Sharlot Hall Museum complex chronicles Prescott's early history

A few short blocks from the plaza in downtown Prescott, Arizona, the Sharlot Hall Museum’s assemblage of historic buildings and permanent collections makes it the largest museum complex in central Arizona.

Changing exhibits illustrate the early days of Prescott and the Arizona Territory. The museum staff, actors, and volunteers also present a variety of live programs such as festivals, theatre performances, and living history reenactments that depict the area’s rich regional heritage.

Housing the first territorial governor, the Governor’s ”Mansion” (actually a rustic cabin, but a mansion by mid-1860’s standards, compared to the tents, wagons, and crude cabins in which the rest of Prescott’s citizens lived) was built on this site in 1864 from Ponderosa pine logs cut in the surrounding forest. Sharlot Hall moved into the mansion in 1927 and opened it as a museum a year later.

The museum buildings include the Fremont House built in 1875, home of John Charles Fremont while he served as Arizona’s fifth Territorial Governor, and Fort Misery built in 1863-64--the oldest standing log building in the Arizona Territory.

Scattered around the museum grounds you will also find replicas of a typical ranch house and a schoolhouse of the period, an authentic 1885 iron turbine windmill relocated from a local ranch, a vehicle collection featuring Sharlot Hall’s 1927 Star, and a variety of gardens including the Rose Garden with over 260 rose bushes honoring Arizona’s pioneer women. Located at 415 West Gurley Street in Prescott.