Citizens' Cemetery Boundary Wall - Prescott AZ

City:: Prescott, AZ
Site Type:: Rock Walls, Civic Facilities
New Deal Agencies:: Work Relief Programs, Civil Works Administration (CWA)
Started:: 1933
Completed:: 1934
Quality of Information:: Very Good
Marked:: Yes

Description

In the winter of 1933-34, the relief workers of the Civil Works Administration (CWA) built a fine stone wall, 4-6 feet high, around the entire 6.5 acre Citizens’ Cemetery. A metal fence has been added on top of the south side wall to discourage anyone from climbing over.

Citizens’ Cemetery was created in 1864, the same year as the founding of Prescott AZ. It is now part of the Prescott Armory Historic District, which was placed on the National Register in 1994. The latter includes Ken Lindley Park, the Museum of Indigenous People, and the former National Guard Armory (now the Grace Sparke’s Activity Center).

The Yavapai County website for Citizens Cemetery mistakenly says that the wall around the cemetery was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA).

Source notes

Historical placard at cemetery entrance

Allison Dunn and Gina Chorover, Prescott Armory Historical District. Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS #AZ-14). National Park Service, Washington D.C. 2014. https://www.loc.gov/item/az0657/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Register_of_Historic_Places_listings_in_Prescott,_Arizona

https://yavapaiaz.gov/ycc/citizens-cemetery

Site originally submitted by Richard Walker on April 14, 2022.