Papa and I left home before 7 this morning, to drive to downtown Tucson, to take a self guided walking tour. We followed this trail map. We parked in the Presidio San Agustin, next to Old Town Artisans and across from Casa Cordova, built in 1860. The Presidio San Augustin was built between 1775 and 1780. There are still many old homes and businesses in the area, redone over and over through the years. We walked past the Tucson Museum of Art, and across the street to the Pima County Courthouse grounds. The Mormon Battalion Sculpture commemorates the day in 1846 when Mormons entered Tucson on their way to California to fight in the Mexican War. The Spanish Colonial Revival County Courthouse, built in 1929, is being renovated. Its beautifully tiled blue dome is visible from various points downtown.
We walked past the Sosa-Carillo-Fremont House and to the Tucson Convention Center, with its west entry looking toward A Mountain. A large art panel, from the old Jacome Department Store, depicting the arrival of the Spanish, is at the Convention Center entrance. I parked in the Jacome's parking garage when I first moved to Tucson in 1979. It was demolished within a year and is now an open area with sculpture in front of the downtown Pima County Library.
We stopped at the El Tiradito Shrine, then walked past La Pilita with its south wall mural, Teatro Carmen which opened in 1915, and the Cushing Street Bar built in the 1860's as a home. We walked through the Barrio Viejo, mostly in excellent condition, now being used as small businesses and homes, to the 1927 built Temple of Music and Art, now home to the Arizona Theater Company. Within a block we came to the Tucson Children's Museum, housed in the Carnegie Library, built in 1900. The Scottish Rite Cathedral is directly behind it, and my favorite sign in Tucson is caddy corner, at the corner of 12th Street and 6th Avenue. I love the lady diver on the Pueblo Hotel sign!
We circled back to our car around 8:30, as traffic started to fill the streets. Downtown Tucson is becoming a destination, with new restaurants, apartments, and UA classrooms filling at least one of the tallest buildings. A trolley runs daily between UA Main Campus and Downtown. There's a new Marriott Hotel, just a block from Hotel Congress. We're happy to see so many historic buildings being maintained and used, and our walking tour this morning was fun! We love going downtown!
