Capital Cities Tour: Discover Phoenix, Arizona
The largest city in Arizona and the ninth largest city in the
country, Phoenix lies in the valley of the Salt River in a dry
river basin known as The Valley of the Sun. The original
inhabitants, the ancient Hohokam Indians knew about
irrigation techniques and could farm the area for centuries
but mysteriously disappeared between 1200-1300 AD.
Spanish explorers passed through, but never stayed.
Americans arrived during the Civil War when the U.S. army
established a post and shortly after a settlement grew in the
former Hohokam community. Named after the mythical bird
that rose from its own ashes, the city, like the bird, defies
nature. It’s modern skyscrapers rise above the dry desert to
support a thirsty population of more than a million people.
Phoenix has a unique character made up of Indian,
Spanish, and Wild West influences that compete against a
towering background of gleaming high-rise architecture. Its
perpetual sun and warm climate attract winter-averse
people of all ages, mostly retirement age.
Things to See in Phoenix:
• Arizona Capitol Museum
Designed by James Reily Gordon of San Antonio, the
Arizona Territorial Capitol (and later State Capitol) was
completed in 1901. Made of native Arizona tufa and granite,
the Capitol is crowned with a brilliant copper dome donated
by the state copper industry. Adorning this shiny, new-penny
crown stands the chalky white statue/weather vane, “Winged
Victory.”
This Capitol-turned-museum no longer functions as a
“working statehouse,” (the official state business takes
place in the modern buildings flanking the museum) and
therefore has the privilege of preserving the building’s
authentic antiquity. Not being used as a statehouse serving
a growing population of state employees, the building
escaped the blows of 1960s modernization and maintained
its turn-of the-century charm. It is quintessentially quaint. For
example, the spittoons in the Congressional Chambers
recall a more rough-hewn governmental body, and the
old-fashioned wrought-iron elevator cage throughout the
building’s four floors reminds visitors of the early days of the
clinking-clanging Otis invention. Little treasures like these
appear often, reminiscent of simpler, slower times.
Furthermore, nosy tourists get to peek and poke around
much more openly than in a functioning statehouse with its
state secrets and all. For example, you can visit the
preserved 19th century Governor’s office (complete with the
wax figure of the first state executive, Governor Hunt), the
Secretary of State’s office, the State Veterinarian’s office (very
interesting) and the Mine Inspector’s office (also very
interesting, especially the 19th century mining caps with
little kerosene lamps on top that miners had to set aflame
and wear on their heads before the invention of
flashlight-equipped hard hats.)
Check it out . . . Look for the Vietnam War memorial in the
Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza nearby. A realistic war
sculpture; the detail of the three soldiers is heartbreaking.
• Historic Heritage Square
Historic Heritage Square is a part of Heritage & Science
Park that includes the Arizona Science Center and Phoenix
Museum of History. The historic square consists of eight
beautifully restored houses dating back from Phoenix’s first
settlement. Styles of houses range from the elegant
Victorian Eastlake architecture to humbler regional styled
homes. The Victorian “Rosson House,” for example was a
prominent home in Phoenix during the late 1800s and
serves today as the cornerstone of the neighborhood. The
“Duplex,” on the other hand, the youngest of the homes on
the block, represents the typical Arizonan house with its
sleeping porches of canvas and wood panels pushed out at
night to admit the cool desert breeze. The “Bouvier-Teeter
House” shows the Midwestern bungalow style. These
restored residential treasures from the original Phoenix
townsite share the neighborhood block with modern
museums, shops and restaurants. The “Bouvier-Teeter
House” for example, is now a restaurant serving Victorian
Tea, and the “Stevens House” is a doll and toy museum.
• Pueblo Grande Museum
Pueblo Grande Museum is a 102-acre park located on the
ruins of the ancient Hohokam village, settled by prehistoric
Hohokam people who lived in central and southern Arizona
from about 100 to 1450 AD. Expert farmers, they built
hundreds of miles of canals to irrigate their crops of corn,
beans, squash, and cotton. Living in adobe villages, the
Hohokam created red-on-buff pottery, wove beautiful textiles
and made shell jewelry. Historians estimate that either
drought, floods or internal strife, forced the Hohokam to
abandon the Salt River Valley in the fifteenth century. The
museum focuses on the Hohokam people and their Salt
River Valley lifestyle of agriculture, canal building, craft
production, trade and astronomy. Visitors can explore the
ruins of an 800 year-old platform mound, a ballcourt, and
reproductions of prehistoric Hohokam homes. The site also
includes the last remaining intact Hohokam irrigation
canals.
• The Hall of Flame Fire Museum and National Firefighting
Hall of Heroes,
What better site to establish a firefighting museum than in
the city associated with rising from ashes? Sponsored by
the National Historical Fire Foundation, the museum has
almost an acre of fire history exhibitsthe largest collection
of firefighting equipment in the world dating back to1725,
including fire engines and some very peculiar fire
extinguishers. The Hall of Flame also sponsors the
National Firefighting Hall of Heroes, which honors
firefighters who went beyond the call of duty, the real-life
Phoenixes.
STATE TOURIST INFORMATION: (602) 364-3700
Priscilla Faith Rhodes is the author of DISCOVER AMERICA
DIARIES: 50 STATES, 50 STATES OF MIND, and
co-publisher of the award-winning website, Postcards from
America, http://www.postcardsfrom.com, a edu-travel site
that helps students and families learn about America
through postcards.
