February's Tucson Trip - 2

 We spent the next two days in the desert looking for the Minion.

This is a geo art. The geocaches are not in these locations when we start looking for them. The locations have moved and are usually along desert roads or trails. The best locations are along the roads under or next to the high line or electrical poles. 

A prickly pear cactus has started growing the the V of the tree trunk. Amazing!

desolate landscape, in this area

Lil' Red got a workout on this geo-art

one of the better roads

notice the high line poles

and more dense vegetation

do you see the geocache?

the creator of this geo art placed special golf balls for each cache

a road runner

standing still long enough for a photo op

Mojave Yucca

(I think)

a really TALL Mojave Yucca

along one of the better roads

and after two days of desert geocaching...

the Minion is done!

about 142 geocaches, golf balls, hanging in desert bushes

February's TucsonTrip - 1

On a Tuesday morning after a much needed haircut, we hooked up the travel trailer, brought it to our tiny house and loaded it for another trip to Tucson. We spent the first day doing roadside geocaching, meaning the geocaches were located near the side of the road. 

military tribute

Shark Teeth

On this trip, many of the roadside caches were hanging in trees, tall trees, way up high. We were prepared as we had a new Tool of the Trade (TOTT) with us and were ready to put it to the test.

reading instructions as we had forgotten how to use it

notice how small it is in Hubby's hand

a long reach, needing some coordination

he has the container

now we can open it and sign the piece of paper

and hang it back in the tree, up high for the next cacher

certainly better than climbing a ladder!

Santa Cruz River

a rare sight...moving water in the river

Hubby looking for a cache

and using the new TOTT to push a magnetic cache up high

on the sign post

we were in farming country part of the time

and we did some trash clean up to earn a special

geocaching souvenir

The Stork's Nest and other Historical Buildings

Another of our Tucson tours through geocaching took us to some of the historical buildings still standing. This one, The Stork's Nest is by far my favorite because of its history.

originally built in 1883

remodeled to its current condition in 1984

Helen Jacobs' personal tragedy prompted her to buy a home in Tucson in 1922 and convert it into the Stork's Nest maternity ward. Asked if she had ever lost a mother, she answered, "Only one," her daughter, who had died in childbirth in Bisbee. ... Stork's Nest. A maternity home for Tucson women from the 1920s to the 1940s, it was operated by Helen Jacobs and staffed by nurses night and day. Now an office building, it's one of the few places where you can enter to view historical photos about its past. ~ Arizona Health Sciences Library

The next two historical buildings were originally part of the El Presidio Historic District, a residential neighborhood containing adobe and brick buildings in the Spanish-Mexican, Anglo-American and Eclectic architectural styles. Named for the Spanish-built Presidio de San Augustín del Tucson (1775), El Presidio is one of the nation's oldest inhabited sites. The district is on the site of a prehistoric Hohokam Indian site (c. 700-900 A.D.) and the original presidio (fort). The El Presidio Historic District reflects Tucson's development from an 18th-century walled compound to its emergence as a major 20th-century mercantile center.

Hiram Stevens was mentioned in the previous blog post for bringing the first windmill to Tucson to pump water from the wells. This was his residence which featured an aviary, orchard, carriage house, and stables. The home is now the cafe of the Tucson Museum of Art.  

Hiram Stevens

The plaque in the sidewalk on the street corner said we were standing at the main gate of the presidio. The Hiram Steven family and the Edward Nye Fish family are two of the three families in the photo.

residence of Edward Nye Fish

today it is gift shop of the Tucson Museum of Art

Edward Nye Fish 

mural in a parking lot across the street

time has taken a toll on this old home in the presidio district

Teatro Carmen

Opening night was May 20, 1915

a theater devoted to dramatic works in Spanish

more interesting information about Carmen Soto and the theater

the side of the building showing the arched windows

After 1922 the theater became a cinema, ballroom, meeting hall, boxing area, garage and an Elks Lodge. The Teatro Carmen building survived the destruction of the majority of the buildings in the Barrio Viejo during Urban Renewal of the 1950s and 1960s and still stands today. ~ Arizona Memory Project

Ferrin House

This adobe home was built in the 1860s by Joseph Ferrin, a tailor. Their daughter was instrumental in bringing the first synagogue to Arizona.  This building was for a time owned by Diane Keaton, the actress. It is now The Coronet Restaurant and Bar.

another mural

One Stop~Three Historical Landmarks

 While geocaching in old town Tucson last week, we stopped to explore a historical landmark and found the location had three significant incidents to the history of Tucson.

This little building was the divider for two historical landmarks. The one on the south side of the building had to do with water and the one on the north side a shrine.

no water today from this beautiful tiled fountain

EL OJITO SPRING OR LITTLE EYE SPRING

• -At one time, the source of water for Tucson residents was El Ojito Spring; it is no longer there. The spring slipped beneath the earth, diverted by an earthquake in 1887 and eventually drained by the ever-increasing population of Tucson.
• -For many years, the spring gave a year-round supply of water. It supplied the soldiers in the presidio with water before wells were dug within the fort.
• -Guards were posted to protect the people from the Apaches when they were gathering water and washing clothes at both the El Ojito Springs and the Santa Cruz River.
• -An Irishman, Martin Toughey, made a business of delivering water in canvas bags, that he tied to his burros, to the residents of Tucson for a penny a gallon; later two other enterprising fellows used a two-wheeled cart for delivery and sold the water for 5 cents a bucket.
• -In the late 1800s, “Simpson Baths” took the water from the spring, heated it and provided a bathing opportunity for the men of Tucson. All social levels of men, rich and poor, frequented the baths, conducting business while soaking in the metal tubs. Women were not allowed to bathe there; they had to haul water to their homes and heat it themselves.
• -The public bathhouses (with zinc or tin tubs) cost 25 cents for a weekly bath; water was considered far too important to use for bathing more than once a week.
• -In 1873, Hiram Stevens erected the first windmill to pump water from the wells. Windmills were soon erected throughout the town. (More about Hiram Stevens later.)
• -In the 1880s, W.C. Davis installed Tucson’s first personal bathtub in a Congress Street home.
• ~ Arizona Historical Society

And then on the other side of the building...

a wishing shrine along the walls of an old building

El Tiradito

the only Catholic shrine in the United States 

dedicated to a sinner buried in unconsecrated ground

It's the story of a love triangle involving murder and suicide. Juan, an 18 year old son-in-law of a Mexican sheep rancher, fell in love with his mother-in-law. If you are intrigued, Wikipedia tells the story of how this shrine to a sinner came to be. El Tiradito  (The Little Throwaway or The Castaway)

And the third historical landmark was also in the same corner of the street, Tucson's first free public park. An 8 acre park developed by Leopoldo Carrillo in 1885. The park contained an assortment of fruit trees, man-made ponds and lakes hosting bathhouses and boat rides.

3 Tucson ladies enjoying the garden in 1887

look at the clothing!

The gardens no longer exist. The springs which supplied water to the gardens dried as the water table decreased due to usage. Today Carrillo Intermediate Academy is on the land that used to host the gardens built by Leopoldo Carrillo. Another person with an interesting history, although not quite as colorful as that of Juan, the sheep-herder.

To be honest, I believe the springs were original to this corner lot because of the fountain. The shrine is located nearby, but I don't believe Juan is buried in that location; it is where people lit candles for his soul. The original gardens were to the west of the first building on this post and the academy is across the street. Quite an interesting history to the little street corner.

There was no information regarding the mural, but it too, was at the street corner.

***Remember, you can click on any photo to enlarge it.***