Prescott Court House 1878

don't forget to click to pop right inside these pictures

These pictures of the charming pink brick courthouse built 1in 1878 to meet the needs of Prescott's growing population, may be my favorites of Ee's collection. With it's modest portico and that interesting little windowed cupola, this building has a charm that our present imposing structure lacks.

One of the hazards of posting these cards is the time I fritter away trying to better research them. I could find nothing about the purpose of this mineral fountain, but I do think they were all the rage at time. I did run across the mention of a mineral fountain to be built in Central Park in 1867 at the cost of $80.00. I know that mineral water was thought to be healthy to drink and to bathe in, although I doubt people bathed on the Plaza!

They did however, have watermelon parties on warm summer evenings. The Plaza was fenced to keep out wandering livestock, and watermelons were planted to be enjoyed by Prescott Citizens. I think that may be a watermelon patch pictured in the foreground on this card!

It's fun to look at the buildings in the backgrounds of these pictures.

The old firehouse and jail show up nicely in the last one, so the photo was taken sometime after 1895 when that building was built.

There was a little chapel too, and I strongly suspect that it was the little building with it's back to the camera and the spire on top.