I was brought up near Prescot. In the 16C it had an alehouse for about every 15 inhabitants, so when we read about Prescott Arizona we had to visit.. Prescott was founded in 1876 and by the end of the century was famed for "Whisky Row", a row of saloons frequented by the likes of the Earp Brothers and Doc Holliday when they needed to get out of Tombstone.
In 1900 Whisky Row was destroyed by fire. The revellers at the Palace Hotel found the fire a somewhat inconvenient interruption so they carried the 80ft bar and stock shelf
and the ice box
out into the courthouse plaza across the road
and carried on the party.
Eventually the fire was put out by dynamite which sucks out the air that feeds the fire. Whisky Row had to be rebuilt but the bar and ice box are still in the Palace which capitalises on the story by dressing all its staff up in Wild West clothes.
Although the interior is as you would expect from any number of city centre pubs in Britain the reconstructed building is a major tourist draw as the oldest pub in Arizona.
No comments:
Post a Comment