“Tucson” is derived from the Tohono O’Odham Native American word Stjukshon (pron. Chuk-son) for “spring at the foot of black mountain.” Spanish and European settlers changed the name to a more easily pronounceable Tucson. The “black mountain” is just southwest of downtown. It is known as “A” Mountain, named for its white rock “A,” painted by University of Arizona students annually since 1915. The “spring” was The Santa Cruz River. What remains is a sweeping sand “wash” where water still flows beneath the sand and rocks of the riverbed.
Tucson is one of the oldest continually inhabited settlements in the United States. Evidence of a settlement with 171 pit houses, storehouses and communal structures dated back to the Cienega phase (800 B.C. to 150 A.D.) was uncovered by archaeologists in 1997.
Five flags have flown over Tucson – those of Spain, Mexico, the U.S. Confederacy, the Union and the U.S.A.
Tucson joined the United States with the Gadsden Purchase in June 1854.
The 1884 City Directory listed 25 saloons that served the city with gambling 24 hours a day.
Tucson has over 150 Mexican restaurants. The city boasts the oldest family operated Mexican restaurant in the U.S.
The first episode of the popular 1960s TV show The Fugitive was filmed in downtown Tucson. Dr. Richard Kimble’s first refuge was room 26 of The Hotel Congress.
Tucson’s population in 1869 was 3,200. In 1920 the population had grown to 20,292. Today close to 800,000 people call the “Old Pueblo” home.
Tucson was under constant threat of Apache attacks until Geronimo’s surrender in 1886, one year after the University of Arizona was established.
Tucson was voted “friendliest city” and one of the ‘top ten US cities to visit” by the readers of Conde Nast Traveler magazine.
The Tucson Museum of Art is renowned for its pre-Columbian artifacts and western art collection. The Tucson Museum of Art Historic Block is open to visitors interested in seeing the interiors and furnishings of historic buildings that preserve life of turn-of-the-century Tucson.
Tucson was ranked by Bicycling magazine as one of the top three cities in North America for cycling.
Tucson is consistently rated one of the best golfing destinations in the western United States.
Tucson is one of best places to retire to according to CNNmoney.com.
For centuries the desert has been known as a healing place. Tucson’s desert is host to three “healing places,” each world famous in its own right – Canyon Ranch, Miraval Life in Balance Spa and Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa.
Present day Tucson was founded by an Irishman named Hugh O’Connor, known by the Spanish-speaking natives as Hugo O Conor, who served in the Spanish Army. In 1775, he established the Presidio of San Augustin de Tucson in what is now in the heart of downtown Tucson in the historic El Presidio neighborhood.
Tucson is the only city in the United States that hosts three Major League Baseball Spring Training teams – The Arizona Diamondbacks, The Colorado Rockies and The Chicago White Sox. Two local stadiums showcase games each March. Tucson Electric Park, on the south side of Tucson, is home to The Diamondbacks and The Sox. Hi Corbett Field, in mid-town, is home to the Colorado Rockies.
Tucson is multi-cultural with a strong mix of Spanish, Mexican, and Native American heritage.
Tucson is home to Arizona’s “other” national park. Saguaro National Park is one of the United States’ newest national parks. Its two locations, east and west of Tucson, have the largest concentration of saguaro cactus. It is the second only to the Grand Canyon in the number of visitors it receives annually.
The Sonoran Desert is the only place in the world where the giant saguaro cactus grows. After a rainstorm, a mature saguaro cactus may weigh up to seven tons and can survive for up to two years without another drop of water. It takes a saguaro cactus 50 years to produce its first arm.
Mount Lemmon is the southernmost ski area in the continental United States and is the only U.S. peak named for the first woman who climbed it. The road that winds its way to the top of the mountain takes visitors through five ecosystems.
The Spanish nicknamed Mission San Xavier del Bac the "White Dove of the Desert" because of its striking appearance from afar; more recently, its beautiful frescoes have earned San Xavier the sobriquet "America's Sistine Chapel." The graceful mission church, on the southwest side of town, still serves the Tohono O'Odham Indian community for whom it was established in the late 1600s.
Tucson has more sunshine than most cities in the world, over 300 days each year. Winter temperatures average highs of 70 degrees and summer temperatures average highs of 98 degrees. Low year-round humidity makes high temperatures comfortable.
Today, driving from Tucson to Tombstone on the Interstate takes a little over one hour. In the 1800s, travel to Tombstone was by stagecoach only. It would have taken Big Nose Kate two to three days, travelling about 3-5 miles per hour (assuming no Indian attacks or robbery attempts to get from Tucson’s railroad station to Tombstone to see her lover Doc Holliday.)
The Tucson Gem, Mineral and Fossil Showcase is the world's largest gathering of gem show exhibitors and buyers. Visitors to the shows will find everything from gold necklaces, ruby rings and diamond tiaras, to granite bookends, fossils and beads. Some shows specialize in lapidary equipment; others feature exhibits from the Smithsonian, and daily lectures by amateur and professional mineralogists and museum curators. The gem shows are held in Tucson annually in January and February.
