1885 Conflagration Changed Ash Fork Forever

“Saturday, April 25, 1885, 3:40 PM: The town of Ash Fork is now on fire,” the Albuquerque Evening Democrat proclaimed. “So far nine buildings are in ashes…” 

“A telegram was received at Fort Whipple announcing the almost entire destruction of the town of Ash Fork,” the Tulare County (California) newspaper pronounced.

“The greater part of the town was destroyed,” the Sacramento Union declared.

A Horrifying Tragedy on Pleasant Ave. (1898)

It was around 2:15 AM, September 7, 1898, and FS Davis was sound asleep in his residence on Pleasant Avenue when his faithful little dog suddenly jumped onto the bed and then onto his chest, barking alarmingly. “Davis found the room black with smoke,” the Prescott Weekly Courier described. The first thing he saved was his clothing, throwing them out a side door (which led to the loss of his watch). He then grabbed a pistol and ran out the door, only partially clad, firing his gun into the air to sound the alarm.

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.

TW Otis: Civic Minded Pioneer

Theodore Weld (TW) Otis was a prominent and well-respected Prescott pioneer who served the community as a judge, a coroner, and a postmaster. He speculated in mining, real estate, and was a retail proprietor. He was a pious, charitable Christian and a teetotaling advocate for prohibition.

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.

Jerome's Great Fire of 1898

One year before the fire;
almost all of this would be destroyed.

The Journal-Miner described it as “one of the greatest calamities in the loss of human lives and destruction of property that has ever occurred in the territory, and it may also be said in the West.”

The Forgotten, Lost Town of Val Verde

 

The evening of September 24, 1904, was windy, and the smelter’s open building provided some relief from the heat of the furnace. Around 9pm, as part of their routine, workers wet down the furnace and began to remove, or “undrape” the liquid slag. This time, however, there was too much of the by-product, and the slag poured out of the furnace too quickly for the men to control it. 

“It spread over the floor, in front of the smelter,” the Weekly Journal-Miner explained, “and the molten slag, coming in contact with the water, caused [an] explosion, sending the hot metal all through the building; setting it on fire in a number of places.” While there was an abundance of water on hand, it was impossible to check the progress of the blaze as the strong winds fanned the flames. 

Not only was the building doomed, but so was the five-year-old town of Val Verde. 

1888: Prescott's Great Fire Before the Great Fire

Many who are familiar with Prescott history are aware of the Great Fire, which occurred on July 14, 1900, and destroyed Whiskey Row. However, twelve years earlier, there was another great fire that wiped out Cortez Street.

It all started with an ill-fated plan to blow the safe at TW Otis’ store. The burglars entered the establishment, under the cover of darkness, shortly after midnight on July 1st, and planted some dynamite around the store’s safe. Concerned that the noise from the blast would sound an alarm, the would-be thieves covered the safe with burlap gunny sacks. They then lit the fuse and scurried out of the building to avoid injury.

Constant Indian Raids, Spring 1870

1870 dawned with the usual optimism of a new year in Prescott, but underneath lay a sense of anxiety. The first edition of the 1870 Weekly Arizona Miner wrote: “Our inveterate foes—the Indians— have been on their good behavior for a number of weeks past, and have not recommenced hostilities, hereabouts. But judging from the fact that they have commenced swarming around many settlements, we fear that, ere long, they will commence their business of killing and plundering, and we advise our people to be on the lookout for them.”

The newspaper would have done well to tell its readers not to travel alone and double their herders. For it was the Indians' strategy to begin a campaign of ambushing lone travelers and lightly guarded stock.

The Premeditated Murderous Disaster at Wilson's Sawmill

 

William Zadoc “Zeb” Wilson was proud of the brand-new boiler at his sawmill. He travelled to the Ohio manufacturer to deliver the desired specifications himself. According to the Journal-Miner, he “paid an extra price to have certain portions of it built extra strong.” When the boiler first arrived, it was examined by an engineer at Whipple, and he testified that “he considered it the best boiler in the county.” Wilson’s pride was only equalled by the meticulous care he gave his new boiler.

