Prescott Walking Tour

Prescott walking tour

1.     We parked on corner of Willis and Montezuma and began our walking tour by south on Montezuma toward historic Gurley St and The Yavapai Courthouse Square.

2. At the corner Montezuma and Gurley you now see famous historical Whiskey Row. Continue walking south along the courthouse square. Prescott used to be the capitol of Prescott and the courthouse in the center of the historic district reflects that. This square is not only the lawn of the Courthouse but also it function as a great public and third space. There are people waking their dogs and babies, people having picnics, as well as the grumpy people who are defiantly there to go to court.  On the right side of the street are several saloons and little shops. I noticed the majority of shops in the square/ historic district were art galleries, antique shops, bars, or little fancy boutiques.

Looking east up Gurley St.

3.     Once you reach the end of the walkway on the Courthouse square turn east and begin walking uphill on Goodwin st. This is where I noticed the symmetry of the location of the Courthouse, and the surrounding streets, this is an example of a Philadelphia type square. The streets surrounding the square run in all four cardinal directions and the intersections of the streets are what define the joints of the blocks.

The courthouse itself seems to be modeled after The Capra Villa  “La Rontonda” in Italy, with the four symmetrical sides and facades with four entrances to one big indoor room. Granted the inside has been modified to accommodate all the functions of a municipal court, but it is a great example of Greek revival in the Southwest.  This area is such a great historic area, and a large part of what makes Prescott such a great walking town. The square is very planned and geometrical, the lawns are manicured and watered on the regular, and this being a state building that is not surprising at all, there is a fountain and huge not-super-manicured trees and lots of open green area which totally adds to the pleasant aesthetic appeal, very picturesque...

Planning included features for public enjoyment

If you continue walking up this street you will pass the library and up father are the very fancy historic Victorian Houses, and wealthy private school and organizations. The majority of Federal buildings were up here as far as I could tell: The library, and the Social Security offices were up here, and there were several buildings with metal detectors and clearance needed to enter. Prescott and Flagstaff are similar in this practice of building the Federal Buildings all a little higher elevation but still accessible by residential and downtown areas.

4.     Now turn north and head up Cortez Street, you will cross over Gurley and continue north. On this street I noticed a lot of Antique stores, and cafes but what was most interesting to me was the multilevel, multiuse spaces. There were lots of little independently owned shops and restaurants but upstairs were doctor and lawyers and accountant offices. This Building is a Masonic Temple with apartments on top and a Co-Op store on the bottom. 

  

Masonic Temple

I really like how the historic buildings and the historic downtown are preserved through this zoning, because people are allowed to have more opportunities to have and/ or work in a business in this Downtown area.  When all these people are working in this area for normal business hours this creates a need for lunch, restaurants, and LOTS of coffee, as well as people to enjoy the park while on their lunch break. Furthermore, the added traffic from the people enjoying the third space of the Courtyard lawn and the tourism for the historic section creates a great little environment all around this area.

Multiuse space

  5.     Continue walking north on Cortez over Gurley and over Willis and to the intersection of Sheldon and Cortez, from there turn east and begin walking uphill toward a much more residential part of the area. During this part of my walk I noticed how the difference in elevation of the land affected the type of development that was on it. When walking east on Sheldon I noticed a high amount of pawn and liquor shops, not something I saw around the courthouse and fancy historic homes. Also the farther away from the Square area one got, the cheaper and more corporate the businesses and restaurants along Sheldon St got.  When I was walking I took somewhat of a roundabout route through this neighborhood.

6.     I turned right onto Marina St from Sheldon and went back south to get a feel for the kind of houses on that area. This is a great neighborhood with lots of picturesque lawns and pretty flowers; the architecture is more from the same era than the piecemeal of the remodeled downtown. This area has lots of Victorians- Queen Anne style houses; they have obviously gone under serious remodel but with great sensitivity to the historic appeal and authenticity of the original structure. What I really liked about this area was despite the very fancy appearance of the houses and the very highly watered front lawns; this was very much a family community. The lawns were covered in children’s toys and remnants of the Sunday before’ tea parties, also there were very friendly cats and dogs in most of the yards, it was a Monday so not many actual people were in their lawns.  In addition, these lawns were different from the “lawn culture” we saw up in Boulder Point, in Prescott I did not see any rock-scraping, or the deliberate construction of structure around the Ponderosa Pines. In fact, now that I think about it most of the landscaping and trees in the lawns of this area look as of they had been planted after the structure was build, or remodeled. 

