Thursday, February 28, 2008

Prescott by zoom

To readers from far away, here are views of downtown Prescott; to local readers, your chance to get a hillside view of our town so you can pick out all the details. Obviously the place to start: the Courthouse, with the city parking garage in the foreground and Union Street going up the hill on the other side.

Gurley Street, from the McCormick Street condo building (left foreground) all the way to the Hassayampa Hotel. including even a few Victorians at the very top. Plus the old Masonic building on Cortez peeking over the other buildings.

Compressed buildings over on Godwin Street, starting at the corner of Montezuma and looking east, including the post office, City Hall and the Chamber of Commerce.

Yavapai College buildings are at the very top of this view; the red brick structures are the Fine Arts Assn. building and the former movie house converted into offices for the Social Security Administration.

Here you can look all the way from Albertson's and the old Depot to the many white buildings of the VA hospital complex and up to the top of our local volcano, Glassford Hill.

A hillside full of houses.

The hillside scar that always accompanies a new building...

Though only a Big Box (Lowe's) would make a scar like this one! In the foreground, the balconies of the old Head Hotel show, as well as a major antenna tower.

McMansions near the Senator Highway, which leads into the forest south of town. As you can see, our downtown is very compact -- and full of trees, which, at this season, are barren and gray. The gray green foliage you see in many of the pictures is primarily scrub oak and juniper. Pictures, using the extreme zoom lens setting, were taken from a nearby hillside on the west side of town. When I got back to the house, a hungry robin was on a juniper, gobbling down the berries. The only picture I was able to get showed the tip of its tail and its beak. Ah, well. Win some, lose some.

Linkages: Some splendid pictures of remnants from days past by friend Bobbi (all local, by the way); Firefly Forest who takes wonderful nature pictures has just posted desert-in-bloom pix from down Picacho Peak way. And if you're looking for something strange, I give you the World Dream Bank. Speaking of dreams: if you happen to have a spare $5 mil, you might want to buy the acreage at the top of Mt. Tritle; it's on the market, according to Prescott Style. Tritle is the middle peak of the three highest mountains due south of town.

14 comments:

TomboCheck said...

Great pics GJ!!! I tried to figure out each of the buildings before reading your description. Funny how a different point of view makes everything you know change... :)

Anonymous said...

Those poppy photos are gorgeous! They brightened up my cereal and tea this a.m.!

Thanks for the tour of downtown. Have you already done a post re: the Victorians on Mt. Vernon street? I love the bunting they sport for the 4th of July!

This Sat. is the Cattleman's Auction north of CV, on Perkinsville Rd. Any chance your friends and you might go up there for a photo op?
~Anon in AV

Anonymous said...

Love those telephoto shots Granny J. I didn't know you could see the Loews scar from town! I'm going to have to get me one of those "hotrod" cameras with the anti-shake enhancements. Thanks for the link to the Tritle story. Those goofy Realtors consider that multiplexing.

Granny J said...

tombo -- the telephoto compression effect also changes the perspective, lots!

anon av -- made a point of not rushing out to do the Mt. Vernon Victorians 1st thing. However, I am gathering victorian house tower shots from all over. As for the auction, I'll be there if I get a ride over; especially seeing that I lost all my pix from the Yavapai Cattlemen's Association BBQ last fall.

style -- I, for one hope that property just sits there vacant! I briefly had visions of the top of the mountain covered by a building the way that other hill you see from the White Spar Road.

TomboCheck said...

The one that threw me for a loop was albertson's lined up with the VA. What a great photo, and from an angle I have never seen before.

AMIE said...

I love how your picture posts are always a little theme!! Inspiring! Great photography. I really enjoy your point of view! :-)

Granny J said...

tombo -- I was amazed at how much of the VA complex can be seen if you're just a couple hundred feet above the city! Re: the angle -- I'm shooting from a couple of blocks south of Gurley.

amie -- I got into the picture habit as I became more comfortable with the digital camera -- I had not done any photography for over 40 years! Then I discovered that the pictures often told more story than the equivalent space of words. Also, I think I'm more than somewhat lazy as a writer. When are you going to tackle the Appalachian Trail?

Anonymous said...

Thanks for all of the shots. Enjoyed seeing it. Will have to visit Prescott someday.

Anonymous said...

Oh, GJ, if you do get up to the auction, I hope you can take some pix of the quarter horses. There'll be 1 and 2 year olds there! Plus, broke horses that, with their training and experience, could go for a pretty large penny or two.
~Anon in AV.

Jan said...

granny j..it goes without saying how much I enjoy, and appreciate, your photos..but I'll say it anyway: I love, love, love your photos! :)

Sylvia said...

I'm always hungry for photos of Prescott. Thanks for providing dinner.

Anonymous said...

One can get views of Prescott like those shown here from the parking lot of the Catholic Church on Summit. From there you can see the VA hospital, Washington School, etc.

Anonymous said...

Very nice pics. My brother used to go to Embry Riddle and I drove down to visit him a couple times and saw the downtown area etc., but these pics really bring it to life.

Granny J said...

steve -- you must come to Prescott one of these days; it's a splendid town!

anon av -- sorry to disappoint you; nobody took my hint and offered a ride out to Chino...

jan -- those are such wonderful words to hear. Thank you.

sally-- did you live here at one time or vacation here or ???

dagney -- I'll take a look next time I walk in that direction. Thanks for the suggestion.

parallel -- glad to see you visiting Prescott once more. Do come back...

 
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