12/26/2008 9:38:00 AM Local author writes history of Prescott Valley
Jean Cross, who accepted the Prescott Valley Chamber of Commerce Heritage Award in 2008, has written a history of Prescott Valley.
Photo by Heidi Dahms Foster
Local historian Jean Cross figured it was too hot this past summer to be out and about, so she toiled indoors on a laptop and completed the manuscript for a book about Prescott Valley.
Cross, a PV resident for four years, but local since 1980, contracted with Arcadia Publishing to write the history of Prescott Valley.
Arcadia puts out the popular Images of America series, which chronicles the history of communities from Maine to California. Each title celebrates a town or region, bringing to life the people, places and events that defined the community, and usually includes about 200 vintage black-and-white photographs.
The publishers told Cross to limit her book to 180 photos, but she said she submitted 209, which Arcadia accepted.
One photo she was sorry not to have was the very beginning of PV's history - the volcanic eruption of Glassford Hill some 10 million years ago.
"Although I sort of do," she said, describing a sunset with clouds on either side of the hill and the sun setting in the center.
"It almost looks like an explosion," she said.
Included in the book are many of the articles she wrote over the past few years for the Prescott Valley Tribune.
In 1984, Cross helped to excavate mammoth bones in the area which surprises many people, she said.
Some of her information came from Sharlot Hall Museum where she volunteered in the collections area. Many of the photographs came from the Fain family, which settled in the Verde Valley in 1872.
"I tried to emphasize the ranching that took place here. Lonesome Valley was a ranch. The Fain ranch was the Rafter 11."
Dan Fain, an early rancher, used the first name Dan because he did not like to be called by his given name, Granville, Cross said. Today, the Granville housing subdivision exists on both sides of Glassford Hill Road.
Mining is another part of Prescott Valley history, and Cross, along with John Munderloh, helped preserve the display of mining equipment at Fain Park.
"I didn't think people knew there was much history here. Most people think it's in Prescott. I knew there was lot here."
The book is at the printers now, and should be available to the public in early March.
"I hope the people will enjoy this. It was kind of fun to do. I look back now and wonder how I got it done," Cross said.
