The City of Prescott is the nation’s newest
 Preserve America Community!

City residents and government officials celebrated the designation with a ceremony Friday on the Yavapai County Courthouse Plaza.

Mark Rey, Undersecretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, presented Mayor Rowle Simmons a Preserve America designation certificate. Rey was in Prescott on behalf of First Lady Laura Bush, who selected Prescott for the Preserve America designation in recognition of the city’s concerted historic preservation efforts over the last quarter century.

“My personal view is today’s award to the city is very well deserved,” Rey said during the ceremony. “As a community, you have been involved in historic preservation for substantially longer than most American communities.”

Citing the establishment in 1978 of a Historic Preservation Commission and the adoption in 1998 of a Historic Preservation Master Plan, Rey said, “Prescott is unique among American cities of this size.” The Preserve America designation, he said, “is recognition of this long and successful record of achievement.”

The ceremony followed a visit to the City of Prescott's nearly 100-year-old Elks Opera House and a walking tour of historic downtown. A restoration of the opera house front lobby was highlighted in the city's application for the Preserve America designation.

Prescott and Fort Apache in the White Mountains are the only Preserve America Community designees in Arizona. More than 100 communities nationwide have earned the designation.

“We are honored by this designation and we are proud of our growing reputation as a community that truly is dedicated to historic preservation and heritage tourism,” said Mayor Simmons.

President George W. Bush created the Preserve America initiative in March 2003 to recognize communities that make “exceptional efforts to protect and celebrate their heritage; use their historic assets for economic development and community revitalization; and encourage people to experience and appreciate local historic resources through education and heritage tourism programs.”