ESOC Final Podcast

Prescott, Arizona has seen significant growth in its population over the years. In 1912, when Arizona became a state, the population was around 5,000. It doubled to 12,000 in 1960 and reached over 26,000 in 1990. The latest census in 2020 shows a population of about 46,000. Despite the growth, some longtime residents have mixed feelings about the changes. They remember the small-town charm and community fixtures that have been lost, such as a beloved grocery store and an antique mall. However, they also acknowledge that some improvements have been made. Prescott offers beautiful weather, outdoor activities, historical sites, and a strong sense of community. While the town continues to attract new residents, many of them are drawn to the close-knit community and small-town feel that Prescott still offers. Hey y'all, this is Lindsay Webstone, podcasting here in Prescott, Arizona, and welcoming everyone to my podcast, all about Prescott, or a quick side to any non-local listeners, our pretty little town is pronounced as a rhyme to biscuit, anyone who has lived in the area can hear it a mile away because they enunciate the spelling. So, if you plan to come visit us and blend in with the locals, remember, it's not Prescott, it's Prescott, like a biscuit. Now that we've gotten that little issue squared away, let's talk about how much Prescott's been growing. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's noticed more cars on the road, more people in the stores, more lines, and lots more people all over. So, I was doing a little bit of homework and checking out to see just how much Prescott's grown. Way back in the day, when Arizona became a state on Valentine's Day in 1912, the population in Prescott was about 5,000 people. The U.S. Census shows that it stayed about 5,000 for a few decades, and then in the 1940s and 50s, it went up to about 6,000 people and grew a little bit at that time. And then there was the first little jump in 1960, where it doubled to 12,000 people. From that point, there was steady growth. It kept going, and then the population doubled again in 1990 to over 26,000 people. So, now we can skip ahead to the latest 2020 census, and it shows there's about 46,000 people in the Prescott area these days. If you think about it, there's a whole generation of Prescottonians who started off with their little town being only about 12,000 people and growing steadily now to being 46,000 people. It can feel like a big change. All right, y'all, here's where I have a confession. I am not a lifelong Prescottonian. I came from the nearby state, starting with C and ending in California. So, this is where I bring in the local experts and my very dear friend Rhea, who is a lifelong Prescottonian, and she's going to share with us some thoughts about her life growing up in Prescott. Rhea, what's one thing you remember from growing up in Prescott that's different from the way it might be today? We used to walk down to Allen's New Way to get our snacks, which was kind of cool. Allen's New Way is un-girly. It's actually where Rose's Italian restaurant is now. Back then, it was just kind of a little family grocery store, and we could walk down there. My friend's family had a tab, so we could go in there and get what we wanted, and she would tell them to put it on her tab. Since they knew her mom and her grandparents and all that, they would just say, okay, whatever, and they'd write it down that we got two candy bars or what have you, and that was that. I know if I ever put anything on a tab like that, my parents would have killed me, but Sarah's parents were pretty cool about that. That was kind of cool. That was sad when that closed, because I just remember that being pretty significant for everybody, because it had just been there for so long, and for it to suddenly be closing. Maybe it wasn't sudden. I was a kid. I didn't know what was going on behind the scenes, but I think that was the last small-town grocery we had before Albertsons and all that was here. I can't imagine any grocery stores having that policy these days. Can you think of any changes that have happened recently that have occurred from all the new population coming in town? I think what else? My mom was a nurse. She worked at the hospital and the ER. I think the most she ever made there was $11 an hour, which is pretty insane. My dad opened up Merchandise Mart Antiques, which was a 14,000 square foot antique store that was right next door to Murphy's. He ran that for years and then sold it to a couple who had it again. I think they were running it for about 15, 20 years. Recently, the building sold to somebody from out of town, and whoever that person is raised the rent to such a significant level that Merchandise Mart could not stay afloat anymore, so they had to close their doors. That was kind of a bummer. That was actually a pretty cool little antique mall. It just closed up within a couple of weeks. It was gone. That kind of sucked. We weren't too happy about that. I remember seeing the article in the Daily Courier about Merchandise Mart closing after 35 years in business in August this year. It can be so hard to see changes happening to community fixtures. How do you feel about development in the Prescott area? As far as housing developments, those are still weird to me. Prescott Lake area, we used to go mud bogging up there. You could go hang out with your boyfriend up there. There was just nothing. Now, there's a