1937: The Christmas Without Candy

Come 1937, the Great Depression was taking a serious human toll.

One small boy arrived at Jefferson School "wan and helpless." When the principal, Miss Anyta Buzran questioned why, she uncovered an appalling travail: For the last two days, that boy and his two sisters had nothing more a glass of milk apiece to eat for the last two days. (*1)

Buzran quickly investigated several other families with students in her school and found 8-10 more children in the same condition. (*1)

Without a social safety net, things had become extremely desperate for many Prescott families who couldn't find work. After five long years of depression, even the charities had difficulties procuring suitable donations.

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 Mysterious Ruins at Sullivan Lake *UPDATED*

Sullivan Lake Dam under construction

The mysterious ruins: What are those smaller stone structures?

A couple of miles south of Paulden, off Route 89, is a loop spur marked "Old Hwy. 89." This aptly named stretch of the former roadway eventually crosses a bridge where some old ruins can be seen.

The usual passer-by often wonders what these buildings were for and when they were constructed.

Story Behind the Name: "Wilhoit" "Woodchute" "Bumble Bee" "Big Bug"

Arizona has some interesting and colorful place names. Here are four from around the greater Prescott National Forest area:

Wilhoit, Arizona

Wilhoit:
First, the charming story of Wilhoit, Arizona.

1953: Prescott is a Hotspot for Flying Saucers

Prescott Evening Courier, May 22, 1953.

It was a time when the study of UFOs was in such infancy that the very term "UFO" hadn't been coined yet. There were no national databases of sightings, and those who did see something unexplainable most often kept their experiences to themselves.

However, in the first half of 1953, there was such a rash of sightings in the skies of Prescott that it would turn ardent skeptics into true, vocal believers.

In fact, so numerous were the accounts by respected citizens that even the newspaper was compelled to cover the story.

For the increasing number of eyewitnesses, the saucers brought astonishment, awe, wonder, and worry.

Prescott's "Double-Decker" Brothel

Arrow shows the location of the Double-Decker Brothel on Granite Street
 in this 1890 lithograph.

This 1885 photo, taken from the Old Courthouse,
reveals the back of the Double-Decker Brothel.

Before the downtown parking garage was built on Granite Street, the opportunity was taken to make an archeological dig of this portion of the old red-light district. Among several other things, this project unearthed the colorful story of Prescott's only two-story brothel.

In archeology, the prime artifacts are most often found in the areas where the refuse was dumped. As a result, (and speaking of dumps,) the true star of this story is: "The Privy at Prescott's Double-Decker Brothel."

Seems the old "Double Decker" was one of them pricy, high-class type joints. That is, if what they threw in the crapper is any indication...