SIMMONS

NAME: Simmons COUNTY: Yavapai ROADS: 2WD LEGAL INFO: 1 CLIMATE: Cool winter; warm summer BEST TIME TO VISIT: Accessible all year

COMMENTS: Located along Willliamson Valley Road, north of Prescott (West side) REMAINS: The foundation of the stage station, which is marked with a plaque identifying the ruins as what is left of "the crossing', at it was first known, i.e., the place where wagon trains from Hardyville to Prescott (along the old "Hardyville Road') crossed Mint Wash, the ruins of a major dam across Mint Wash, which presumably facilitated the crossing. (It looks like the dam was both a dam and the crossing: it's quite wide, made of concrete -- most of which has been washed aside as a result of major floods: the pieces of concrete are all to the side of the river bed, but it is possible to still walk along a good long stretch of it on the south side of Mint Wash, and the abutment on the far (north) side of the wash is stiill there, though seriously damaged), the remains of a substantial well, not far from the building ruins.

Located on Williamson Valley Wash, at an important junction of old trading and travel routes; known locally as 'Crossroads'; founded as Wilson in 1871, the name was changed to Williamson Valley in 1873; in 1881 it was changed again to Simmons, probably because the Simmons family dominated the area and had established commercial facilities at the site. The post office closed in 1931; today the site is on private land (without access). Submitted by: Kurt Wenner

Simmons Courtesy Kurt Wenner

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