza while the destruction was cleared away, and the downtown buildings familiar and historic to us today were constructed.

The Embezzling Yavapai County Treasurer

Prescott was aghast when the Yavapai County Treasurer, James P Storm, was found bound and gagged in the county’s vault by his daughter, who heard him kicking the vault door when she arrived for work there on the morning of November 9, 1904.

How Did Prescott's Plaza Become Yavapai County Property? UPDATED

How is it that the very heart of Prescott—its downtown Plaza—happened to become property of Yavapai County? 

When queried, even local historians were unable to explain why. One former county supervisor suggested that the beautifully-shaded, rectangle-shaped parcel always belonged to Yavapai County. However, research shows that nothing could be further from the truth…

Brave 14 Year-Old Testifies to Her Assault

It was February 11, 1922, when Mr. and Mrs. John A Rounds left with a neighbor, “Grady” CB Bartley, to find some firewood. While the couple was searching for wood, Bartley had something far more sinister on his mind. 

The three had left Mrs. Round’s sister, 14-year-old Mary Haynes, alone back at the house. After scouting for a bit, Bartley gave an excuse to head back to the house himself.

He “followed [Mary] into the kitchen and called the little girl into the bedroom,” the Prescott Evening Courier related. Afterwards, Bartley threatened the girl to keep her quiet.

1878: Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman is Amazed With Prescott

It was Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman’s first trip to Arizona. He was on the way to inspect the area Army camps. He would visit Camp Verde before Prescott, and then would head “to Yuma and thence to the Pacific,” the Weekly Arizona Miner wrote. It was a trip that he had “been contemplating for a long time past.”

Sherman would traverse a wide portion of Arizona, but his welcome in Prescott would be the one he would remember the best.

The Old Courthouse Became a Living Wreck

Note: This was originally written as a "Days Past" article in June 2018. However, since the Sharlot Hall Museum website was hacked, it's been unavailable to read. Therefore, it is republished here. 

UPDATE: A week after this post was published, the author received word that the situation had been remedied. However, this article posting is being retained because it includes the sources used. The address for the original article is this: the-old-courthouse-became-a-living-wreck

As Yavapai County grew at the turn of the last century, the Old Courthouse had become too small. For $6000, an addition was constructed, but the old building never had the structural integrity to support it. 

1910: A Killing Near Thumb Butte

Miss Virginia Hite, a popular school teacher, arrived at the Plaza with her horse in a lather. She had come from the Sweeney and Anderson mining camp near Thumb Butte. The ride “of over seven long miles, on dangerous ground,” was made in a “record-breaking 30 minutes,” the newspaper reported. She had ridden her horse “at almost full speed the entire distance, never drawing rein until she reached the Courthouse Plaza.” 

There had been a shooting at the camp, and the sheriff and a doctor were needed immediately.

The Heartwarming Christmas of 1920

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

The Rocky Road That Brought the Rough Rider Monument

As soon as news reached Prescott of William “Buckey” O’Neill’s death in Cuba during the Spanish-American War, one of his closest friends, MJ Hickey, was inspired to see that a memorial to the late sheriff and mayor be made in his hometown. This idea of a memorial would quickly grow into a monument, and its journey from conception to inception would grow monumental as well.

Tom Mix Helps Start the Northern Arizona Fair

In 1913, the Arizona State Legislature allowed for counties to use a certain amount of property tax dollars “for the support and furtherance of county fairs and exhibitions.” For the northern counties, it was felt that more money could be raised and result in a better fair if they could pool their resources and stage the event together. “This was agreed upon, and the Northern Arizona Fair Association came into being (with) bylaws formally adopted on August 7.”

However, the prime mover in helping to bring the fair together was the western silent movie star Tom Mix. Prescott was a second hometown for Mix, who produced scores of films around the Granite Dells area. He was named “Program Chairman and, through his efforts, raised $6000 (over $150,000 today) to put on the fair. He planned and staged a Wild West show using local cowboys” to help raise the money.

The effort turned out to be more popular and successful than the planners could have dreamed.

1867: Squatters Try to Purloin the Plaza

In 1867, the only permanent structure on Prescott's Plaza was a flagpole. But one morning in March, people arriving downtown came across an infuriating sight. "We are sorry to announce the arrival of the notorious and vagabond called ‘squatter’ in our devoted town,” the paper reported. A small party of men, “mostly strangers” to the area, “deliberately located or 'jumped' our town plaza, and are now proceeding to take and fence it.” 

When one is in mining country, being called a “jumper” is one of the most derisive comments that could be leveled in public discourse.

Prescott's Plaza Pets

Through the years, Prescott's Plaza has been blessed with a few beloved, exceptional animals that stole the hearts of the entire city. Here are the stories of Old Joe the horse, Stub the cat, and Mike the dog.

The Plaza's Early History

Before the Courthouse was built,
the Plaza fielded baseball games.

As Robert Groom plotted out Prescott and created the Plaza in the middle of downtown, it wasn't necessarily meant for the county courthouse. The first courthouse was located on the street facing the plaza.

Instead, it was left as an open public space, and its uses were many and varied.

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.

The Complete "Lost History" of the Yavapai County Courthouse

The reasons why Yavapai County needed a new, third, (and current) courthouse seemed endless. First, the Old Courthouse had become too small for the growing county. Added to that was this stunning list of deficiencies:

1916: The Plaza's (& AZ's) First Christmas Tree

1916 was an auspicious year for Prescott's Courthouse Plaza. In October, the cornerstone was laid for the brand new (and current) Courthouse.

Later, as Christmas approached, citizens as well as the Chamber of Commerce thought it would be an excellent idea to erect a municipal Christmas tree in the plaza.

A meeting was held on December 18th with the chamber, local ministers, and city officials, where "the opinion was unanimous in favor of the big tree." (*1)

There were to be lights, decorations, candy, toys, and charity baskets for every worthy, poor family in the city.

The newspaper proudly crowed: "Prescott will be the first city in the entire State of Arizona to hold a big municipal tree." (*1)

...That is, if they could get all the plans completed in less than a week!

The Terrible, Shoddy Construction of the Old Courthouse

The construction of the "Old" (2nd) Yavapai County Courthouse was so terrible, so shoddy--even slapstick--that a sane man might wonder if the Three Stooges didn't paste it together just before landing their gig on vaudeville!

Here now are seven cases in point:

Lost History: Yavapai County Courthouse: The Construction

After the cornerstone was laid, (story here,) construction started immediately.

Under the contract, the courthouse was supposed to be finished by the end of 1917.  Even though the builders stated that it would be finished "long before that time," it was not completed until 1918. (*1)

The Mysterious Courthouse Cornerstone

Cornerstone of the Yavapai County Courthouse was laid October 19th, 1916

After the contract to build the new courthouse was signed (story here), preparatory work began immediately.

Of special interest and care was the building's cornerstone. A date of October 19th, 1916, was set for the laying of the cornerstone to coincide with the opening of the Fourth Annual Northern Arizona Fair. (*1) The mayor declared a holiday, and all businesses closed for the festivities. (*2) Yet there are mysteries behind it.

Lost History: Yavapai County Courthouse: The Need

The Old (2nd) Yavapai County Courthouse, 1878-1916

There were four reasons why Yavapai County needed a new courthouse. First, the old one had become too small. The county had grown a great deal from 1878 to 1916.

Second, the old courthouse suffered from shoddy construction in the first place and was beginning to fall apart.

The third reason was a matter of civic pride and disgust: "It is unsanitary and reeks with foul smells," a magazine complained. (*1)