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Courthouse Square |
Prescott, Arizona: Everybody's Hometown
Prescott, AZ (Sedona.biz)
- Prescott is a mile high old gold-mining town about an hour and one-half
drive southwest of Sedona. Today the town is known for its unique
Victorian charm and for the galleries, restaurants, and boutiques along its Whiskey Row.
The town is surrounded on three sides by the
1.2 million acre Prescott National Forest that is famous for its
Ponderosa Pines. There are also five lakes in the area
making Prescott well suited
for boating and fishing enthusiasts.
Brief History
Prescott's success dates back to 1861 when
gold was discovered along its Granite Creek; coinciding
with the outbreak of the Civil War.
When Arizona was separated from New Mexico in
1863 and became a U.S. Territory, President Abraham Lincoln chose
Prescott as the Territory's first capital
because of its northern location far from
Confederate sympathizers in the south, and because he eyed its gold deposits
as a source of funds for the Union Army.
With its Northern allegiance, Prescott became populated mostly
by Northerners and Midwesterners who built New England style homes
with peaked roofs, much different from the adobe homes so common in
the Southwest.
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William Hickling Prescott |
In 1900, the town's commercial area, Whiskey
Row, was
devastated by a fire and was rebuilt, mostly in brick, providing an
even richer historic charm.
Prescott was named after Massachusetts born
American historian, William Hickling Prescott, who died in 1859.
Prescott was known as one of the first English speaking historians
to write about the rise and fall of the Spanish Empire.
Present
Prescott has about 40,000 residents. The town's major tourist
attractions are the Sharlot Hall Museum and its Whiskey Row which
once boasted over 26 saloons. Whiskey Row is now the town's historic
shopping district (below right).
Location
Prescott is located in Yavapai County in
North Central Arizona and lies 100 miles northwest of Phoenix
and 95 miles southwest of Flagstaff, west of Rte 17.
Fodor's named the 65 mile drive along Highway
89-A from Sedona to Prescott one of America's most scenic.
Related article:
American Indian art thrives in Prescott trading post
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