Prescott Valley (Images of America) - Softcover

Cross, Jean

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0738570702 ISBN 13: 9780738570709

Publisher: Arcadia Publishing, 2009

Synopsis

When gold was discovered along Lynx Creek in 1863, the area that would later become Prescott Valley began to attract attention from the outside world. Miners came and so did the military, which established Fort Whipple in nearby Prescott but made use of Glassford Hill as part of a communication system. By the early 1900s, homesteaders, merchants, freighters, and ranchers had also arrived. As the 20th century progressed, what had been a peaceful stretch of grazing land known as Lonesome Valley gave way to a budding town finally incorporated in 1978 with 1,520 citizens. On the land where a volcano erupted long ago, mammoths once roamed, prehistoric people hunted, miners sought their fortunes, and ranchers herded cattle, Prescott Valley is today a thriving--and rapidly growing--town of more than 35,000 residents that has retained much of its small-town character and charm.

About this title

About the Author

Local author Jean Cross serves on the Prescott Valley Old Town Board and has received the Heritage Award from the Prescott Valley Chamber of Commerce to acquaint the public with the history of Prescott Valley. For this retrospective volume, Cross has gathered over 200 images from such sources as the Sharlot Hall Museum in Prescott, the Town of Prescott Valley, and the private collections of local residents.

Review

Title: Local author writes hitory of Prescott Valley

Author: Sue Tone

Publisher: The Prescott Valley Tribune

Date: 12/26/2008
Local historian Jean Cross figured it was too hot this past summer to be out and about, so she toiled indoors on a laptop and completed the manuscript for a book about Prescott Valley.
Cross, a PV resident for four years, but local since 1980, contracted with Arcadia Publishing to write the history of Prescott Valley.
Arcadia puts out the popular Images of America series, which chronicles the history of communities from Maine to California. Each title celebrates a town or region, bringing to life the people, places and events that defined the community, and usually includes about 200 vintage black-and-white photographs.
The publishers told Cross to limit her book to 180 photos, but she said she submitted 209, which Arcadia accepted.
One photo she was sorry not to have was the very beginning of PV's history - the volcanic eruption of Glassford Hill some 10 million years ago.
"Although I sort of do," she said, describing a sunset with clouds on either side of the hill and the sun setting in the center.
"It almost looks like an explosion," she said.
Included in the book are many of the articles she wrote over the past few years for the Prescott Valley Tribune.
In 1984, Cross helped to excavate mammoth bones in the area which surprises many people, she said.
Some of her information came from Sharlot Hall Museum where she volunteered in the collections area. Many of the photographs came from the Fain family, which settled in the Verde Valley in 1872.
"I tried to emphasize the ranching that took place here. Lonesome Valley was a ranch. The Fain ranch was the Rafter 11."
Dan Fain, an early rancher, used the first name Dan because he did not like to be called by his given name, Granville, Cross said. Today, the Granville housing subdivision exists on both sides of Glassford Hill Road.
Mining is another part of Prescott Valley history, and Cross, along with John Munderloh, helped preserve the display of mining equipment at Fain Park.
"I didn't think people knew there was much history here. Most people think it's in Prescott. I knew there was lot here."
The book is at the printers now, and should be available to the public in early March.
"I hope the people will enjoy this. It was kind of fun to do. I look back now and wonder how I got it done," Cross said.
Title: Prescott Valley historian writes book for heritage series

Author: Lorin McLain

Publisher: The Daily Courier

Date: 4/28/09
Thousands of years before homes and box stores dotted the Prescott Valley landscape, lava flowed from a volcano on what is now Glassford Hill, mammoths roamed and prehistoric people hunted abundant wildlife.
Local historian Jean Cross explores the depths of the area's history in her new book, "Prescott Valley," published by Arcadia Press as part of a heritage series that looks at people and towns across the country called "Images of America."
Cross, who currently serves on Prescott Valley's Old Town Board Committee, fills a considerable portion of the book with photos and illustrations of Prescott Valley's frontier times, for much of which she purchased publication rights from the Sharlot Hall Museum archives.
"Prescott Valley has a very rich history. It began about 10 million years ago when Glassford Hill erupted, and then about 10,000 years ago, mammoth grazed this valley," Cross said, citing hikers, who in 1984, discovered bones and tusks sticking out of the bank of the Agua Fria Wash.
"Prehistoric people found the area to their liking since there was water, vegetation, pronghorn deer and plenty of food in the area."
Through years of researching the area and cultural history, Cross presents a perspective of early history depicting native people who lived a relatively peaceful existence until the mid-1800s, when miners flooded into the area after the discovery of gold in the Bradshaw Mountains.
Much of other portions of the book concern the development ensuing in the mid-1900s beginning with Ned Warren who traveled the country wooing investors with steak dinners and promising amenities that were actually in Prescott, 10 miles away.
"They did not show Lonesome Valley, so when people came, they were a little bit surprised they had bought property in the valley. However, they seemed to be pleased with it. The community finally started to build," she said.
Cross also looks at the ranchers that ran the cattle industry in the area and the Prescott & Eastern Railroad that ran through the valley to neighboring towns and the mines in the Bradshaw Mountains.
Other stories touch on Sharlot Hall's childhood in Orchard Ranch and the mining activity at Lynx Creek.
Cross retired in Arizona in 1980 from a lifelong career in New York as an educator.
A volunteer with the Sharlot Hall Museum for 25 years, she also served as the educational director of the Arizona Archaeological Society for two years; Prescott Art Docents training director for nine years; board member of the Yavapai Trails Society for five years; and Sharlot Hall Museum board member for three years.
"Prescott Valley" is available at Barnes & Noble or through www.arcadiapublishing.com.

About this edition

• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0738570702
• ISBN 13: 9780738570709
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128