By Parker Anderson

In downtown Prescott, at the corner of Cortez and Union Streets, stands a marker commemorating that at that site, now a basketball court, once stood the old Goldwater department store. It is rare for historic markers to commend structures that no longer exist, but it is proper to do so here. Prescott is still haunted by the demolition of the building in 1978. However, the destruction gave momentum to Prescott’s historic preservation movement, which continues to this day. It is unlikely that there is anyone left alive who remembers the Goldwater Store, but many old-timers remember well what it became. Many still fondly refer to this area as the Street of the Studio Theatre.

In 1933, the Elks Opera House had been the town’s main entertainment venue and sole movie theatre. There had been previous attempts at competition. There had once been a theatre near the Head Hotel which had gone by various names, including Electric Theatre and New State Theatre. Although it hosted movies and live shows in the teens, it proved no competition for the antlered building. No one else attempted to start a movie house in Prescott after that, until Albert Stetson came along.

Albert Stetson was a wealthy Arizona businessman who, along with his brothers Harold and George, operated the Studio Theatre in Phoenix and were preparing to open a Studio Theatre in Bisbee. Attempts to start a new movie theatre in Prescott were unsuccessful years earlier, but Stetson was certain he could succeed in 1933.

Stetson arrived in town in the summer of 1933 and proceeded to open negotiations with Morris Goldwater to lease the old department store for ten years and completely remodel it into a theatre auditorium. Once the deal was closed, Stetson announced his intentions to the newspapers. The remodeling was to cost $75,000, and would be supervised by local architect Chris Totten. It would have a seating capacity of 550, and according to Stetson, he already had procured a deal with leading Hollywood distributors for "an ample supply of the best pictures that can be secured by any theatre".

Excavation and concrete work on the new Studio Theatre in Prescott began on July 12, 1933, under the labor of contractors Jim, Mason, and L.O. Williams. Stetson opened an office in room 30 of the Bank of Arizona building. Foxworth-Galbraith supplied the paint, Vyne Brothers Electric installed the wiring, Prescott Lumber Company provided the acoustic material, M.F. Kuhne Plumbing installed the plumbing, heating, and ventilation, and ALL of these businesses played this up in their newspaper ads. The Studio Theatre was gearing up to be a big event in Prescott history.

The opening of the theatre was set for Friday, September 29, 1933, and was accompanied by a massive publicity blitz. The Courier ran a detailed article describing every facet of the interior and the exterior, noting that the marquee alone utilized 500 light bulbs. The Head Lumber Company, the Arizona Power Company, and Tribby’s Shoe Store tried to jump on the bandwagon by running paid ads in the Courier wishing the new theatre well.

An old plaque on the building noting its original year of construction – 1879 – was due to be taken down and replaced by a new one engraved with 1933, but Prescott Chamber of Commerce Secretary Grace Sparkes voiced her displeasure over this prospect, and Stetson agreed to leave the old plaque and put the new one directly underneath.

Stetson hired a full team of employees, including Cecil Coates as Assistant Manager, William Cherry as the doorman, James Tadlock and Max Osterle as ushers, Frances Dial and Betty Hirschfeld as cashiers, Shirley Born and C.V. MacWay as projectionists, and Forest C. Backus as the theatre’s maintenance man. With much fanfare, Stetson announced that the first motion picture to play there would be THE MASQUERADER with Ronald Colman, along with various short subjects and a newsreel and a Krazy Kat cartoon. Admission would be 35 cents for adults and 10 cents for children. Guests of Honor at the grand opening were Albert Stetson’s business associates, Horace Jones from the Phoenix branch of Western Electric; C.A. Caballero from LosAngeles; Leo Hungerford from Los Angeles; A.W. Hammond from the Hammond Lighting Company in Los Angeles, and R.A. Eckels, also from Los Angeles.

