Sharlot Hall Museum

Museum founder Sharlot Mabridth Hall (1870-1943) proposed in 1926 “to make of the grounds a little park of northern Arizona trees, shrubs, and flowers,” and just a decade later the campus was dedicated as an Arizona State Historical Garden. Today the Sharlot Hall Museum’s four acres in downtown Prescott encompass eight historic buildings, including the centerpiece, the 1864 log Territorial Governor’s Mansion on its original site.

But the campus is also an urban oasis featuring 89 species of trees and woody plants. Among and alongside them are the Yavpé Ethnobotanical Garden, which was developed in collaboration with the Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe, and the Territorial Women’s Memorial Rose Garden with 180 historic rose varieties. Now, to launch the state’s part in commemorating the nation’s 250th anniversary in 2026, the General George Crook chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution has presented the campus with a Kwanzan Flowering Cherry Tree as Arizona’s Liberty Tree.

As the museum nears its centennial in 2028, staff and volunteers continue to plant and nurture trees, shrubs, and perennials that are either native to the region or are descended from those cultivated by pioneer farmers, families, and ranchers. Of particular interest are two apple trees and a London plane tree that may have been planted by Sharlot Hall herself.