Echoes of the Southwest

Here we go again, another daytrip. Last month Sharon took a trek up South Mountain with her buddy Vinnie. She went to check out the petroglyphs drawn on the many rocks dispersed around the mountain. She also told me about the abandoned castle and many Native American shards that are scatter all over the place. She knew this would be the perfect daytrip and information I can add in my future book. The South Mountains were named for their geographic location south of Phoenix. The land is managed by the city of Phoenix and considered sacred by the Akimel O’odham as well as the Sierra Estrella Mountains. Many UFO’s have been reported hovering over the mountains and over 20 communication towers are located on its peaks. There are many hiking paths and a mystery castle found in the foothills on the north side of the mountains. This castle was built in 1930 from weird materials and trash and used as a private residence. Also found on the mountain are ancient Indian ruins, petroglyphs, a...

(from Debe Branning) Join us at the old Pioneer Cemetery in downtown PHX for a tour of the cemetery......costumed re enactment players tell their stories. Read about it here! Save the date! http://www.examiner.com/arizona-haunted-sites-in-phoenix/historic-cemetery-walk-phoenix-returns-march-20-2011

If someone were to ask me where I would like to be living, I would pick Prescott, Arizona. Prescott has that small town feel, but isn’t small. The downtown area around the Court House and the famous Whiskey Row has the old historical buildings and hotels along with small hometown shops and antique stores. There are many bungalows and cottages with historical plaques on them which line the many streets around town. It has the old town look and quaintness, but it still has all the amenities needed that a big city provides. I would never go bored hunting down all the places around town that are haunted and have great story about their ghosts. Oh yeah, the weather is nice too; not as hot as Phoenix or cold as Flagstaff….. just right. Sharon and I picked Prescott as the place where we wanted to spend the night after visiting a couple of cemeteries and Vulture Mine. She booked room 16 which is known as Abby’s room and to be haunted. The story goes that Abby’s, who was ill, and her cat ...

Between Wickenburg and Prescott along Highway 89, is the small town of Congress, Arizona.  The town now sits as a ghost town with a few houses and a couple of cemeteries.  Sharon had already been to the Old Congress Cemetery which was a good thing because this tiny cemetery was down a winding dirt road, just past the new cemetery.  We would have missed it if she didn't know where it was located.  The place was a bit eerie, and with all the cactus surround the headstones and graves, it had a distinctive western feel to it as well.

Next to the dirt road leading to the Morristown cemetery, we noticed an abandoned building and trailer sitting all by themselves.  Since we can't resist a boarded up structure, especially with a deserted trailer behind it, we stopped to get pictures after visiting the cemetery.  From the looks of it, we thought the building might have been a hotel and the owner stayed in the trailer behind it.  Whatever the story of this place was, we thought it was a cool photo op.

Roughly 50 miles northwest of Phoenix and near my home in Surprise, lies the tiny town of Morristown, AZ.  With a population of 1,400 and named after Morristown, New Jersey, the Morristown store, which was formerly the Morristown Hotel, is on the National Register of Historical Places.  The town's cemetery was our first stop on our trip to Vulture Mine and Prescott.