The Stetson Brothers went all out for opening night. They prepared a special screen presentation to dedicate the theatre in lieu of the usual speechmaking. They hired a band to play outside to entertain prospective patrons who might be turned away in the event of a sellout, and indeed, over 200 citizens were denied entry to the first show due to a complete sellout. Morris Goldwater sent a huge basket of yellow chrysanthemums, and other baskets of flowers were sent by the Hassayampa Hotel, Goldberg’s Film Delivery, and the Courier and Journal Miner newspapers.

To keep patronage at a high, Albert Stetson boldly announced his next step. Mickey Mouse had recently become a popular cartoon figure, and certain theatres in cooperation with Walt Disney were forming Mickey Mouse Clubs. Stetson decided this was just what Prescott needed. Supplying membership applications, every child in Prescott was invited to join. As members, each child would be able to attend special kiddie matinees and entertainment for members only. The response was huge. Furthermore, the Studio Theatre was remarkably successful at getting top Hollywood films with top stars like James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson, leaving mostly grade-B movies for the Elks Theatre.

Understandably alarmed by this turn of events, the Elks Lodge and Elks Theatre manager Charles Born announced plans for an extensive remodeling job on the building, and many of the changes made at this time can still be viewed today. This was when a second center aisle was added to the balcony, and the sides of the balcony were ramped instead of stair-stepped. New carpeting and paint were also added to attract customers.

Ultimately, the Studio Theatre and Elks Theatre competed with each other for years, but the competition finally ended when Claude Cline took over management of BOTH entertainment venues. In the early 1970s, when Cline built the Marina Theatres, he closed the Studio permanently. In 1978 the building was demolished.

(Parker Anderson is a tenacious researcher at the Sharlot Hall Museum Archives)

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(o108pb). Reuse only by permission.

Prescott’s local Mickey Mouse Club met in front of Studio Theatre at the southeast corner of Cortez and Union Streets shortly after it was first opened as a movie house in 1933. The Studio, which was formerly the Goldwater department store, served as a theatre until the early 1970s. In 1978 the building was demolished.

By Ben Allen

The "Allens Of Prescott" dynasty began in 1918 when Warner Hoopes Allen moved his family from Mesa, Arizona to Chino Valley. There he farmed and started a wholesale milk business. One of the older sons, Merle, decided that farming was not for him. He decided that a retail business in Prescott was a better way of earning a living.

In 1920 Merle purchased the West End Milk Depot at 324 West Gurley (where the Book Nook is today) and in time bought the larger building just west of the West End Milk Depot known as Richard’s General store. This larger business, located at 330 West Gurley (now Prescott Natural Foods), was in fact a general store dealing in groceries, stock feed and general dry goods. After the purchase, it was renamed The Allen’s Market. In 1930 the store was again renamed as the Nu-Way Market.

Merle was joined in the business by two of his younger brothers, Joseph and Richard. In time the business was expanded to include two additional markets: the Sel-Rite Market at 133 North Cortez (along where the antique shops are today) and the store at 600 West Gurley which Joe bought from Merle in 1938 and it would eventually become known as The Joe Allen Market. (The original building on 600 West Gurley was torn down recently and replaced by a new building for First American Title.) Richard bought the Sel-Rite Market in 1940 which he operated for the next 6 years during WWII. Dick would eventually take over the Nu-Way Market. It wasn’t long before the Nu-Way Market was selling more groceries than any other market in town.

During the Great Depression it became necessary for the brothers to extend credit to many of their customers. It was through their generosity that many of their customers were able to make it through those dark and difficult years.

In 1937 Merle established a wholesale grocery business in the basement of the Nu-Way Market. It soon became apparent that more room was needed for the wholesale business and he rented the old Sam Hill warehouse on north Granite Street (now part of Prescott College). This business was originally called The Allen Trading Company but would eventually become known as Thriftee Wholesale. About this time my father, Ben Allen, was hired as a truck driver and delivered groceries throughout Northern Arizona.

During my high school days I spent each weekend and every summer helping my Dad load and unload trucks and deliver those groceries throughout Northern Arizona.

One of the employees hired by Merle was his father Warner. Warner was very influential in the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-Day Saints in Prescott and used his income to build a new church building out of granite not far from the old building on North Marina Street.

