Good Morning, Mr. Rogers: Early Prescott Schools

School House
Prescott Free Academy
Washington School
Lincoln School
Miller Valley School

An on-line version of an exhibit currently on display in the Archives Department of the Sharlot Hall Museum

Click on any image with a border to display the image in much higher resolution at the Arizona Memory Project Website. You can pan, zoom and e-mail the photos.

Close-up photo of students

We are interested in stories of our local schools. Did you attend Washington School, Lincoln School, Miller Valley School or any other grade school in Yavapai County? Please take a moment to send us your memories.

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Lincoln School Memories

Prescott Free Academy

As the town grew, so did the educational needs of the children. The first graded school in the state, Prescott Free Academy, was completed in 1876. The Prescott Free Academy, along with the single parochial school in Prescott, St. Josephs Academy, was the extent of formal education for the majority of Prescott children until 1903. The Free Academy was praised by Governor John C. Fremont and other members of the territorial legislature as "the finest school in the territory" after a visit to the school in 1879.

Close up photo of student

The Free Academy had been considered inadequate for several years when taxpayers passed an uncontested $50,000 bond to build the new Washington School in 1903.