Written in 1930, "Tucson the Old Pueblo" was one of the earliest attempts to put together a concise history of Tucson, Az. Unique in its genere, authors Frank Lockwood and Donald Page provide a solid work based upon documentary evidence and, most importantly, straight from the mouths of the pioneers who were the principal actors in the drama. This is a reprint of the original 1930 edition but has an index added as a convenience to the reader.
On March 1, 1966, the voters of Tucson approved the Pueblo Center Redevelopment Project—Arizona’s first major urban renewal project—which targeted the most densely populated eighty acres in the state. For close to one hundred years, tucsonenses had created their own spatial reality in the historical, predominantly Mexican American heart of the city, an area most called “la calle.” Here, amid small retail and service shops, restaurants, and entertainment venues, they openly lived and celebrated their culture. To make way for the Pueblo Center’s new buildings, city officials proceeded to displace la calle’s residents and to demolish their ethnically diverse neighborhoods, which, contends Lydia Otero, challenged the spatial and cultural assumptions of postwar modernity, suburbia, and urban planning. Otero examines conflicting claims to urban space, place, and history as advanced by two opposing historic preservationist groups: the La Placita Committee and the Tucson Heritage Foundation. She gives voice to those who lived in, experienced, or remembered this contested area, and analyzes the historical narratives promoted by Anglo American elites in the service of tourism and cultural dominance. La Calle explores the forces behind the mass displacement: an unrelenting desire for order, a local economy increasingly dependent on tourism, and the pivotal power of federal housing policies. To understand how urban renewal resulted in the spatial reconfiguration of downtown Tucson, Otero draws on scholarship from a wide range of disciplines: Chicana/o, ethnic, and cultural studies; urban history, sociology, and anthropology; city planning; and cultural and feminist geography.
Tucson is a history of time and a river. The roots of prehistoric habitation run deep along the Santa Cruz River, reaching back thousands of years. Later the river attracted 17th-century Spanish explorers, who brought military government, the church, and colonists to establish the northern outpost of their New World empire. Later still, American westward expansion drew new settlers to the place called Tucson. Today Tucson is a bustling multicultural community of more than one million residents. These images from the photographic archives of the Arizona Historical Society tell the stories of individuals and cultures that transformed a 19th-century frontier village into a 20th-century desert city.
Tucson is a vibrant, growing city, but beneath the sunny surface lies a dark history. Eva Dugan was convicted of murder and hanged here, the first woman to be executed in the state of Arizona. Gangsters like Joe Bonanno and bank robber John Dillinger were drawn to this corner of the Southwest, and it was home to killers like Robert John Bardo and Charles Schmid, a serial killer nicknamed the "Pied Piper of Tucson." In 1892, William Elliott, stabbed by a notorious criminal, became the first Tucson police officer to lay down his life in pursuit of justice, but he wouldn't be the last. Join author Patrick Whitehurst as he delves into the chilling history of Tucson.
A comprehensive illustrated guide to Tucson's historical and contemporary architectural resources covers all facets of the city's architecture, from one-of-a-kind homes on Main Avenue and historic downtown buildings to destination resorts in the Catalina Foothills and other modern structures. Included are walking and driving tours of fourteen areas, along with maps, and annotated descriptions of individual structures--residences, schools, churches, government buildings, offices, commercial establishments, and others--accompanied by more than 140 photographs.
Phoenix is known as the "Valley of the Sun," while Tucson is referred to as "The Old Pueblo." These nicknames epitomize the difference in the public's perception of each city. Phoenix continues to sprawl as one of America's largest and fastest-growing cities. Tucson has witnessed a slower rate of growth, and has only one quarter of Phoenix's population. This was not always the case. Prior to 1920, Tucson had a larger population. How did two cities, with such close physical proximity and similar natural environments develop so differently?Desert Cities examines the environmental circumstances that led to the starkly divergent growth of these two cities. Michael Logan traces this significant imbalance to two main factors: water resources and cultural differences. Both cities began as agricultural communities. Phoenix had the advantage of a larger water supply, the Salt River, which has four and one half times the volume of Tucson's Santa Cruz River. Because Phoenix had a larger river, it received federal assistance in the early twentieth century for the Salt River project, which provided water storage facilities. Tucson received no federal aid. Moreover, a significant cultural difference existed. Tucson, though it became a U.S. possession in 1853, always had a sizable Hispanic population. Phoenix was settled in the 1870s by Anglo pioneers who brought their visions of landscape development and commerce with them.By examining the factors of watershed, culture, ethnicity, terrain, political favoritism, economic development, and history, Desert Cities offers a comprehensive evaluation that illuminates the causes of growth disparity in two major southwestern cities and provides a model for the study of bi-city resource competition.
"The author intertwines archaeology, history, and ethnohistory to examine the aftermath of the uprising in colonial New Mexico, focusing on the radical changes it instigated in Pueblo culture and society"--Provided by publisher.
Born in Sonora in 1868 to a Mexican mother and a German father, Federico Ronstadt was the quintessential borderman. He came to Arizona Territory as a young man to learn a trade and eventually became an American citizen; but with many relatives on both sides of the border, Federico was equally at home in Mexico and in his adopted country. Writing proudly of his Mexican and American heritages, Ronstadt offers readers an extraordinary portrait of the Arizona-Mexico borderlands during the late nineteenth century. His memoirs provide a richness of detail and insight unmatched by traditional histories, relating such scenarios as the hardships of Yaqui hardrock miners working under primitive conditions, the travails of pearl divers in the Gulf of California, and the insurrection of Francisco Serna in 1875 Sonora. They also depict the simple activities of childhood, with its schooling and musical training, its games and mischief. Ronstadt relates his apprenticeship to a wagon- and carriage-maker in Tucson, recalling labor relations in the shop, the establishment of his own business, and the joys and anguish of his personal life. He tells of how he drew on talents nurtured in childhood to become a musician and bandleader, playing weekly concerts with Club Filarmónica Tucsonense for nine years—musical talents that were eventually passed on to his children, his grandchildren (including Linda), and great-grandchildren. Through Ronstadt's memories, we are better able to understand the sense of independence and self-reliance found today among many lifelong residents of Sonora and Baja California—people isolated from major supply sources and centers of power—and to appreciate a different view of Tucson's past. Enhanced by 22 historical photos, Borderman is a treasure trove of historical source material that will enlighten all readers interested in borderlands history.
