PRESCOTT
ARIZONA
ABOUT THE PRESCOTT ANTIQUE SHOW & VINTAGE MARKET
Our History
In the late 1980s, a Prescott antique store owner had an idea: hold an antique show on the historic downtown Prescott Courthouse Square! The event she conceived became known as "Antiques on the Square". It had been around long enough to have created its own history and had become one of Arizona's most popular antique destinations. Not only did people come for this particular show, they also came for the many antique shopping opportunities available in "Arizona's Antique Capital".
The show had several different sponsors over the years but about 2006 a local chapter of the Questers (Thumb Butte) had the opportunity to take it over. The Questers is a non-profit organization dedicated to Preservation and Restoration and chapter members have donated all profits from these shows to local P&R projects. Eventually, another Prescott Quester chapter (Yavapai) partnered up with Thumb Butte to jointly produce the shows, held annually in June and September. Many thousands of dollars from Antiques on the Square show profits have been given since 2006 to museums, historical societies, cemeteries and other area projects.
In January 2018 Thumb Butte and Yavapai Questers made a critical decision to move the show to another venue, due to the elimination from the Courthouse Plaza schedule the traditional "1st Sunday in June and 3rd Sunday in September" dates. With the anticipated move came the necessity to rename the event and so we welcome you to the ........
Prescott Courthouse Plaza
After considering several other venue options, the historic Prescott Rodeo Grounds was selected as the new home of Prescott Antique Show and Vintage Market. Our first show was June 3, 2018 - the traditional "1st Sunday" and we welcomed over 1800 visitors. This site offers both indoor and outdoor exhibit opportunities and convenient access for our dealers during their unloading/loading process. Ample free parking is available to the public and the spacious setting, nestled in a "tucked away in the boulders" area just 5 minutes from downtown Prescott, provides 3 different access roads to the Rodeo Grounds entrances.
In 2020, the Prescott Antique Show & Vintage Market had grown in size substantially. The first ever 2-day show was to be presented in May, however, the Covid Pandemic was to change everything. Our event, along with many others planned around that time, was cancelled. With no new date available at the Rodeo Grounds, the show sponsors began looking elsewhere. When a late August weekend opened up at the Findlay Toyota event center in Prescott Valley, we grabbed it.
PRESCOTT ANTIQUE SHOW HEADS TO FINDLAY TOYOTA CENTER IN PRESCOTT VALLEY
SOME OF THE PROJECTS RECENTLY FUNDED FROM SHOW PROFITS
The profits from our semi-annual shows have been donated directly to local Prescott and Yavapai County organizations for qualifying preservation and restoration projects. Many thousands of dollars have been contributed since 2006 in support of various P&R activities, some of which are highlighted here.
CORNVILLE POST OFFICE RESTORATION
Located in the Verde Valley just a hop, skip and a jump over the mountain from Prescott is the quaint town of Cornville, Arizona. Recently, the Cornville Historical Society and Thumb Butte/Yavapai chapters partnered up to help restore the old post office, built in 1909.
Sharlot Hall Museum Porter Engine Restoration
The old Porter locomotive sat for many years on a back lot of the Sharlot Hall Museum in Prescott, Arizona. It had been transported from the Congress Mine just down the hill from Yarnell up to the museum. With the help of local volunteers and $10,000 donated by Prescott chapter Questers, the engine was restored to its original condition and placed at the front entrance to the museum, safely tucked under the roof of Sharlot's Depot.
GRACE SPARKS ACTIVITY CENTER
(THE PRESCOTT ARMORY)
Built in 1939 by the WPA and originally constructed for the Prescott National Guard Armory, this building is owned by the City of Prescott and listed in the National Register of Historic places. It is within Prescott's Armory Historic Preservation Overlay District. Yavapai and Thumb Butte Questers, along with a grant from the Arizona State Organization of Questers, donated funds for the replication and installation of the original steel security bars which had been either removed or damaged over the years.
Badger Mountain overlooks the City of Prescott. The historical "P" was created by Prescott High School students about 100 years ago (as of 2022) and formed with large bolders painted white. The Yavapai chapter of the Questers donated $2000 to have the "P" restored in time for it's centennial celebration.