- City:
- Tucson, AZ
- Site Type:
- Parks and Recreation, Education and Health, Infrastructure and Utilities, Museums, Paths and Trails, Picnic and Other Facilities, Park Roads and Bridges, Water Supply, Flood and Erosion Control
- New Deal Agencies:
- Work Relief Programs, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
- Started:
- 1933
- Completed:
- 1942
- Quality of Information:
- Good
- Marked:
- Yes
- Site Survival:
- Unknown
Description
Tucson Mountain Park, created in 1929, was opened to general recreation use in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), working with the Pima County parks agency. The northern half of the original park was added to the Saguaro National Monument in 1961, which became a national park in 1994, and this portion of the park was renamed Saguaro National Park – Tucson Mountain District (TMD). (See also Saguaro NP (TMD) project pages)
The CCC ‘boys’ set up Camp Pima, SP6A, in December 1933 at the northwest corner of what was is now Saguaro NP. Working from there, they carried out extensive land restoration by building check dams, cattle guards and fences, obliterating mining scars, and reseeding areas with natural grasses. They constructed the Gates Pass and other roads, recreation facilities like picnic areas and trails, and the first buildings at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.
While it is hard to trace all the land restoration work, the roads, trails, and some buildings are still very much in evidence.
It appears that the original buildings at the Desert Museum have been replaced over time.
Source notes
Audretsch, Robert and Sharon Hunt, 2014. The Civilian Conservation Corps in Arizona. Charleston SC: Arcadia Publishing.
"The New Deal in Arizona: Connections to Our Historic Landscape," University of Arizona by The New Deal in Arizona Chapter of the National New Deal Preservation Association. https://content.library.arizona.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/NewDeal/id/193
Site originally submitted by Joan Greer on July 31, 2012.
Additional contributions by Richard A Walker.
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