Photos: Tucson Oddities
- Updated
Photos of strange sights that make up the Old Pueblo and the retired Tucson Oddity series. This gallery originally ran April, 2013.
Tucson Oddity: Gila monster reading a book draws looks in Tucson neighborhood
- DOUG KREUTZ / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
The huge Gila monster sculpture includes a literary device - the lizard is reading a book. The art is in the Dunbar Spring Neighborhood.
Oddity: Tucson library's portal is timeline of world's written languages
- MIKE CHRISTY / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
Patrons walk through the entrance of the remodeled Murphy-Wilmot Library, 530 N. Wilmot Road, and under an arch with symbols from different languages. A handful of newer symbols were added to the glass doors during the library's remodeling.
Fanciful mural greets passers-by
- KELLY PRESNELL / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
Sabrina Vincent, who painted this mural, is participating in the Neighborhood Mural Festival.Β
Tucson Oddity: Tucson Oddity: Fanciful mural greets passers-by
- Kelly Presnell/Arizona Daily Sta
- Updated
A detail of the mural on South Columbus Boulevard, near Broadway, includes whimsical narwhals and a mermaid.
Tucson Oddity: South Park mosaics speak to neighborhood struggles
- A.E. ARAIZA / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
The three mosaic panels address concerns and problems in the South Park neighborhood, which helped create the artwork. The pieces were completed in 1998 as part of an improvement project, and some residents say the public art retains important meaning for them.
Tucson Oddity: Magic Carpet's quirky beings take up new lives across city
- PHOTOS BY A.E. ARAIZA / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
We hope the Bull, formerly of Magic Carpet Golf, has no beef with being posted outside O'Shaughnessy's Irish Steakhouse. The statue is one of many from the former mini-golf now at sites around the city.
Tucson Oddity: Neighborhood atop cemetery
- DOUG KREUTZ / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
This sign is not a warning of what lies ahead but an acknowledgement of what lies below: the Court Street Cemetery, some of which remains beneath part of the Dunbar Spring Neighborhood, south of Speedway and west of Stone in Tucson.
Tucson Oddity: Crooked sidewalk perplexing
- RON SOLOMON / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
Residents in the Desert Palms Park Neighborhood on the east side are able to walk straight, but this sidewalk seems to taunt them.
Tucson Oddity: Giant 'jacks' along Santa Cruz River are erosion-control devices
- PHOTOS BY BENJIE SANDERS / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
These steel objects, known as Kellner jacks, are believed to have been placed along the Santa Cruz River by the Arizona Department of Transportation in the 1970s to catch debris and slow the flow of the river when it floods, cutting down on erosion.
Tucson Oddity: Fearsome 'saguarosaurus' poised in desert, set to strike
- DOUG KREUTZ / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
A saguaro that looks like a dinosaur (think Tyrannosaurus rex) is poised to ambush prey by Ridgeside Drive south of Sediment Drive.
Tucson Oddity: Classic '56 Chevy bus bench adds pizazz to Sun Tran trips
- BENJIE SANDERS / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
This bus bench, a replica of the rear of a 1956 Chevy near East Broadway and Fourth Avenue, is white with blue trim with whitewall tires. The canopy resembles a cloud; four cherubs appear to be holding it up.
Tucson Oddity: The beat shall return to 'Public Drums'
- RON MEDVESCEK / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
The interactive sculpture "Public Drums" is installed at Ochoa Park on Tucson's south side.
Tucson Oddity: Lantern sign now brightens yard
- MAMTA POPAT / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
The Ye Old Lantern sign now serves as yard art at the home of Dirk Arnold in the Dunbar-Spring Neighborhood.
Tucson Oddity: A knight to remember: 8 feet tall, aluminum
- MIKE CHRISTY / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
An 8-foot-tall aluminum knight stands guard in Dave Voorhees' front yard. Voorhees bought the statue 10 years ago from the Elegant Junque Shop. The metal knight has been attracting attention ever since.
