By Joanna Dodder Nellans / The Daily Courier
June 28, 2009

To Donald Nelson, a Hopi who grew up in Prescott, Homol’ovi is not just another state park.

“Homol’ovi State Park to me is a very special place, in that it reaffirms the history of our migration as Hopi clans,” Nelson explained of the park, which sits along the Little Colorado River about 60 miles south of the Hopi mesas.

“I would not be sitting here today if it were not for the strength, the courage and the tenacity of my ancestors to live and to survive in such a rugged environment, guided by a very strong faith and guided by the assurance that we would be taken care of if we were to follow certain instructions,” Nelson said.

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The April/May 2009 issue of American Cowboy Magazine lists Prescott as one of the Best 20 Places to Live in the West.

The magazine writes of Prescott, “Most of the downtown buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places, including Whiskey Row, once home to 40 saloons - including The Palace, frequented by Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and Virgil Earp, among others.”

The magazine continues, “Prescott is home to the ‘World’s Oldest Rodeo,’ which dates back to 1888. Wild West traditions are celebrated at the Folk Arts Fair in June and the Arizona Cowboy Poets Gathering in August. Great trail rides and campsites await nearby at Prescott National Forest.”

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Jan. 27, 2008

The Yavapai County Attorney’s Office began receiving complaints about employers hiring illegal workers in violation of the state’s new employer sanctions law.

Jan. 27, 2004

Arizona Public Service estimated it would cost $34 million to cut down all the dead pine trees along its electrical powers lines in Arizona.

Jan. 27, 1999

The Board of Supervisors took a major step toward cooperation between eastern and western Yavapai County with the formation of a new water advisory committee.

Jan. 27, 1984

Chino Valley Mayor Sam Green instructed Town Manager Cathie Rodman to investigate an allegation that the town road crew built a road encroaching Yavapai County’s jurisdiction without the council’s knowledge or consent.

Jan. 27, 1959

“Dr. Kenneth B. Babcock, director, Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals, has advised Paul Schmoll, Whipple manager, that the board of the Joint Commission on Accreditation has approved Whipple for accreditation as a result of an evaluation of the hospital on Dec. 12, 1958, by Dr. Harold Kazmann, a field representative of the commission.”

Jan. 27, 1934

“Yavapai County is one of the four superior courts in which the state banking department has filed a total of 25 suits against stockholders of the defunct Arizona bank to recover stockholders’ liabilities amounting to $215,000.”

Jan. 27, 1909

“The junior class of the Prescott High School will present J. Palgrave Simpson’s well-known play of ‘A Scrap of Paper’ at the High School Auditorium on Saturday evening, Jan. 30, at 8:15 o’clock.”

Jan. 27, 1880s

“All the Mexicans heretofore employed on the Southern Pacific have been discharged. Chinamen have been put in their place.”

Source

Historic Prescott

Prescott was founded in 1864 and named in honor of historian William H. Prescott.  The original location of Prescott was established by Governor John Noble Goodwin along Granite Creek where gold was found.  This peaked the interest of President Lincoln who was searching for a potential way to fund the North during the Civil War.  President Lincoln wanted the capital in the northern part of Arizona so Prescott became the territorial capital until 1867.  Prescott regained the capital status in 1887.   Later in 1889, the capital was moved to Phoenix by the Arizona Legislature.

Historical preservation is very important to Prescott who has over 600 buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Governor Goodwin engineered the design of the downtown square.  Northerners and Midwesterners inhabited this new capital and brought their ideals with them.  Victorian style peaked roof homes were built instead of the adobe composition that was more conventional in the Southwest.  Prescott became the most Midwestern looking city in all of Arizona.

The Governor’s Mansion is now preserved at the Sharlot Hall Museum.  Sharlot Hall Museum was named after historian and poet Sharlot M. Hall in 1928.  It is the largest museum in the central region of Arizona and currently displays the unique regional traditions of Prescott through exhibits, outdoor theatre performances, and living historical achievements.

The core of the economy was based on mining and cattle ranching.