I can remember one summer day when I was about 13 years old, the butcher at the Sel-Rite Market asked me to walk to the Nu-Way Market and see if that butcher would loan him a "Meat Stretcher." The butcher at the Nu-Way Market sadly informed me that he had just sent it to The Joe Allen’s Market. The butcher at The Joe Allen’s Market (almost with tears in his eyes) sadly told me that he had just sent it back to the Nu-Way Market. It was about this time I got a lot smarter and went home to read comic books.

During World War Two Merle expanded his wholesale business to include another large building on the north end of Mount Vernon in Prescott and a large building near the smelter in Clarkdale. All deliveries to the northeast were made from the Clarkdale warehouse while the Prescott warehouses worked central Arizona and the northwest. When I became old enough to drive a truck I made a lot of trips back and forth between Prescott and Clarkdale.

Besides being a large force in the business community, these three Allen brothers felt they had a big responsibility to the civic government of Prescott.

Merle was one of the businessmen instrumental in the organization of the Prescott Chamber of Commerce and Joe wound-up being the Mayor.

Joe was a member of the city council in 1950 when the elected Mayor E. C. Seale, suffered a heart attack. The city council voted to have Joe fill the balance of Seale’s term and he was the dubbed Acting Mayor until February 1951. At that time, Joe ran for the office on his own and was elected to a four-year term and served as Mayor until February 1955. Furthermore, Joe served Yavapai County as a State Representative in Phoenix for one term. Dick was elected to a hospital board and also served as its president.

Merle, Joe, and Dick lived, or are living, well into their 90s. Dick is living at the Arizona Pioneers’ Home, and it is rumored that he was once elected "Mayor" of the Home.

(Ben Allen was born and raised in Prescott and returned recently to relive those fine memories)

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number: (courtesy of the author). Reuse only by permission.

by Mary Leavitt

(this is the second of a two part series on the history of Humboldt)

A company owned mining town, Humboldt experienced rapid growth and prosperity in earlier years when the ore producing mines in the area were shipping ore to the smelter. All too soon, unforeseen factors came into play rendering Humboldt vulnerable to economic fluctuation.

Like many other communities, Humboldt did not escape the worldwide influenza epidemic in 1918 that took its toll on the mining community. The hospital was staffed by four doctors and seven nurses who cared for the stricken, many of whom died from their affliction.

By the time World War I was coming to a close in 1918, the population of Humboldt was beginning a decline. Between 1922 and 1927, there was only intermittent operation at the smelter. The town’s survival depended almost entirely on the mining business and it suffered dramatically. In 1927, the smelter closed, eliminating jobs for 700 men. In October 1929, the smelter was resurrected and operation resumed on a small scale. The Humboldt smelter closed for the final time in 1937; the equipment was dismantled and sold to the mine at Jerome.

Between 1927 and 1937, the great depression hit Humboldt’s economy hard and many businesses closed or moved away. The hospital closed as well as other town businesses. Miners were moving away to find work elsewhere and the few who chose to stay sought work on nearby ranches or whatever work they could find. By 1930 there were only about three hundred die-hard residents left to maintain the town business.

The school enrollment dwindled, but a large mortgage remained on the elaborate, domed school building. In 1932, the school mysteriously burned down about 2:00 a.m. following the graduation ceremony. Arson was strongly suspected.

With the exodus of the company executives and miners, many of the lavish homes on Nob Hill were moved away: three were moved to Prescott, one was moved to Chino Valley and some were bought by families who stayed in Humboldt, while some remained vacant.

The 1930s were turbulent years for the flailing, struggling community. When President Roosevelt began the Public Works Administration, several of Humboldt’s men worked on that project. Although the majority of the work was in and around Prescott, some of the work crews from Humboldt were bussed to the job-site in Prescott, taking bed rolls and staying on the job.

Al Cogianno, owner of the Arctic Ice House on Main Street, deeded the now unused building to the Humboldt School district in 1932. It was converted into Humboldt’s only school. The three-room school housed grades one through ten.

