In 1947, when my Mom, my Aunt, and I disembarked from the train one hot August day, we walked the short distance to the Head Hotel to take some rooms where we stayed until we got our bearings and rented a little cottage from, I believe, the Dandee court over on Goodwin and Granite Streets.
I remember walking to the Pigley Wigley where we bought some lovely peachy tasting peaches. The kind you simply can't buy in stores any more.
We asked about the prominent landmark seen at the end of Gurley Street and were told it was called Thumb Butte. "Oh," and "Ahhh.." said the three round eyed tourists.
I'm not sure when the Head Hotel was built. Obviously before the automobile became the prefer ed mode of transportation. If you're given to conjecture as Ee and I are, you might want to see what you think of this image in the Arizona Memory project. After much scrutiny and back and forth viewing of the various images, we think the "Head House' was the center portion of the Head Hotel and the rest built off either end.
According to the above add, the Post Office was once housed there. Later, the lower portion housed the New State Star moving picture theater before movies were seen at the Elk's Theater and J.C. Penney's was located there prior to moving to the Bashford building.
There was a spur of the Mt. Union Electric Streetcar line running down Cortez to the train depot and here's a shot of the hotel compiler with streetcar.
_And a shot of the hotel in 1938 with lots of old cars in front. Clearly, Western Auto was located there at that time. It stayed in that location for quite a number of years, at least into the early fifties.
Jarat has a nice photo of the way the building looks today. After many years of providing rooms available on a monthly basis that served as permanent residences for many of Prescott's elderly citizens, I think it's been turned into more modern apartments. What say you, Granny J.? I think you addressed the subject, but can't find it in your blog.....
Update: I spoke with a representative of a local property management company who told me the old Head hotel, although changed on the outside and bearing the new name the Prescott Inn, he believes is still pretty much the same on the inside, and is still operating in much the same way. He gave me the name of the current owner, so I'll try to contact him to ask about future plans for the hotel.
Linda -- thank you for clarifying what might have been a horrible mistake on my part. I recalled reading a year or so ago that the Head Hotel had been turned into a B&B, called the Prescott (something) Inn. But when I've passed by I keep seeing a sign on the entrance door saying "for lease". I had assumed that the B&B was simply belly-up and looking for new management, not turned into apartments! Too bad -- I wonder where all those widower ranchers and cowboys go to retire these days!
ReplyDeleteNice old photo's of the Hotel in it's younger days. It looked much better then, more character, I think. My husband stayed there in the mid 50's when he was working for the railroad. Thanks for the link.
ReplyDeleteMy dad worked for the railroad in the 1950s too. Bud Longwell. I don't know where he stayed but eventually brought his family out from Iowa in 1955
DeleteGJ, I thought I'd better check it out and added what I found in an update. I'll try to find more:)
ReplyDeleteA good thing as I remembered spell check this time:)
Jarat, you did a nice job of the history yourself:)
There used to be a beauty school right next door called Yavapai Beauty School. I graduated from the school in 1984. I don't live in AZ anymore but I will be back before I die. While attending school one of the students lived at the hotel. I used to go over and visit. The back of that building has all kinds of stairs and walkways. I know now that it was probably a fire escape system. Is the hotel still open? (2019)
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