Who Was Sharlot Hall?

If you've walked past the museum on Gurley Street, or heard her name around Prescott and wondered who she was, you're in good company. Sharlot Hall was a frontier poet, writer, and historian who came to Arizona Territory as a girl in 1882 and grew up on a ranch on Lynx Creek, near today's Prescott Valley. She became Arizona's territorial historian, the first woman to hold a salaried office in the territory, and she saved the 1864 Governor's Mansion in Prescott to house the museum that now carries her name.

Let's walk through her story, and where you can go to meet her today.

Sharlot Mabridth Hall was born on October 27, 1870. When she was twelve, her family moved by covered wagon from Kansas to Arizona Territory. She rode her pony the whole way, herding horses her father sold once they arrived.

Here's the local part we love: the family settled on Lynx Creek, near what is now Prescott Valley and Dewey. They raised horses, mined gold, kept pigs and cows, and grew vegetables, apples, and pears. In 1890 her father built a ranch above the spot where Lynx Creek meets the Agua Fria River and planted fruit trees. They called it Orchard Ranch, and it was Sharlot's home until 1927.

Ranch life was hard work, and the hardships of ranch women became a frequent theme in her writing. So the next time you drive past Lynx Creek, you're crossing the country that shaped one of Arizona's best-known writers.

Sharlot had very little formal schooling: a couple of brief terms in a log-and-adobe schoolhouse near the ranch, then a year of school in Prescott. Her mother was a great reader and passed that love on. While she was in town, Sharlot met Henry Fleury, who had come to Prescott in 1864 as secretary to the first territorial governor and lived in the old log Governor's Mansion. His stories about early Prescott stayed with her.

She wrote poetry and articles from a young age and began selling them as a young adult. She contributed to a magazine called Land of Sunshine, which became the well-known Out West magazine, and she worked as its editor for a few years. In 1910 she published a book of poems, Cactus and Pine.

In the early 1900s, Congress considered bringing Arizona and New Mexico into the Union as one combined state. Sharlot opposed it. She toured the territory gathering opposition and wrote an epic poem, "Arizona," making the case for separate statehood. A copy was placed on the desk of each member of Congress. The joint statehood idea was dropped. The museum is careful to say her poem may have helped, and that's a fair way to put it.

She also spoke up for women. When women in the territory were working to win the vote, she wrote a long letter about the roles women played in their families and communities.

In 1909 Sharlot was appointed territorial historian, the first woman to hold a salaried office in Arizona Territory. She served until 1912, when Arizona became a state. The job took her all over the territory, collecting pioneer material and visiting reservations and ancient sites. In July 1911 she set out on the longest trip of her tenure: a ten-week wagon journey across the remote Arizona Strip, north of the Grand Canyon.

In 1925 she served as Arizona's presidential elector, carrying the state's electoral votes to Washington after Calvin Coolidge's election. For the trip she wore an overdress made of copper links, made to show off one of Arizona's major industries. She later wore it, with copper accessories and a cactus hat, when she lectured about Arizona.

Sharlot saw Arizona's history slipping away. By 1900 early settlers were passing, and their belongings and stories were being lost. She began collecting both Native American and pioneer material, and as early as 1907 she planned a museum for it.

After her parents passed, she arranged to move her collection into the old Governor's Mansion in Prescott and run it as a public museum. In 1928 she began welcoming visitors. For the next fifteen years she was curator, director, fundraiser, and tour guide, and in the 1930s she added buildings with New Deal help. She ran the museum until a few weeks before her death on April 9, 1943. Afterward, the museum was named for her. In 1981 she became one of the first women elected to the Arizona Women's Hall of Fame.

Here's the best part: you can go stand next to her. On May 2, 2026, the Sharlot Hall Museum dedicated a nearly seven-foot bronze statue of Sharlot in its rose garden, created by Prescott sculptor Heather Johnson Beary. It shows her as she might have looked around 1912, in a split skirt, holding binoculars and her poetry, with cactus, pine, and a horned toad at her feet.

The museum sits at 415 West Gurley Street, two blocks west of Courthouse Plaza in downtown Prescott. Inside the Lawler Exhibit Center you'll find an exhibit on her life. One heads-up before you go: the Governor's Mansion she saved is closed for rehabilitation and is expected to reopen in early 2027.

If you'd like to plan ahead, her October 27 birthday is a lovely reason to go. This year, on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, the museum is holding a Hands on History "Exhibit Encounters" program in the Lawler Center from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM in her honor, with a closer look at her poetry, books, and fashion. It's included with general admission. If you're reading this in a later year, check the museum's events calendar for what's planned around her birthday. The museum notes it can take several hours to enjoy the campus fully, so give yourself a relaxed morning or afternoon.

We think part of what makes the Quad Cities feel like home is knowing the stories under your feet. Sharlot grew up on a creek just outside today's Prescott Valley, and she spent her life making sure this region's history didn't get lost. For a lot of people moving here in their next chapter, that sense of place is a big part of the draw.

If you're starting to picture a move, you don't have to sort out the whole thing at once. We'll help you build a timeline that fits your life, from your first visits to the day you get the keys, so it never feels overwhelming.

Who was Sharlot Hall in Arizona history?
Sharlot Hall was a poet, writer, and historian who served as Arizona's territorial historian from 1909 to 1912, the first woman to hold a salaried office in the territory. She founded what became the Sharlot Hall Museum in Prescott.

Where did Sharlot Hall live?
She grew up on her family's Orchard Ranch on Lynx Creek, near today's Prescott Valley and Dewey, which was her home until 1927. Later she lived in Prescott's old Governor's Mansion, which she turned into a museum.

When did the Sharlot Hall Museum open?
Sharlot Hall began welcoming visitors to her museum in the Governor's Mansion in Prescott in 1928. After her death in 1943, the museum was named in her honor.

What was Sharlot Hall's copper dress?
It was an overdress of copper links made for her 1925 trip to Washington, D.C., as Arizona's presidential elector, to showcase one of the state's major industries. She later wore it while lecturing about Arizona.

If Sharlot's story has you curious about living in the place she loved, start with our guide to relocating to the Prescott area. It gives you a clear look at the lifestyle, the communities, and the local differences, with no pressure, just a clear picture.