  From here, someone could go one of two ways: I walked back and forth through this same neighborhood between Gurley St and Sheldon. This is a very cute neighborhood and one really gets a sense of how elevation affects and is affected by socioeconomic stratification. When one walks downhill closer to Sheldon the houses become more organic and less manicured, the paint was done at different times with different shades, and overall the houses are much less grand.  The streets and sidewalks are still maintained by the government and everyone has government issued trash and recycle bins, but I do not think this neighborhood / area has a Homeowners association because the houses were different styles and different colors and all were maintained differently.

Somewhat maintained sidewalk / street area

  If you go South and head up hill on Pleasant St or Alarcon st you will see the much fancier houses; many being used for Bed & Breakfast or meeting places of small very wealthy private organizations. Some on the houses along Goodwin and Union are being used as private residences and some look like they are somewhat of a duplex townhome situation. This neighborhood is clearly more affluent than the one north of Gurley. 

"My house looks down from upon the hill"

The houses are much larger and more ornate with very intricate Queen Anne style details, they paint is much more fresh and also matches the freshly painted fence, oh and the marble steps from the sidewalk to the front entrance. Geez. 

9.     From here one can either keep walking uphill to the south and east while exploring this very picturesque neighborhood or walk downhill westward on Goodwin St and return to the commercial / leisure area of the Courthouse square. Either way, it is a great way to see many different types of planning and architecture development, and it is very interesting to see they modern remodels on the historic architecture styles we see in class.  Prescott was a great town to compare and contrast to Flagstaff because they do have some similarities but when look at closely they have great differenced rooted in the development and growth of the town itself.

 

Phoenix Street

Phoenix Street blog

            The walking route between San Francisco and Milton along Phoenix Street is one of several historic routes in town. More modern developments include the bus station and several of the specialty shops along Phoenix and Mikes Pike.  This street is very different from Milton because of the lower volume of long distance traveler traffic, and higher volume of locals. They also have more historic building with business that has been there just as long, while it seems Milton is an ever-changing array of aged hotels and convenience food. 

            The buildings that are most influential on this street are Biffs Bagels, Zani, the courtyard if Beaver street, and Fratelli Pizza, the old blue house right on the corner of Mikes Pike and Phoenix, is a very old vet’s office, despite the large fence in front. Personally what I like most about this street is the personality of all the buildings, in comparison to Flagstaff’s “Miracle Mile” along Milton. Most of the buildings on Milton are of some sort of corporate conglomerate, that bank of the brand recognition and brand loyalty of travelers and consumers. Especially businesses the like Starbucks and Micky D’s who promote their traveler friendly appeal by “easy to see and therefore easy to enter” drive-thru’s, as well as the promotions about how fast their service is and how many people they have served.  

            When one compares the two locations, very close spatially but very different feels, it is apparent that they have been developing at very different rates, even compared with the Downtown that is north of the tracks. This is even more apparent when you see inside the buildings. The buildings on Phoenix Street are obviously historic, they are made from Malpais basalt, and I know from personal experience they also have the plumbing and electricity of historic buildings. However, what I really like is the open-endedness for decoration on the owners part, Biff’s has a great sign in a great font, but its not neon because they are not open after 3, Zani is purple because that’s what color the Bonzani’s wanted it.  The front of Fratelli and the Hair Place has been a work in progress, but the bike has always been there however the owners have been putting more neon, light up stuff in front because we are open later at night during the summer. This is the personality that makes this historic section my favorite part of town, as well as the fact that the business have been around for so long not like the ever evolving stretch of Milton.

            However, I do feel like the atmosphere of this area changes, depending on the season there is a lively bum camp on the north side of the street right by the tracks, also depending on the construction level in the surrounding area all affect the locale of people that are using this and eating in this area.  

... Again my pictures are not uploading??