Old Black Canyon Highway, a dirt road, went through town. Cowboys on horseback drove horses up from Phoenix to the riding stables in Copper Basin. The cowboys always stopped at the old Chemas Bar to wet their whistle and wash away the dust.

The Basque sheepherders were regular visitors when they drove their sheep from lower southern areas north, to the cooler climate during the spring. In the fall, they made a return trip south, driving the herd through the foothills east of Humboldt. Many times the sheepherders would camp up on the hillside. A sociable lot, they would come into town and mingle with the town folk, occasionally inviting them to their camp and cooking some of their food in their Dutch ovens over campfires.

Cattle roamed the dusty streets and large, clumsy burros came down from the foothills and were gentle enough for the kids to ride.

Humboldt regained its second wind in 1934 and new life breathed into the community when a vein of ore was discovered and the Iron King Mine began operation. Mining officials, recognizing the need for family oriented environment, began working toward being involved in family activities. The mine constructed a community swimming pool for their employees and families, as well as organizing Arizona’s first Little League Baseball team.

There were happy times in family oriented Humboldt. The children of the miners, growing up in the 1930s, enjoyed participating in ball games along with their parents, competing with teams from the surrounding towns Mayer and Dewey.

Humboldt was an active community. While the men worked at the mine, the women were homemakers. You knew it was payday when sounds of steaks being pounded echoed throughout town.

Humboldt continued to experience a depressed economy and shrinking population during the 1940s and 1950s. Construction of Highway 69 was completed in 1953. The paved, two-lane highway between Phoenix and Prescott replaced a narrow, winding, gravel road.

The closing of the Iron King Mine in the late 1960s did not affect the population of Humboldt since few miners actually lived in town. Most of the miners lived in Prescott and were transported to the mine in the company-owned bus.

The townsfolk watched helplessly while the town continued to shrink. The last of the original smelter smoke stack was demolished in 1955. The railroad tracks were removed in 1971.

The 1970s exhibited painfully slow but steady growth for the community. Residents held on tenaciously, grasping for survival of their little town in the foothills of the Bradshaw Mountains.

Humboldt is now showing signs of growth and prosperity. The streets are now paved and thriving businesses line both sides of Main Street.

It is a close-knit community, striving to keep the small-town, rural atmosphere alive. Remnants of the mining days are still a part of the town. It has been almost a hundred years since smoke billowed from the smelter, standing tall and still overlooking the town. The miners are gone, but Humboldt is a tough town that is keeping step with progress.

(Mary Leavitt is an aspiring author in Prescott Valley)

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(bus5034p)
Reuse only by permission.

The domed (and doomed) Humboldt High School, c 1930. The school burned in 1932 after graduation festivities. Arson was suspected.

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(pb148f10i6). Reuse only by permission.

This photograph is allegedly Humboldt in the 1940s. By this time, the town was on the decline and may have bottomed out, population wise, in the 1950s and 1960s. Today it is growing once again due to the influx of residents escaping the larger towns of the Phoenix and Prescott areas.

by Mary Leavitt

(first of a two-part series on the history of Humboldt)

Iron King, DeSoto, McCabe and Blue Bell are but a few of the mines old timers in Humboldt remember, and the important roll they once played in the Humboldt economy.

Many rich veins of ore were discovered in the mountain ranges of Arizona during the late 1800s. Yavapai County was a hot spot of minerals, particularly in the foothills of the Bradshaw Mountains.

When gold was discovered, many mining towns sprang up following the influx of miners and settlers moving west to follow their dreams of wealth and a better life. Mining towns supplied goods and services to miners and were vital to the mining operations. Many of these towns were deserted following the mine closures and have disintegrated with time.

Val Verde, later renamed Humboldt, was an exception; it has survived economic depressions and mine closures. It has failed to succumb to the rank of ghost town. Humboldt’s fate could have been similar to other mining towns if not for its location on the well-traveled highway between Prescott and Phoenix.

Ranchers and miners were not the first to occupy the land around Humboldt. In the 1860s, the settlers and miners found pit houses, shafts and other evidence, through excavation of several ruins, that Indians were involved in mining, farming and growing crops on the rich soil from 900 A.D. to 1300 A.D.

