Arizona Pioneers' Home

Opened in 1911, the Arizona Pioneers' Home is the only state-run institution of its kind, built to shelter the aging prospectors, ranchers, and settlers who had opened the territory and outlived their means. A. J. Doran introduced the enabling legislation and Governor Joseph Kibbey signed it in 1909; Frank Murphy and T. G. Norris donated the hilltop land. A wing for disabled miners was added later, honoring the men whose labor built the state's copper fortune. More than a century on, the home still operates, an unusual public promise kept to Arizona's first generation.

What the plaque says

A. J. Doran introduced enabling legislation in 1907 and supervised construction in 1910; the first superintendent took charge in 1911. George D. Morris reintroduced successful enabling legislation in 1909. Governor Joseph H. Kibbey signed the legislation on March 11, 1909. Frank M. Murphy and T. G. Norris donated the land for the home, and W. S. Elliott was the architect.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Prescott — 0.3 mi
  Arizona's first territorial capital — Whiskey Row, the courthouse square, and a mile-high pine town
• Jerome — 25 mi
  The billion-dollar copper camp clinging to Cleopatra Hill — now the largest ghost town in America
• Tuzigoot — 30 mi
  A hilltop Sinagua pueblo over the Verde, dug out of the ground in the Depression

More markers nearby

• Prescott's First Mining District — 0.3 mi
• Pauline Weaver — 0.3 mi
• Whiskey Row — 0.3 mi
• The Palace Saloon — 0.3 mi