Tucson Oddity: Spiral Building marked twist in '60s design
- PHOTOS BY RON MEDVESCEK / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
First it was an auditorium, then an office building and most recently a church. Now the 1960s Spiral Building on North Romero Road is for lease.
Tucson Oddity: Stacked with uniqueness
- MIKE CHRISTY / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
The smokestack at Rincon/University High School is the school's identifying landmark. The smokestack is believed to be part of an incinerator that was once used to burn the school's garbage.
Tucson Oddity: Faux flamingo flock keeps cafe in the pink
- Benjie Sanders/Arizona Daily Sta
- Updated
Sunny Daze Cafe on Tucson's south side has become a bird sanctuary for the not-even-close-to-being-endangered species - decorative flamingos.
Tucson Oddity: Cemetery's 'Veteran Islands' honor US military service
- MIKE CHRISTY / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
The grassy medians at South Lawn Cemetery are "Veteran Islands." The island plots were developed in 1987 and purchased by veterans' organizations for vets and their families. Burial in the medians is an honor.
Tucson Oddity
- Mike Christy/Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Richard Hughes' front yard features a few artifacts from Arizona's early railroad and mining history, like this ore car from a Northern Arizona mine, on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2012, in Tucson, Ariz. Hughes, 78, installed a working railroad switch that still lights up at sundown outside his home at 7731 E. Lee St. Photo by Mike Christy/Arizona Daily Star
Tucson Oddity: Old stone structure in Sabino has perplexed visitors over years
- DOUG KREUTZ / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
An abandoned stone building atop a hill in Sabino Canyon dates to about the 1930s and probably had a practical purpose.
Tucson Oddity: Postcard tiles, 'mailbox' send welcome message
- KELLY PRESNELL / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
A roofed structure has the look of an oversized mailbox where visitors can find a bit of shade along the Pantano Wash. The park area is behind the Lowe's store at East Speedway and North Kolb Road, on the east side.
Tucson Oddity: 'Great Wall of Ina' is now a hidden gem
- BENJIE SANDERS / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
Bob Constantino, left, stands almost camouflaged (he
Tucson Oddity: Once there were belly dancers; now steaks draw the crowds
- PHOTOS BY KELLY PRESNELL / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
For the last 20 years, this former Moroccan eatery at 3115 E. Prince Road has been home to Shooters Steakhouse & Saloon.
Tucson Oddity: Painting a neighborhood picture
- BENJIE SANDERS / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
Fluffy bunny clouds, a popular drive-in theater, and, of course, a sign from the Ghost Ranch Lodge grace the mural on the outside of the S & K Market in the Miracle Manor Neighborhood. It was once home to many motels where celebrities here to film at Old Tucson Studios would stay.
Tucson Oddity: Bronze-shoe artwork steps into spotlight at local park
- DOUG KREUTZ /ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
These bronze-cast shoes wait in a stone garden as part of a larger sculpture, created in 2010 by Rebecca Thompson.
Tucson Oddity: Public art at intersection meant to make you think
- PHOTOS BY A.E. ARAIZA / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
You're expected to sort this out for yourself: The four classical elements - earth, air, water and fire - are represented on the caps of the pillars at the intersection of South Houghton and East Golf Links roads. That is what the artist, Herb Stratford, wanted you to do.
Tucson Oddity: With no slope nearby, it's still called Hilltop
- BENJIE SANDERS / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
The Hilltop Market, 1843 W. Ajo Way, sits in an area that meets the definition of flat. No word on how it acquired the name. Today the store is a bustling venue for liquor sales, complete with a drive-thru window.
Tucson Oddity: Park's caboose tracks S. Arizona rail history
- MAMTA POPAT / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
Colossal Cave Mountain Park acquired the old caboose in 1996 and eventually hopes to rehab it. It is located in the parking lot of La Posta Quemada Ranch and sits on rails dating to the 1800s.
Tucson Oddity: North-side area just fine with dirt roads, rural feel
- Kelly Presnell/Arizona Daily Sta
- Updated
There's scant paving in Richland Heights West, but you'll find a traffic circle on North Vine Avenue and (paved) Greenlee Road. Residents have repeatedly voted to keep paving at bay.