Yavapai County was created in 1864. Records reveal the first homestead was recorded in 1871, which corresponds with the beginning of the boom days of local mining.

Cecil Fennell acquired land and water rights for the Val Verde Smelter in the 1880s and Val Verde became a company owned town. The functioning community had an established post office from 1899 to 1905. By 1899, the Val Verde Smelter processed ore primarily from the Blue Bell and DeSoto mines and a one and a half mile railroad spur was completed to the smelter by the Prescott and Eastern Railroad.

Early in 1904, the Bradshaw Mountain Copper Mining and Smelter Company purchased the Val Verde Smelter. Unfortunately, on September 28, 1904, the smelter was destroyed by fire. The smelter was under-insured and funds were not available to rebuild. The Bradshaw Mountain Copper Mining and Smelter Company sold the remaining buildings to the Arizona Smelting Company. The new owner built a new, bigger and better 1,000-ton-per-day smelter, completing it in 1906.

The mining town was now well established and an official post office was to be located in Val Verde. But now a new name needed to be chosen for the town since Val Verde Smelter no longer was involved. The new name of Humboldt was selected in 1905, the namesake of the German Naturalist, explorer and traveler Baron Friedrich Heinrich Von Humboldt. It is quite unlikely that he ever traveled to this part of Arizona. This marked the beginning of a community that would withstand the test of time. The smelter owners established the Humboldt Improvement Company that handled all phases of living in the company owned town.

The residents settled into the routine of the mining lifestyle and raising their families. The company offices and the homes of the smelter officials and their families were located on Nob Hill, an elite area above the smelter.

The large beautiful homes were built with the finest materials available, including a copper roof. To complete the upper-class setting, there were beautifully landscaped and manicured fenced yards, luxury cars and even a riding stable (including the horses) made available for the officials and their families.

In 1906, the Arctic Ice house was built on Main Street. A luxury commodity, ice was shipped by rail up to the mining towns in the area. Humboldt had two daily trains, which connected it to Prescott and other mining towns around the county.

The education of the children was a top priority to the community and the large (320 square miles) Humboldt School District # 22 was established in 1906. By 1908, the school population had doubled. There were forty-three students in a one-room school building. A new schoolhouse was built in 1908, which also served as a polling place and was among the first buildings in Humboldt to be served by a local water company. (Later, a determined group of citizens recognized the need for an even larger school, housing grades one through ten, and, in 1926 a three-story, domed school was built. There was pride in every phase of construction of the new school. This school burned to the ground in 1932, probable arson. A postcard picture of the school may be found in the Days Past article dated 9-14-03.)

A tradition of celebrating Labor Day began in 1907 with the establishment of ‘Agua Fria Days.’ These hard working miners’ observance of this holiday was a well-deserved break from day after day laboring in the mines. Labor Day was a festive occasion in Humboldt. Extra cars were added to the train and special excursion trains brought famous people from across the miles to help celebrate. More than a thousand people were in Humboldt to celebrate the festivities which included a parade, marching bands, burro rides through the streets, horse races, pie eating contests, baseball games, bronco busting and rock drilling contests. The celebration would culminate with a grand ball at the school building.

By 1916, Humboldt was bustling with activity. the population had swelled to a thousand residents, there were five restaurants, three hotels, boarding houses, three mining companies, several retail stores, a hospital, a railroad depot, a movie theater, churches, ten saloons and, of course, no western town would be complete without a brothel or two.

Hale and hearty, Humboldt’s economy was booming in 1917. The railroad yard was accommodating 559 cars and more than 2,000,000 pounds of pure copper and lead left the smelter each month, mostly from the DeSoto and Blue Bell Mines in the Bradshaw Mountains. It appeared there was no end to the prosperity in Humboldt.

Suddenly, winds of change began to blow. Humboldt was about to experience an economic metamorphosis.

(Mary Leavitt lives in Prescott Valley.)

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(citn164pc)
Reuse only by permission.

This photograph, c.1890s, of what was then known as Val Verde, later renamed Humboldt.