(Not) historic San Pedro Chapel

I was driving across town a few days ago when I saw–obscured by a creosote forest–what was obviously a church of some kind, as you can see in the photo above. As I whizzed by I thought it looked somewhat historic–like the centuries-old mission church at Tumacacori south of Tucson.

Yesterday I went back to take photos of this old-looking building, the San Pedro Chapel, only to discover it is not all that historic after all. Built in the Spanish Colonial style, it was completed in 1932 on what was then a decommissioned U.S. Army base, Camp/Fort Lowell.

Fort Lowell, however is very historically significant: it was a major frontier outpost of the U.S. Army in its battle with the Apaches. Today, the Apache Stronghold Reservation is not that far north of Tucson. And today, most of the Fort Lowell neighborhood is filled with upscale homes and lots of creosote bushes.

In addition to the San Pedro Chapel there are several other buildings on the site, all but one locked up tight. Behind and to the west of the chapel is a building identified as “adobe house” on the site map. Even though it was locked I was able to take a photo through a dirty window to see a fairly plain interior with a kiva fireplace, a beamed ceiling and portrait photographs hung around the room. Notice the video camera on top of the ramada; there were several video cameras around the site. Curious…but maybe just another Tucson mystery.

Oh…a really historic building

As I walked back toward my car I saw another adobe building tucked away in the creosote bushes–this one unpainted and looking close to being a ruin. As it turned out, this one is the most historic part of this collection of buildings. It is called La Capillita, which means little chapel. Restored in 1998, the previous building was erected in 1915 to serve as a parish church for a group of 15 farm families, called El Fuerte–the Strong– who moved from Sonora Mexico into the abandoned army buildings after 1891 when the U.S. Army decommissioned Ft. Lowell. And the Catholic church continues to maintain the interior as a religious site to this day although a new, full-size parish church has been built for the area.

And outside La Chapillita is a bench with a dead mesquite tree trunk behind it. The story is that the mesquite tree was left in place as a reminder of the original El Fuerte families who stood outside the chapel under a mesquite tree for Sunday Mass.

I would love to welcome you as a new subscriber to “I Saw It In Tucson”. I’m writing as a newcomer to this historic city which is now growing rapidly. Sign up for this free blog before you leave the site today. (And tell a friend about it!)

Home prices have risen by 14% in Tucson during the last year. Rents are rising, too.