From mid-December to early January, Fort Verde State Historic Park in Camp Verde, Arizona, is decorated for the holidays.
Visitors to the architectural heritage site, which is Arizona’s best-preserved fort from the time of the Indian Wars, get a chance to see how Christmas was celebrated in the middle to late 1800s.
“Everything is true to the period,” says Dennis Lockhart, the park’s interpretive ranger and head historian. “We don’t do Hollywood here.”Three historic homes—all that remain of the 22 buildings that once housed members of General George Crook’s Army—are decked out in authentic Victorian-style garlands and Christmas trees. Lockhart cuts the trees himself. The size of the trees reflects the prestige of the quarters. The commanding officer’s house gets the largest tree: a 10 to 11 foot pine. The surgeon’s quarters gets the next size down: a six to eight-foot tree, and the bachelors’ quarters gets a 4-foot tabletop version.
The trees are decorated as they might have been by their pioneering residents. Some of the decorations are homemade, such as cut-out ornaments. Other are stamped, tin items, such as stars and snowflakes.
In addition to the holiday dressing, the homes (all of which are listed on the Register of Historic Places) are furnished to reflect life during the pioneering days of Fort Verde—right down to the china and silverware.
The park also has a visitor center and small museum with interpretive exhibits and military artifacts. The building was once the fort’s administrative headquarters.
Fort Verde State Historic Park is located at 125 E. Holloman Street in Camp Verde. The park is open 364 days a year from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is closed on Christmas Day. For more information about special events at Fort Verde, call (928) 567-3275.
Coming up after the holidays is the popular History of the Soldier event, the second weekend in April. It features reenactments from the Revolutionary War to today.
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