Sharlot Hall Museum is an educational and cultural center, which fosters public and community understanding and appreciation of historical, social, and natural aspects of Arizona, with emphasis on the Central Highlands, and which promotes involvement in and support for research, collections, conservation, exhibits, and related programs.
Today, the Museum features seven historic buildings, compelling exhibits and beautiful gardens, which serve as the setting for numerous public festivals.
The Library and Archives, open to the public across the street at 115 S. McCormick, holds a vast collection of rare books, original documents, historical photographs, maps and oral history. The Sharlot Hall Theater in the Lawler Exhibit Center offers a monthly, historical lecture series and hosts music events in support of our Folk Music festival in October.
The Museum's "Living History" programs bring the past alive through hands-on demonstrations and presentations every second Saturday of the month, plus multiple special events throughout the year. When visiting the Museum, be sure to stop by our Museum Store located in the Bashford House - an 1875 Victorian home at the northeast corner of the four-acre campus - at the corner of Gurley and McCormick streets.
Sharlot Hall Museum is an educational and cultural center, which fosters public and community understanding
and appreciation of historical, social, and natural aspects of Arizona, with emphasis on the Central Highlands, and
which promotes involvement in and support for research, collections, conservation, exhibits, and related programs.
Sharlot Hall Museum is named after its founder, Sharlot Mabridth Hall (1870-1943), who became well known as a poet, activist, politician, and Arizona's first territorial historian. Sharlot Hall was one of the West's most remarkable women. As early as 1907, Ms. Hall saw the need to save Arizona's history and planned to develop a museum. She began to collect both native American Indian and pioneer material.
In 1927, she began restoring the first Territorial Governor's residence and offices, and moved her extensive collection of artifacts and documents opening it as a museum in 1928. Today, the Museum features seven historic buildings, compelling exhibits and beautiful gardens, which serve as the setting for numerous public festivals.
The Library and Archives, open to the public, hold a vast collection of rare books, original documents, historical photographs, maps and oral history
The Sharlot Hall Theater, in the Lawler Exhibit Center, provides a venue for exhibits and displays; for the historical lecture series and educational presentations; music events in support of our Folk Music Festival in October; and the Museum's Living History programs that bring the past alive through hands-on demonstrations.
The Museum prides itself on its magnificent collection of more than 400 Native American baskets, over half more than 100 years old. The basket collection, a portion of which is on public display in the Hartzell Room of the Sharlot Hall Building, features examples from a number of tribes.
The Museum's Library & Archives provides research opportunities through its vast collection of rare books, original documents, photographs, maps, and oral histories, much of which is also available online at www.sharlot.org/archives.
Just some of our educational events. Please check our website for schedules and details.
The Education and the Archives departments collaborate to offer monthly adult lectures at the Museum.
Book Signings
Learn more about the next Theater Event at Sharlot Hall Museum.
The suggestion that a memorial rose garden be established on the grounds of the Sharlot Hall Museum was first made in 1938 by Mrs. Nick Perkins. However, it was not until 1948 that the president of the Prescott Garden Club, Dorothy McMullen, presented her design for the garden to the Historical Society. Members of the Garden Club then began preparing, planting, and caring for the garden. The first memorial rose bushes were planted in March 1948 by the Yavapai Cowbelles.
In 1974, the garden was removed from its original site south of the Governor's Mansion to its present location on the north side of the Mansion where it can be seen by passers-by on Gurley Street.
Originally, each woman was represented by a rose bush. Today, all are honored, including Sharlot M. Hall, by the entire garden and each woman is remembered in the Rose Garden book and exhibit located in the Main Museum Building. This information is organized alphabetically by last name on the right side of this page. Additional biographical information may be found in the Rose Garden Collection, family manuscript and photograph collections, and other genealogical sources housed in the Sharlot Hall Museum Archives and Library. Presently, more than 400 women have been honored, representing nearly all occupation and ethnic backgrounds.
Access: General Public
Appointment required: False
When visiting the Museum, be sure to stop by our Museum Store which is located in the Bashford House - an 1875 Victorian home.
Today's Museum Store features theme rooms filled with thoughtfully selected items for every guest and every occasion. For instance, the General Store brims with inventory reminiscent of what territorial-era shopkeepers might have stocked -- old-time-recipe hand soaps, green and black brick tea from China, children's toys, and reproductions of period publications. Sharlot's Pantry offers such delectable goodies as Cactus Salsa and Cowboy Catsup, while the Victorian Parlor sparkles with etched-glass jewelry boxes and scented candles. The Old West Room has books galore, one of the best selections in Yavapai County.
Museum members receive 10% off every store purchase - another of the great reasons to become a member today!
Explore Arizona’s past through the Museum’s 4th grade Arizona history interactive tour. Students will learn about Prescott’s earliest inhabitants, the Yavapai Prescott Indian Tribe, territorial leaders and settlers, as well as the town’s beginnings. Tour the Governor’s Mansion, the center of Arizona’s territorial government from 1864 to 1867. See stagecoaches, buggies, and wagons in the transportation building. Learn about ranch life, 19th century schools, and Sharlot Hall, Arizona’s territorial historian and the founder of the Museum.