Holbrook, AZ

Well, we have officially made the turn on the I-40 east to start our trip home. Not that I'm in a hurry but all things must come to an end. We do need to get home so we can unpack and then repack for our trip to Labrador and Newfoundland. In the meantime however we are still a long way's away but it's closer. Deciding to spend a few days in Holbrook, AZ was an easy choice since it's close to Petrified Forest National Park. We choose OK RV Park as our home base since it has great reviews plus it was just off the highway. We all like easy off, easy on. 

Entering Holbrook

Registration Office

The park's petrified log garden

Way back by ourselves until everyone decided to pull off the road then every site was filled

At an elevation of 5082 feet, the town of Holbrook was founded in 1882. Back in the day women and children did not have a place in this town. The cowboys worked hard but they also played hard. On many occasions the playing hard resulted in gun-play. On one such occasion in 1886, the playing hard resulted in 26 shootings in a town of 0nly 250 people. Even today history lives on with a street called "Bucket of Blood".

"Bucket of Blood Street"...it looked a little scary down there so I stood at the top of the street to take the picture

Through the fire of 1888 that destroyed the entire town, to the droughts, floods, and the men themselves, Holbrook continued to grow. The first major building erected was the Navajo County Courthouse which was completed in 1898 at a cost of $15,000.

Navajo County Courthouse

Today the courthouse is a museum filled with documents and books dating back to the 1890's

Within the courthouse was the county jail. It was built in St Louis and shipped as an entire unit to Holbrook by rail. Installed during construction in 1898 with a total cost of $3000. The jail was last used in 1976.

I went in...what an eerie feeling

The communal toilet...no privacy here

Born from the hearts that love and call Holbrook home, the community commissioned artists to paint several murals depicting the towns sometimes shady past.

A local hangout on Route 66