Exploring Armory Park before air conditioning
Until the 1960s when air conditioning became readily available in Tucson homes which led to growth exploding in MidTown, the Armory Park Historic District was …
Category: architecture in Tucson
Two missing Barrios and a historic chapel
To start at the beginning: every time I visit Barrio Viejo it seems to have expanded and gentrified a few more blocks south and east. …
Whoa! What happened to the Wishing Spot?
I was in Barrio Viejo to photograph a church and on my way home I stopped at El Tiradito, the Wishing Spot, located at 420 …
It’s true. An Irishman founded Tucson
His name was Hugh O’Conner and he was born in Dublin, Ireland. By the time he reached what is now Tucson at age 42, he …
Oh, help! Elves are falling down
Santa and his busy and mischievious elves are acceptable to almost everyone’s mid-winter holiday — whether it is Christmas, Solstice, Kwanza or Chunakuh. They represent …
Spending a long weekend in Tucson
Conde-Nast Traveler magazine recently recommended Barrio Viejo in Tucson as a neighborhood to visit. That’s nice. The homes are historic and colorful, but one neighborhood …
The castle-owner next door–is he friendly?
While house-hunting in the neighborhood where I now live I drove around to see what kinds of homes were nearby and what people were out …
Flashback to the past at St. Xavier Mission near Tucson
Glancing off to the west from the 19 Freeway, I glimpsed what the St. Xavier del Bac mission must have looked like in the 1700s: …
A closer look at the historic Barrio Viejo
On Google Maps the area we all know as Barrio Viejo has the words “colorful homes” written on it in red. It’s so true and …
Is there a downtown Tucson? Not exactly…
About a year ago I spent an hour or so on a Sunday walking around and looking at what was happening along Congress Street. There …