McFarland State Historic Park

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1. TravelGal

   McFarland State Historic Park - More that just the 1st Pinal County Courthouse

   ‘Okay’ rating Posted over 3 years ago

   McFarland Historical State Park began its colorful history as Florence’s first Pinal County Courthouse. Built in 1878 of adobe bricks, the building served as a staid courtroom by day and occasional dance hall by night. The memoirs of Estella Kenfield Colton, circa 1887, reveal: “Every week there was a public dance at the courthouse. They danced in the courtroom. There was always a big attendance and men, women and children came just to look on and enjoy the music”
   Court records also tell of the bizarre lynching of Len Redfield and Joe Tuttle in August 1883 for the murder of Johnnie Collins, an express messenger on the Florence-Globe run. Irate Florence residents organized a citizens’ committee, closed their stores and offices, and “marched one hundred strong” to the courthouse jail. The committee forced the door, passed inside and made Deputy Scanlon and his aides release their prisoners. The citizens took Tuttle and Redfield from their cells and hanged them from the ceiling joists in the corridor. The coroners’ jury later said they had come to their death “at hands of parties unknown. A short time later, the same "Vigilance" group attempted to lynch other prisoners. Michael Rice, the jailer, stopped their efforts by moving the prisoners to the second story and arming then to hold off the mob.
   The court house building, like most buildings of Territorial Arizona, was constructed by hand using native materials. It’s different from most Sonoran architecture in that there is a pitched, wood-shingled roof atop the traditional adobe walls. Soil from the area was used to make adobe bricks that were laid on a trench foundation filled with river rocks. All lumber for the floor and roof was hauled by wagon from Northern Arizona.
   The original four rooms consisted of the Courtroom, Clerk’s office, District Attorney’s office and Treasurer’s office. The first jail was located in the courtyard at the rear of the building; it was a small adobe cubicle without windows. Burlap and canvas covered the entrance to keep out cold weather. Buried in the center of the jail was a huge boulder to which prisoners were chained. When a prisoner of importance was incarcerated the jailer was obliged to bed down in front of the entrance.
   An addition to the building was made in 1882 that added the Jail, Sheriff’s office, and Recorder’s office. Notable associated with the first courthouse include Richard Sloan and Joseph Kibbey, both of whom later became territorial governors. When the courthouse functions were moved to a larger building in 1891, the old courthouse became the county hospital. It was operated as the county hospital for the next 50 years. A lot of Florence residents were born here. In 1938 the building was modified a bit and became a welfare and public health center. The Pinal County Historical Society bought the building in 1963 and maintained a museum there until 1970.
   In 1974, a former Governor Earnest W. McFarland purchased the building for eight thousand dollars and donated it to the Arizona State Parks Board to be restored as a historic park. Exhibits in the building primarily feature the career and memorabilia of Governor McFarland and tell the history of the building.
   A modern archive building was completed in 1982 and now houses the McFarland papers. With the assistance of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the extensive collection was meticulously organized to file level and U.S. Senate papers have been published. They are unmatched as a primary historical source. Ernest W. McFarland’s political career spanned three decades and saw him succeed as a U. S. senator, governor of Arizona and chief justice of the Arizona Supreme Court. Dating back to a time before congressional staffers routinely created a virtual blizzard of impersonal paperwork with a senator’s name attached to it, McFarland’s papers reveal personal communications that passed through his hands and reflect who he was and who he wanted to be. The papers constitute a single record group with seven subgroups, the most important of which is the U.S. Senate group, which makes up 163 of the 333 boxes of archival material. It is an edited collection from this subgroup that forms this volume. Ernest McFarland served as a senator during World War II and then as majority leader of the Senate during the Korean War. The papers from his Senate years are an indispensable resource for anyone interested in the political landscape of our nation around the middle of the last century.
   The park includes an archives, picnic area, barbeque grill and restrooms.The courtroom is available for weddings and special events.
   During the historic tour of Florence every February there are special activities planned.
   What a great way to spend an afternoon, Florence is a great town that still has the old town feel. No wonder it was chosen by "True West Magazine" as #4 of the Top Ten True Western Towns of 2009.

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