Last weekend

On Friday I picked up Phyllis at the airport and our fun began. She dropped off her luggage in her bedroom here and we headed to Tia Rosa's for dinner. Then I took her out to show her the original Hohokam Canals and we dragged Main a couple of times.

 Saturday we got up and were deciding what to do for the day. She mentioned she eventually wanted to look up a friend in Florence AZ about the same time I heard on the news that it was Historical Days in Florence where you get to go through all the old buildings and houses and look for ghosts and stuff. So we got gas and went to Florence.

 It was cold that day.   We've had a really different cold couple of months.  Okay by me, though.  Every time I think about July and August here, I warm up.

So I think I'll tell you about the Court House in Florence first.  The facts from the web are interesting.

 It is American Victorian Architectural style built in 1891 for $29,000.  Original doorknobs are still in use.  It was built over a cemetery so who knows who lies below.  That must make for a few ghosts.

   Arizona has some famous murder cases and this old courthouse in Florence has seen a lot of history. Trunk murderess Winnie Ruth Judd had a sanity hearing there and the very last stagecoach robber in America was tried here.  

 

Oh - you don't know about the famous Winnie Ruth Judd?  

Ahhhh.    

 Check that story out here.  What a sweetie!

This was the original judge bench.  Up to five years ago or so, the courthouse was used continually, and they renovated it all keeping it to about a 1900 look.  They opened it just a few weeks ago.  When you walk behind the stand here, the wood steps and top of the desk are very aged.  As is the whole place.  All of the wooden floors are original.

 It was at this point that Phyllis and I were meandering back out those big doors into the hall and I accidentally walked into a photographer's view while he was shooting a big camera.   He was a newspaper photographer and he told me he wanted to use the picture anyway.    And I said a brisk NO.   He still asked me for my name and address and I wouldn't give it to him.

But Phyllis --- she hopped right into it and said he could take her picture in the courtroom.  He said he would send her a paper when it came out this week.   I think I might drive down there on Thursday and pick one up myself and post it.   I don't think they have an online paper yet, but I'll check before I go.   It really was a cute picture of her.  She had to tell him where she was from and all those other questions reporters ask people for.

LOVE the old doors.

And LOVELOVE this staircase.

I  have no idea why the stairs look blue.   It wasn't a very good shot.  But the grand staircase was beautiful!

In the courtroom you could look up on each side and see the old remnants of the jail cells.

And this would be kind of interesting.   It was empty, of course.

There were other old books laid out for all to see.   And there were no signs around saying that you could not look at the insides of the books.   Sooooo.......I got in trouble for that.  Sheesh!  If you wanna have a rule, let somebody know.

 I kept asking Phyllis if it was stopped at 11:45.  Or two minutes to nine.  Whichever.  And this morning, I found out why. 

There has never been a clock in the clock tower. There wasn't enough money in 1891 so they painted the clock facing on and assigned it the number 11:44.  A 92 year old timer there said that they built the courthouse in 1891 and the county could not afford the clock on the tower. They could afford the whole building but not a clock.  So they painted it on to a time that people coming into town would know they could come to the courthouse and get their business done before they shut it down at noontime.

Go figure. 

At renovation times through the century the subject of a new working clock came up and the citizens fought it fiercely.  They wanted it to stay the way it was.   So the courthouse people left it like that for the eternities.

  So - that's the courthouse.

Florence also is the home of the federal or state - I know not which - prison.  I  do know that the worst of the Arizona's worst live there.

On the prison grounds there is a place where items made by prisoners are sold and run by prisoners in good standing.   The Prison Outlet.   It's kind of interesting going in.  I've never bought anything there except once a t-shirt that said Arizona State Prison Inmate.  I wore it till it became a dust rag.    There's a lot of talent in there and it makes you wonder why people who could paint or build so well would make the decisions to place themselves in a prison for lo those many years.  

But I did like this sign out front.

Now my last story on this Florence post is this.

The prison is very old and I wanted a picture of the front of it.  So we drove down the highway and I turned to go into the driveway up to the prison.  When I saw the guard house that I should have figured would be there at the end, I decided phooey on it and turned into the gravel to flip a Uie to go back.  We were going slow and looking at the building.  There was a prisoner in orange walking within the walls.

Then there was also a prison cop behind me with horns blaring and lights flashing.    I turned to get back onto the road and looked back at him and he said ever so sweetly:

"GET OFF OF THAT GRAVEL AND GET THAT CAR BACK ONTO THE PAVEMENT.   NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

And I yelled back. . . . . ."I'm trying to".

And he said again - sweetly. . . . . "GET THAT CAR OUTTA HERE RIGHT NOW!!!!"

Sheesh!   Chill out guy. 

Weekend to be continued.