Tucson Oddity: Gnarled metal 'tree' takes firm root at piercing studio
- A.E. ARAIZA / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
It's not the scene of a construction accident or explosion but, instead, a piece of metal art in front of Straight to the Point piercing studio. It expresses the owner's life vision. "We plant roots, and life is like a tree," says Alec Bezzina.
Tucson Oddity: Local monument defines on-track
- DOUG KREUTZ / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
The Epes Randolph Plaza near Hi Corbett Field honors a man who was instrumental in rail development here.
Tucson Oddity: Lighted 'Desert O' downtown provides new angle on round
- BENJIE SANDERS / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
It could be a doughnut or strange inner tube. But then again, "Desert O," near City Hall, means whatever the viewer wants it to.
Tucson Oddity: Haunting mural draws plenty of looks at the Viking Car Wash
- BENJIE SANDERS / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
The bizarre mural is on a wall at the Viking Car Wash, 1120 S. Sixth Ave. It was painted by Jesus Robles Jr., who is now in prison.
Tucson Oddity: Animals are very low care down on his small 'farm'
- MAMTA POPAT / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
The cost of animal feed is nonexistent at Phil Bushey's spread on the far east side. His plywood farm animals occasionally need a bit of paint, but that's about it.
Tucson Oddity: Boxcar in air has pulled in shoppers for 4 decades
- A.E. ARAIZA / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
A railroad boxcar hoisted onto two pillars bears the name of a small-business complex started nearly 40 years ago by Virgil Dile, owner of a store that formerly sold usable merchandise from damaged freight cars.
Tucson Oddity: Quirky, interactive pieces lost in downtown hustle
- MAMTA POPAT / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
Caption unavailable
Tucson Oddity: 'Ugly But Honest' motto gets dealer lots of mileage
- JEFFREY HAMILTON / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
Clyde Wanslee, shown here in March 1980, thought up the slogan after a professor said to use something simple that everyone would remember.
Tucson Oddity: It's a road less traveled ... and for good reason, too
- DOUG KREUTZ / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
The Mount Lemmon Short Road is, indeed, short ... just one-half-mile short, and it certainly won't get you up the mountain.
Tucson Oddity: Tuffy the pink rhino marks the spot
- RON MEDVESCEK / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
Tuffy the rhino sits atop Jack Furrier's Western Tire Center's South Palo Verde location as a relic from the 1960s. The rhino originally talked to kids.
Tucson Oddity: Magic Carpet's quirky beings take up new lives across city
- A.E. Araiza/ Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
What is he looking at? The Poo Monkey, plus palm tree, are now stationed at a private residence.
Tucson Oddity: Magic Carpet's quirky beings take up new lives across city
- A.E. Araiza/ Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
The giant Tiki Head has settled in nicely outside The Hut on North Fourth Avenue. Moving it took some major truck-work.
Tucson Oddity: Magic Carpet's quirky beings take up new lives across city
- A.E. Araiza/ Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
The restored Magic Carpet Golf sign now sits with other rehabbed signs on West Drachman Street near North Stone Avenue.
Tucson Oddity: Magic Carpet's quirky beings take up new lives across city
- PHOTOS BY A.E. ARAIZA / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
T-Rex - now called Willard - has moved in nicely, thank you, at a business in the 4400 block of East Tennessee Street.
Tucson Oddity: His Old West town lives on
- DAVID SANDERS / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
- Updated
Rick Harker built his Old West town in the middle of a south-side neighborhood and opens it to the public every other year. The former Old Tucson stuntman hopes to get a haunted house up and running for Halloween.
Tucson's neon signs
- A.E. Araiza/ Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
The restored Magic Carpet Golf sign now sits with other rehabbed signs on West Drachman Street near North Stone Avenue.
Magic Carpet Golf
- A.E. Araiza/ Arizona Daily Star 2012
- Updated
Magic Carpet Golf, which stood for 40 years on East Speedway, closed in 2008 β swallowed up by a neighboring car dealership.
