| Fort Whipple | |
|---|---|
| Prescott, Arizona | |
| Type | Army fortification |
| Built | 1864 |
| Built by | United States |
| In use | 1864 - 1913 |
| Current condition |
tourist attraction |
| Controlled by | Arizona |
| Occupants | United States Army |
Fort Whipple was a U.S. Army post which served as Arizona Territory's capital prior to the founding of Prescott, Arizona. The post was founded by Edward Banker Willis in January 1864 in Chino Valley, Arizona, but was moved in May 1864 to Granite Creek near the present day location of Prescott. The post was closed in 1913. Soon after retiring as a U.S. Army post, it became a Military Hospital that was used throughout the World War I and World War II eras. The Fort is still a veteran's hospital today and is also a tourist attraction. The name of the outpost comes from the last name of Amiel Weeks Whipple, a Union General who served in the American Civil War but who died at the Battle of Chancellorsville due to injuries.
Fiorello LaGuardia's father, Achille was bandmaster there in the 1890's and Fiorello attended school in nearby Prescott, Arizona.
Along with being a hospital, the fort still has buildings on the hills nearby, which once served as the officers quarters. Now, the buildings are homes to nurses and doctors of the hospital.
One of the military officer's quarters has been turned into the Fort Whipple Museum, with artifacts and history about the fort and hospital, including medical instruments, Army weaponry, the Buffalo Soldiers, maps, photographs and memoirs written by those stationed there. The museum is operated as a joint project of the Sharlot Hall Museum and the Bob Stump Veterans Affairs Medical Center.