However, at 7:30 in the morning of November 19, 1887, this brand-new, prized boiler would blast Wilson and five other workers straight into the afterlife. Worst of all, it was found to be a premeditated act.

Humboldt Suffers Two Conflagrations in Three Weeks

In July 1910, William Oliver, manager of the Shumate confectionery, billiards, and cigar store in Humboldt, was vacationing in Prescott. He spoke to the newspaper “in glowing terms” of his new hometown, describing it “as a coming commercial and mining center.” Little did he know that within a month, Humboldt would suffer two “great fires”; the latter of which would start in the basement of the building in which Oliver’s business was housed!

Remembering the Mingus Mountain Inn

Mingus Mountain Inn, 1949.

In the 1920s, cars were far less dependable and, as a result, service stations were more numerous and spaced closer together. Particularly, the tops and bottoms of mountains were excellent locales for a motorist to take the necessary precautions of checking his water and brakes before traversing the steep grade.

It was from this need that the Mingus Mountain Inn was born on Forest Service land in 1925. Yet the Inn was far more than just a gas station; it also provided light groceries, camping and hunting supplies, and a sit-down restaurant.

The Forgotten Mother-Load at Richenbar, AZ

Many are familiar with the mining riches that came out of Tip Top and Crown King, but there was another mother-load of gold in that area known as Richenbar.

It was 1867 when three miners decided to explore what appeared to be an ancient, worked-out mine. They descended a 45-degree angled shaft into what appeared to be a cave. There were no timber reinforcements to be seen, and the only thing connecting the ceiling to the floor was a single 4-foot pillar in the middle of the expanse. Upon closer inspection, they noticed a pure vein of gold within the pillar measuring 2 inches thick. Two of the miners wanted to extract it, while the third thought it was too dangerous. The two carefully worked the pillar and were successful in extracting a “coffee sack” full of ore, which eventually was found to contain a whopping 937 ounces of gold.

This mine would come to be known as the Aztec Mine when ancient Native American tools were discovered inside. Eventually, the entire surrounding area would have claims, and the town of Richenbar was born. Soon, the gold deposit there became famous, and the famous would invest in an area so rich that one miner thought it would bring "death to gold."

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...

1889: Three Arsons in One Evening

On the evening of November 19, 1889, “Prescott scored a fire record, in which she takes no special pride,” the paper lamented, “the department being called out no less than three times within four hours.” Although the first two fires were extinguished quickly, the third, at the livery stable, went out of control.

The Lost History of Howey Hall

For decades, the history of what was once an iconic building on the Plaza lay veiled. It was known as Howey Hall, and it stood in service to Prescott for over 80 years.

The reason for this lack of history was a lack of ink in surviving newspapers. This was because of a bit of a grudge held by Miner editor, Charles Beach, who “was most unhappy…because of the fact that (Howey Hall) productions were advertised by placard rather than the newspaper.” However, Beach did feel compelled to print a dozen words or so about community events held there. These lay buried in the dusty columns for over a century until the power of 21st-century newspaper search engines brought these nuggets to light. Together, they bring into focus the important community role Howey Hall held in Prescott.

Wild Wagoner AZ: Founded 1864

Wagoner, Arizona, was the kind of town that Hollywood loves portraying. There were outlaws, gold, guns, fights , and killings.  Like desert grass, Wagoner bloomed in the monsoon of its gold rush and quickly perished soon after.

The Lost Ghost Town of Zonia

Main Street in Zonia as seen in the 1960s

Place name books that cover Arizona show no listing for the small ghost town of Zonia. Google Maps can locate the Zonia mine, but not the town itself. Even off-roading clubs that are well familiar with Arizona's backroads and ghost towns show no listing.

Yet this old mining town did indeed exist and flourished from 1899-1922.

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."