golf course and tons of houses. It's entirely strange still to me to drive up there and go, oh, this is where we used to go get stuck in the mud. Now, there's somebody's cars parked there. It's just, I don't know. It's kind of weird. Maria, how do you feel about all these people moving to your town and making all these changes? I find that a lot of old Prescott people are not very welcoming to people moving here. I am not like that. I find that embarrassing and in bad taste to act like that to people who are coming here. That being said, I also don't like the idea of people wanting to change everything up the minute they get here. I mean, changing is good, but let's change for the better. If somebody could move here and open a really awesome restaurant, I would so appreciate that. Instead, we have multiple Subways, McDonald's, and anything that ends in Airtos, Aliberto's, Biliberto's, Biliberto's, but that's kind of the overhaul. It's just very different than when I was a kid, but it's not bad. Some things have improved. Other things, not so much. Like any other change, I guess there's the good side and the bad side. Thank you, Maria, for joining me here. You've always made me feel very welcome, along with so many other wonderful people here in Prescott. That's one of the reasons why I wanted to move and join this beautiful community so many years ago. So, what does everyone love about Prescott? Not to put in a plug for tourism, but just in case you are interested in checking out everything that Prescott has to offer, where you can go, things you can do, check out Prescott.com. It has a ton of visitor info. Once you've finished with Prescott.com, you can go on over to Prescott.org and you will see a huge list of articles naming Prescott as one of the top retirement cities in America. The weather is beautiful most of the time. We have fairly mild seasons, but we get to experience all four. We have a thriving outdoor community with trails going all throughout Prescott, into Prescott Valley and surrounding areas. Prescott has gorgeous lakes you can enjoy where you can go kayaking, not swimming, but you can fish and go paddle boating and just enjoy the scenery. When you're all worn out, according to the National Registry of Historical Places, there are over 800 buildings in Prescott on the register that you can go check out. There are several museums where you can arrange to take a tour or learn all about the community. Most famously is the Prescott Courthouse and the Courthouse Square where most of the community events take place, like the boot drop on New Year's Eve. And that's where you would also go for the Prescott Rodeo Days Parade. During Prescott Frontier Days, you will find a lot of community events surrounding the world's oldest rodeo. It may not be the world's oldest rodeo in terms of operation, but according to the world's oldest rodeo.com, you can check out the story there. Prescott is where they started charging to go to the rodeo first, and that's the basis for the 1985 trademark in the world's oldest rodeo. Among the other historical sites you will find all around town, you can go to Whiskey Row in downtown Prescott and visit the same locations that have been open for over a hundred years, although they may not be exactly the same building due to fires in the early 1900s. There on Whiskey Row, you will find the Palace Restaurant and Saloon, which was built in 1877, rebuilt after the fire in 1900, and may have even been visited by Doc Holliday and even Wyatt Earp's brother Virgil around 1878 and on. These days, if you visit in the summer or on the weekends, you will almost always find a festival of some kind going on, whether it be music or cars or food or crafts, there's always something going on it seems like. And you can find a strong sense of community online too, in the Prescott groups and Facebook pages. This is where I love to visit and see what's going on in the community, what everyone's talking about, and where you will hear all kinds of stories about people helping each other out. My favorite stories are the ones that people share thanking the perfect stranger who stopped and made their day better, or who returned their wallet or something valuable when they didn't have to. Just the other day, I witnessed the sense of community coming together when there was a crash on the side of the road and at least half a dozen people pulled over and immediately got out to help before emergency vehicles even arrived. It was the most beautiful sense of community I have felt. This is what living in a small town is meant to be, really. If you think about it, Prescott's still a pretty small town, especially when you compare to say Phoenix that has 1.7 million. In that case, 46,000 is a lot smaller. Even nearby Flagstaff is almost 77,000 and Yuma is 97,000. So Prescott still has a ways to go before it expands out of that small town feel. So while there may be more of us transplants heading over here to Prescott, I'd say the majority of them are like myself, wanting to be part of this beautiful community and being there for each other as neighbors and getting to know one another while not being lost in the crowds of the bigger towns and cities. Thank you all for joining me today and talking about our wonderful little town of Prescott, Arizona. And I'd love it if you could leave me a comment, tell me if you visited, if you plan to, or if you're a local Prescottonian like myself. Thanks so much for listening!