ESOC 300 Rough Draft

Prescott, Arizona has experienced significant growth in its population over the years. In 1912, the population was around 5,000 people, and it remained relatively stable for a few decades. However, by the 1960s, the population had doubled to 12,000 people, and it continued to steadily grow. In 1990, the population doubled again to over 26,000 people. According to the 2020 census, there are now almost 46,000 people in Prescott. Despite this growth, Prescott still maintains a small town feel, with a strong sense of community and plenty of outdoor activities and historical sites to enjoy. This is where I'm going to add some intro music. Hey y'all, this is Lindsay Whetstone, podcasting here in Prescott, Arizona, and welcoming everyone to my podcast all about Prescott. Today we're chatting about how much Prescott's grown lately. 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 1912, the population in Prescott was about 5,000 people. The US census shows that it stayed about 5,000 for a few decades. Then in the 1940s and 50s, it went up to about 6,000 people and grew a little bit in 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 and kept going. And then the population doubled again in 1990 to over 26,000 people. And from that point, it's been growing pretty steadily here in Prescott. The census in 2000 showed almost 34,000 people. 2010 showed almost 40,000 people. And 2020 showed almost 46,000 people. We'll have to wait a few more years to find out just what kind of growth we're going through right now, but I have a feeling it's going to be another jump. 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. I haven't seen how much it's grown in Prescott over the past few decades, but I do have here my dear friend, Rhea, who is a multi-generational Prescottonian. Welcome, Rhea. This is where I'm going to insert the interview clip with Rhea. 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 and 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. And 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 100 years, although they may not be exactly the same buildings 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 my inner brother Virgil from 1878 into 1880s. 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. 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 a 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 a 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 listening and I'd love for you to leave a comment and let me know what you think. So signing off here from Prescott, this is Lindsay Whetstone and have a great day y'all.