 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Prescott Information For centuries, the lands now known as central Arizona were the homeland of the Yavapai peoples. This changed with the discovery of gold in the Bradshaw Mountains near Prescott in 1861, bringing the region to national attention. As President Lincoln was seeking sources of funding for the Union during the Civil War, the push was on to make Arizona a Territory of the United States. This came to pass on February 24, 1863, with Prescott designated as the first Territorial capital. Well, the gold didn’t last long and neither did the capital status. But, with the streets of downtown laid out in their current configuration during the Civil War, the town grew quickly, filling with wooden buildings constructed by the many pioneering families from the Midwest and New England. Copper strikes kept mining prominent, cattle ranching grew up here and there, and Prescott became a typical frontier town—a layer of “civilization” over rough-and-tumble wildness. By the time statehood was achieved (February 14, 1912), commerce was well under way in Prescott. It began with provisioning for mining operations, the forts established around Arizona, and the cattle ranches; the Goldwater brothers, Russian immigrants, were big players in this enterprise. Morris, uncle of Senator Barry Goldwater, settled in Prescott and was elected mayor ten times over fifty years, and Goldwater's was the premier department store in Prescott from the days when it sold cases of champagne to the town's "professional ladies." With the importance of cattle ranching lasting well into the twentieth century, reminders of cowboy life are everywhere in Prescott. Fabled Whiskey Row, once the home of over 26 saloons and hangout of Doc Holliday and the Earps (Wyatt's brother Virgil was a U.S. Marshall in Prescott), is now a thriving shopping district. In Prescott, “Everybody’s Hometown”, history lives on. Over 500 of Prescott’s beautifully preserved buildings appear on the National Register of Historic Places. Safe, friendly, tree-lined streets and a small-town atmosphere make Prescott's Historic District a great place to live. You can walk to elm-shaded Courthouse Square for the Bluegrass Festival or other concerts, to sophisticated galleries, restaurants, and shops on Whiskey Row, or over to Sharlot Hall Museum for the annual Cowboy Poets Festival in August. You could even take a horse and carriage to the restaurant for your special evening out! The Perfect Climate “The perfect climate”—that’s what
people say about Prescott and the Tri-City area! Located about a mile
above sea level in Arizona’s central mountains, Prescott enjoys four
distinct but mild seasons. Winter is shorter and less harsh than in
northern Arizona, and the summers provide many visitors with great
relief from the fierce heat of Phoenix and other Sonoran desert cities. Things To Do In Prescott SHOPPING
Whiskey Row and other areas in
downtown Prescott house some excellent
art
galleries, and all three towns provide great
antiquing possibilities. The
Phippen Museum
showcases many varieties of Western art. For local history, residents
and visitors alike value the
Sharlot Hall Museum,
founded in 1928 by local poet, historian, and ranch-woman Sharlot M.
Hall.
All this in a setting of
unparalleled natural beauty, in pure air, under brilliant blue skies!
Excellent downhill and cross-country skiing can be found in the nearby
Flagstaff area and elsewhere. The
Prescott
Unified School District serves about 5,000 students with a faculty
of 286, and the area is the home of a number of fine charter and
parochial schools. The local land-line phone company is
Qwest (formerly US
West). Residential long distance service is provided by
AT&T, and there are a
number of cable and internet providers — Broadband:
CableOne,
CommSpeed,
Qwest DSL and
Dial-up:
Cybertrails and others.
|
 |
