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2011 Arizona Most Endangered Historic Places
2011 Arizona Most Endangered Historic Places
Introduction
The Arizona Preservation Foundation is releasing its 2011 list of Arizona's 25 most endangered historic places. Compiled by preservation professionals and historians, the list identifies critically endangered cultural resources of major historical significance to the state. "Each of the sites we have named are important historic landmarks in Arizona, but unfortunately are in grave danger of collapse, demolition, or destruction," said Jim McPherson, Arizona Preservation Foundation Board President. "As we approach Arizonas Centennial a time to reflect on our states past, present, and future it is crucial that residents and government officials act now to save these elements of our cultural heritage before it is too late. We investigated the status of each entry and determined what should be dropped off, what should remain and why, and what should be added, said Vince Murray, chair of the Foundations Most Endangered Historic Places Committee.
Adamsville Ruins
Adamsville is a large Classic Hohokam habitation site, dating from AD 1100 to AD 1450, consisting of a platform,mound, at least one compound, a ball court, and 41 associated mounds of which some still have standingarchitecture. Listed on theNational Register of Historic Places, it is located near the 19th century town for which it isnamed. It is the second largest Hohokam housing area along the Canal Casa Grande, second only to the combinedcommunities of Grewe and Casa Grande. The current size of the site is 155 acres of which 126 acres are proposed foraddition toCasa Grande National Monument. The site is threatened by encroachment from commercial developmentand theState of Arizonais not able to provide adequate protection.
Buckhorn Baths
In 1939, Ted and Alice Sliger established the baths unknowing that their efforts to make a living of the natural mineral waters would help to establish Mesa and the East Salt River Valley as a mecca for professional baseball. In 1947, the New York Giants made the Buckhorn Baths their spring training home and continued to do so for 25-plus years. Ty Cobb, Leo Durocher, Willie Mays, Gaylord Perry, and others were regular guests. The Sligers established a post office, bus stop, water hole, museum, and motel, which they operated for 65-plus years. Also known as the Buckhorn Mineral Wells and Wildlife Museum, the latter moniker due to an immense taxidermy collection, the baths have been closed for years. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the location of the Buckhorn Baths makes it a prime target for development, and speculation is rampant that this part of Mesa and Arizona history could be lost.
Camp Naco
This adobe compound was between 1919 and 1923, as part of the U.S. War Department's Mexican Border Defense construction project -- a plan to build a 1,200-mile barrier along the border. After the camp closed, the Civilian Conservation Corps used the complex in the 1930s for staging projects in southeast Arizona. Over the next several decades, the property owners used the structures as rental housing. Now owned by the Town of Huachuca City, the property has been heavily degraded due to neglect. Many of the adobe structures are eroded from exposure to the elements. The roof of one of the barracks has caved in, and other buildings merely ruins. In May 2006, arson destroyed four of the non-commissioned officer buildings and damaged the roof of a fifth. Unchecked vegetation is threatening the foundation of buildings and increasing the danger of fire.
Empire Ranch
Located in the 42,000-acre Las Cienegas National Conservation Area and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Empire Ranch traces its history to the 1870s, when a 160-acre quarter section homestead was oought by Walter Vail and Herbert Hilsop. At the time, the ranch house was a fourroom adobe, with a zaguan (breezeway) that passed between the rooms into the corral. By the turn of the century, the ranch covered almost a million acres and the house had grown to 22 rooms. The Vail family lived there until the 1920s, when Edward Boice of the Chiricahua Cattle Company bought and then ranched the property until the 1970s. In 1988, the Bureau of Land Management acquired the property through a public-private land swap and designated the ranch lands as a natural conservation area, which it remains today. The Empire Ranch Foundation has worked to preserve the ranch house and outbuildings, including emergency repairs and stabilization.
Geronimo Station
Located between Safford and Globe on the westbound side of Interstate 70 is a small store, gas station, and four-casita motel (complete with carports between the units). Constructed of adobe in the 1930s and 1940s to accommodate travelers heading west, it is one of the few original buildings still standing in the state-registered historic townsite of Geronimo. The property is in poor condition and is deteriorating from neglect.
Marist College
The three-story, Marist College was built in 1915 by Manual Flores, a Tucson contractor. A component of the downtown precinct of the Diocese of Tucson, the school provided a Catholic education for boys from elementary school to high school sophomore year. It was an educational facility until 1968, when it became office space for the Diocese of Tucson. It has been vacant since 2002. Marist College is threatened by structural destabilization caused by the collapse of two corners and the cracking of a third. This deterioration is due to water penetration that comes from leaks in the roof and from the scupper and downspout drainage system. A replastering 30 years ago with a plasticized composite stucco (Tuff-Tex) has cracked and spalled, allowing water to penetrate the walls but preventing the adobe from drying. Emergency bracing has temporarily stabilized the building, but there is a clear and present danger of collapse if a permanent solution is not implemented.
Meehan/Gaar House
Built in 1903 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this Casa Grande house is an unusual example of the Colonial Revival influence executed in adobe. The structure is also significant for its association with two of Casa Grande's well-known citizens: Tom J. Meehan who built the house, owned Gilt Edge Saloon, and served on the Casa Grande Board of Trade; and Fanne Gaar who served on the City Council and was the first woman to be elected mayor of an Arizona city. The Meehan/Gaar House is currently in a state of disrepair with deteriorating veranda, roofing, and adobe walls.
Photo: Wikipedia
Photo: Wikipedia