Prescott, Arizona
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Prescott Gurley Street in 1918 |
Prescott is a
city in
Yavapai County,
Arizona,
USA. The
population was 33,938 at the
2000 census. The city is the
county seat of
Yavapai County, and in 1863 this then remote and lightly populated town was designated as the original capital of the
Arizona Territory in order keep the seat of government far from
Confederate sympathizers prevalent in the southern part of the state. The Territorial Capital was moved to
Tucson in 1867. Prescott again became the Territorial Capital in 1877, until the capital was changed to
Phoenix in 1889. Locals pronounce the town's name as "press-kit".
The towns of
Prescott Valley (7 miles east) and
Chino Valley (16 miles north), and Prescott, together make up the area known locally as "Tri-City". The
Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe reservation is located next to, and partially within, the borders of Prescott. These four government entities sometimes work together on projects of mutual interest; at other times, however, they come into conflict. An example is the ongoing fight over Prescott buying the water rights of Chino Valley's rich
Verde River watershed. The area is growing rapidly, and lately (2005) one begins to hear the term "Quad-City" for the area. The villages of Dewey and Humboldt voted to incorporate as a town, known as Dewey-Humboldt. This area is getting a lot of moderate and upper-level housing developments, because it is close to Prescott and has land area. The weather conditions are favorable owing to the altitude of 5354 ft, being significantly cooler than the lower southern areas of the state and yet without the harsh winters found at higher altitudes.
Prescott began as a
mining town with the discovery of
gold on nearby Lynx Creek in 1863. In 1864
Arizona became a territory and Prescott was the Territorial Capital until 1889. The Sharlot Hall Museum houses much of Prescott's territorial history, and the Smoki and Phippen museums also maintain local collections. Whiskey Row in Downtown boasts many historic buildings, including the Palace, Arizona's oldest
restaurant and
bar, and many other buildings that have been converted to
boutiques,
art galleries,
bookstores, and restaurants. The City is named after author
William H. Prescott, whose writings were popular during the Civil War.
After major
fires in the early part of the century, downtown Prescott was rebuilt with
brick. The central
courthouse plaza, a lawn under huge old
elm trees, is a good gathering and meeting place.
Cultural events and performances are available many nights in the
summer on the plaza.
Prescott features the famous old Western Whiskey Row and many Victorian homes. It has been remarked to be the most
Midwestern-appearing city in the
Southwest, and it has 525 buildings on the
National Register of Historic Places.
Prescott is home to the historical area known as "Whiskey Row", up until 1956 a notorious
red-light district. There was a great fire in 1900 that destroyed most of the buildings on Whiskey Row. As legend has it, the patrons of the various bars simply took their drinks across the street to the Courthouse square and watched it burn. Whiskey Row runs north and south on N. Montezuma between Gurley and E. Goodwin St., directly west of the county courthouse. The row has been the home of the St. Michael's Hotel and the Palace Hotel since the late 1800's along with more colorful purveyors of night-life. This block was also the site of merchant Sam Hill's hardware store, famous for its extensive stock in its downtown location and out of town warehouse, and made memorable by the question that became part of the US vernacular: "
Where in the Sam Hill did you get that?"
[Volunteer docent statement, free official downtown Prescott guided historical and architectural tour. This may not be accurate since "Sam Hill" is supposedly also a euphimistic reference to Hell, hence possibly a polite way of saying "Where in the Hell did you get that?". There was here a Sam Hill Hardware store, however, and this is attested to by the bronze letters embedded in the concrete sidewalk spelling out "SAM HILL"'' inset in the sidewalk at each boundary of the property]The movie
Junior Bonner and
Billy Jack was filmed in Prescott at the Palace Hotel.
Yearly, Prescott hosts Frontier Days, The World's Oldest
Rodeo, the
Bluegrass Festival,
Earth Day, Tsunami on the Square, art festivals, a
Cinco de Mayo celebration,
Shakespeare Festival,
Navajo Rug Auction, World's Largest
Gingerbread Village, Prescott
Film Fest,
Folk Arts Fair,
parades, the Acker
Music Festival, The
Cowboy Poets Gathering, and several
marathons. Also located in Prescott is the
Heritage Park Zoo.
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Location of Prescott, Arizona |
Prescott is located at (34.568210, -112.461482).
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 96.6
km² (37.3
mi²). 96.0 km² (37.1 mi²) of it is land and 0.6 km² (0.2 mi²) of it (0.64%) is water.
Prescott is located in the
Bradshaw Mountains of central Arizona, at an altitude of 5400 feet. The town has a four-season climate with relatively mild winters. Average annual precipitation is 19.32 inches; average snowfall is 25.4 inches. There has been a severe drought from 1999 to present (2006); precipitation has dropped dramatically. One evidence of this is the lack of snowpack in the Bradshaw mountains. Local creeks do not contain water except immediately after the rare rains. The winter of 2005-2006 had less than 3" of snow, compared to an average snowfall of 24".
[http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/wrh/techMemos/TM-274.pdf]Prescott is the home of Yavapai Community College, Prescott College, Old Dominion University, and the western campus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Northern Arizona University has a speciality campus here.
The city also boasts a municipal airport,
Ernest A. Love Field, located seven miles north of the downtown courthouse.
As of the
census of 2000, there were 33,938 people, 15,098 households, and 8,968 families residing in the city. The
population density was 353.5/km² (915.6/mi²). There were 17,144 housing units at an average density of 178.6/km² (462.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 92.93%
White, 0.50%
Black or
African American, 1.27%
Native American, 0.83%
Asian, 0.06%
Pacific Islander, 2.77% from
other races, and 1.63% from two or more races. 8.17% of the population were
Hispanic or
Latino of any race.
There were 15,098 households out of which 18.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.7% were
married couples living together, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.6% were non-families. 32.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.11 and the average family size was 2.62.
In the city the population was spread out with 15.9% under the age of 18, 11.2% from 18 to 24, 18.9% from 25 to 44, 27.3% from 45 to 64, and 26.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 48 years. For every 100 females there were 96.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $35,446, and the median income for a family was $46,481. Males had a median income of $31,834 versus $22,982 for females. The
per capita income for the city was $22,565. About 7.4% of families and 13.1% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 14.4% of those under age 18 and 6.4% of those age 65 or over.
*
About Prescott Arizona*
City of Prescott, Arizona Official Web Site*
Prescott Arizona Chamber of Commerce*
Heritage Park Zoo*
Sharlot Hall Museum*
PrescottCity.com*
The Prescott Directory*
Arizona Classical Theatre home of the
Arizona Shakespeare Festival