The large neon sign beckoning visitors for a night’s stay at Ghost Ranch Lodge near downtown Tucson was designed by artist Georgia O’Keefe.
Kartchner Caverns State Park, about 1 ½ hours southeast of Tucson, harbors the second longest stalactite of its kind in the world. The 21-foot long and one-quarter inch wide “soda straw” is among the cave’s most interesting features.
Colossal Cave is one of the largest dry caverns in the world. Explorers in this cave will enjoy a constant 70 degrees.
Located 35 miles northeast of Tucson, Columbia University’s Biosphere 2 has been the focus of international attention. An experimental, self-contained enclosure with seven different ecological systems, Biosphere 2 was the two-year home of eight researchers and their more than 3,800 plant and animal species. The project, now managed by the prestigious Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, offers guided tours inside the glass structure which explain the work being done at the fascinating complex.
Old Tucson Studios is known as "Hollywood in the Desert." More than 200 movies, commercials, documentaries and television shows, including the TV series "Young Riders," have been filmed here since it was built as a set for the movie "Arizona" in 1939.
The Arizona Sonora Desert Museum was rated one of America's 10 top zoos by Parade magazine. The Museum’s newest “invisi-fence” enclosure has been patented and has won many fans at the museum’s new coyote exhibit. The exhibit gives visitors the feeling of walking in the desert surrounded by wildlife, because the fenced enclosure cannot be easily seen. The coyote exhibit is adjacent to the javelina exhibit, another favorite at the Museum.
The Pima Air & Space Museum, just southwest of Tucson's Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, is the largest privately funded air museum in the world. Among the more than 180 aircraft that highlight America's aviation history are John F. Kennedy's presidential plane and a replica of a 1903 Wright Brothers Flyer. Tours of Davis-Monthan’s 5000 aircraft Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center start at the museum.
The Tucson Challenger Learning Center, at the Pima Air and Space Museum, was built just for children. The Center features a flight simulator that is part of a twelve-week school curriculum that teaches teamwork, decision making and problem solving.
Touch the world's last remaining intact Titan Missile in its silo at the Titan Missile Museum, located south of Tucson near Green Valley.
The Tucson and Southern Arizona region is ranked one of the five best areas in the U.S. for bird watching. Southern Arizona attracts the largest number of hummingbird species in the world.
Tucson is a “hiker’s heaven.” Surrounded by five mountain ranges with hundreds of trails, visitors can hike year round – the mild winters allow hiking in the lower elevations and in summer the trails of the high mountains are perfect getaways.
Tucson has city ordinances against "light pollution," designed to aid visibility at the five world-class observatories in the area. Tucson is known as “Astronomy Capital of the World.”
Tucson’s Tohono O’Odham Indian polka music is called Chicken Scratch. The Arizona Historical Society’s Annual Waila Festival celebrates this popular dance music.
Tucson’s La Fiesta de los Vaqueros Rodeo Parade is world famous. It is known as the longest, non-motorized parade in the world. In February, the parade kicks off the Annual La Fiesta de los Vaqueros, Tucson’s celebration of the cowboys featuring the Tucson Rodeo, which ranks among the top 15 PRCA rodeos in North America.
Rillito Downs (formerly Rillito Park) is the home of the first organized quarter horse race and the birthplace of the “photo finish.”
Near the turn-of-the-century, Tucson was given a choice by the federal government. Did the city want the state prison, the state university or the state capital? Tucson chose the prison and it got the university – a great disappointment for the citizens at the time.
The University of Arizona was founded in 1885 when it opened its doors to 32 students. Cattle grazed on the open range of the campus. Today the UA serves over 35,000 students and is recognized as one of the United States top Research I universities.
See one of the world's largest collections of the work of artist Jacques Lipschitz at the University of Arizona’s Museum of Art.
See original Ansel Adams prints at the museum he founded, the University of Arizona’s Center for Creative Photography.
Nelson Riddle’s musical legacy lives on at the University of Arizona’s School of Music, the home of Riddle’s estate – including musical scores, instruments and awards.
Some very old laws are made to be broken. In Tucson, according to a law passed during the Victorian-era, it is illegal for women to wear pants.
The Arizona State Museum, located on the campus of the University of Arizona, is the Southwest’s oldest and largest anthropology museum. Some 20,000 Southwest Indian whole-vessel ceramics combine to form the focus of ASM’s Pottery Project. This collection – the largest and most comprehensive of its kind – is one of the nation’s most significant cultural resources. It was recently designated an Official Project of the Save America’s Treasures program, a public private partnership between the White House Millennium Council and the National Trust for Historic Preservation to celebrate and preserve our nation’s cultural legacy.
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For more information please contact:
Kimberly Schmitz, Director of Communications & Public Relations
Metropolitan Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau
1-800-638-8350, ext.143 or 520-770-2143
