The Sharlot Hall Museum is an open-air museum and heritage site located in Prescott, Arizona. Opened in 1928 by Sharlot M. Hall as the Gubernatorial Mansion Museum, the museum that now bears her name is dedicated to preserving the history and culture of the Central Highlands of Arizona.
Overview
The museum grounds comprises almost four acres and includes 11 exhibit buildings, six of which are historic. This includes the Governor's Mansion built at its site in 1864 and listed in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Several historic buildings and structures were moved to the property, and include:
Fort Misery (the oldest log cabin in Arizona, built in 1864, moved to this property in 1934),
Frémont House (built in 1875, home of 5th Territorial governor John C. Frémont, moved to the museum in 1971),
Bashford House (built in 1877 and was the Victorian home of businessman William Bashford).
Additional historic buildings built on-site include the Sharlot Hall Building (stone exhibit building built during the Depression as a CWA project) and the nearby Ranch House.
Additional exhibit buildings include the Lawler Exhibit Center, built in the 1970s which houses the museum's pre-history exhibit; the Transportation Building, built in 1937 and houses the museum's rolling stock; and the School House, built as a replica to the first school house built in Prescott in 1868.
Sharlot Hall Museum also has a Library and Archives, located across the street at 115 S. McCormick Street. It provides full-service research opportunities through its vast collections of rare books and special holdings of original documents, photographs, maps, and oral histories.
It was built at a cost of $6,000 by contractors were Blair, Hatz, and Raible, who reportedly underestimated the cost of transporting building materials and lost $1,500 on the contract.[3]
In front of the mansion are roses, of French "Boursault" type, descended from 1865 planting by Margaret McCormick, wife of the 2nd governor of the Arizona Territory (see photo including informational plaque).
Descendants of Margaret McCormick's roses
Images
Images of some historic structures and exhibits in the Sharlot Hall Museum:
Sharlot Hall Museum
Old Governor's Mansion on the museum grounds
Inside the "Old Governor's Mansion"
Inside another room of the "Old Governor's Mansion"
Inside the "Old Governor's Mansion"
The William C. Bashford House
Inside the Bashford House
The Bashford House staircase.
The John Charles Frémont House
Fort Misery Log Cabin
Inside the Fort Misery Log Cabin
Different room in the Fort Misery Log Cabin
The Ranch House
Inside the Ranch House
The Transportation Building
Exhibits inside the Transportation Building
A 1937 Columbia Ordinary Bicycle on exhibit.
Sharlot Hall's 1927 Durant Star Touring Car on exhibit.
The Iron Turbine Windmill.
The Sharlot M. Hall building which also served as her residence
Replica of Prescott's first 1872 community schoolhouse.
Inside the replica of Prescott's first community schoolhouse.
See also
Pauline Weaver, mountain man who is buried on the grounds
References
^"Staff Directory". Sharlot Hall Museum. 2024-04-04. Retrieved 2024-04-04.
^Robert Fink (April 14, 1971). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: "Old Governor's Mansion" / "Old Capitol" and Grounds / Gubernatorial Mansion". National Park Service. Retrieved February 9, 2019. With accompanying five photos from 1969 to 1971
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sharlot Hall Museum.
Official website
Sharlot Hall Museum Library & Archives
Seftel, Emily (December 27, 2007). "Prescott's Sharlot Hall Museum". Arizona Republic. p. 16A. Archived from the original on 2013-01-17.
Hall, Sharlot M. (June 9, 1937). "Sharlot Hall Museum, With Old Mansion As Nucleus, Grows Gradually In Scope". Prescott Evening Courier. p. 2.
Descendants of Margaret McCormick's roses
Inside the "Old Governor's Mansion"
Inside another room of the "Old Governor's Mansion"
Inside the "Old Governor's Mansion"
The William C. Bashford House
Inside the Bashford House
The Bashford House staircase.
The John Charles Frémont House
Fort Misery Log Cabin
Inside the Fort Misery Log Cabin
Different room in the Fort Misery Log Cabin
The Ranch House
Inside the Ranch House
The Transportation Building
Exhibits inside the Transportation Building
A 1937 Columbia Ordinary Bicycle on exhibit.
Sharlot Hall's 1927 Durant Star Touring Car on exhibit.
The Iron Turbine Windmill.
The Sharlot M. Hall building which also served as her residence
Replica of Prescott's first 1872 community schoolhouse.
Inside the replica of Prescott's first community schoolhouse.
