Robert A. Bates Memorial Print Shop

Robert A. Bates Memorial Print Shop is part of the Sharlot Hall Museum located in Prescott, Arizona. The museum is named after its founder, Sharlot Mabridth Hall (1870-1943), who became well known as a poet, activist, politician, and Arizona’s first territorial historian. Sharlot Hall was one of the West’s most remarkable women. As early as 1907, Ms. Hall saw the need to save Arizona's history and planned to develop a museum.

This print shop represents a small job/newspaper shop of the Arizona territorial period, 1863-1912. The presses used in this shop are of the 1860s, and use the centuries-old letterpress process. This Washington Hand Press was built in 1868 by R. Hoe & Co. for the production of weekly newspapers.  It is the Imperial #5 model, weighing 2,150 lbs.  It was sold with a one-year warranty.

This press was used to produce the Sacramento (Calif.) Bee in the 1870s.  It is typical of the many presses hauled by wagon or train to the outer reaches of civilization during the western expansion period.

Look Around the Frontier Print Shop. The objects used to produce material by the letterpress printing process are found in our territorial print shop.