The rebar-and-concrete characters were scattered throughout the city after a preservation effort by State Rep. Steve Farley, D-Tucson and artist Charles Spillar
The Poo Monkey, plus palm tree, are now stationed at a private residence.
See more of the statues and their locations here.
Oddity: Tucson library's portal is timeline of world's written languages
- MIKE CHRISTY / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Patrons walk through the entrance of the remodeled Murphy-Wilmot Library, 530 N. Wilmot Road, and under an arch with symbols from different languages. A handful of newer symbols were added to the glass doors during the library's remodeling.
Tucson Oddity: South Park mosaics speak to neighborhood struggles
- A.E. ARAIZA / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
The three mosaic panels address concerns and problems in the South Park neighborhood, which helped create the artwork. The pieces were completed in 1998 as part of an improvement project, and some residents say the public art retains important meaning for them.
Tucson Oddity: Magic Carpet's quirky beings take up new lives across city
- PHOTOS BY A.E. ARAIZA / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
We hope the Bull, formerly of Magic Carpet Golf, has no beef with being posted outside O'Shaughnessy's Irish Steakhouse. The statue is one of many from the former mini-golf now at sites around the city.
Tucson Oddity: Neighborhood atop cemetery
- DOUG KREUTZ / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
This sign is not a warning of what lies ahead but an acknowledgement of what lies below: the Court Street Cemetery, some of which remains beneath part of the Dunbar Spring Neighborhood, south of Speedway and west of Stone in Tucson.
Tucson Oddity: Giant 'jacks' along Santa Cruz River are erosion-control devices
- PHOTOS BY BENJIE SANDERS / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
These steel objects, known as Kellner jacks, are believed to have been placed along the Santa Cruz River by the Arizona Department of Transportation in the 1970s to catch debris and slow the flow of the river when it floods, cutting down on erosion.
Tucson Oddity: Classic '56 Chevy bus bench adds pizazz to Sun Tran trips
- BENJIE SANDERS / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
This bus bench, a replica of the rear of a 1956 Chevy near East Broadway and Fourth Avenue, is white with blue trim with whitewall tires. The canopy resembles a cloud; four cherubs appear to be holding it up.
Tucson Oddity: A knight to remember: 8 feet tall, aluminum
- MIKE CHRISTY / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
An 8-foot-tall aluminum knight stands guard in Dave Voorhees' front yard. Voorhees bought the statue 10 years ago from the Elegant Junque Shop. The metal knight has been attracting attention ever since.
Tucson Oddity: Stacked with uniqueness
- MIKE CHRISTY / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
The smokestack at Rincon/University High School is the school's identifying landmark. The smokestack is believed to be part of an incinerator that was once used to burn the school's garbage.
Tucson Oddity: Cemetery's 'Veteran Islands' honor US military service
- MIKE CHRISTY / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
The grassy medians at South Lawn Cemetery are "Veteran Islands." The island plots were developed in 1987 and purchased by veterans' organizations for vets and their families. Burial in the medians is an honor.
Tucson Oddity
- Mike Christy/Arizona Daily Star
Richard Hughes' front yard features a few artifacts from Arizona's early railroad and mining history, like this ore car from a Northern Arizona mine, on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2012, in Tucson, Ariz. Hughes, 78, installed a working railroad switch that still lights up at sundown outside his home at 7731 E. Lee St. Photo by Mike Christy/Arizona Daily Star
Tucson Oddity: Postcard tiles, 'mailbox' send welcome message
- KELLY PRESNELL / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
A roofed structure has the look of an oversized mailbox where visitors can find a bit of shade along the Pantano Wash. The park area is behind the Lowe's store at East Speedway and North Kolb Road, on the east side.
Tucson Oddity: Painting a neighborhood picture
- BENJIE SANDERS / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Fluffy bunny clouds, a popular drive-in theater, and, of course, a sign from the Ghost Ranch Lodge grace the mural on the outside of the S & K Market in the Miracle Manor Neighborhood. It was once home to many motels where celebrities here to film at Old Tucson Studios would stay.
Tucson Oddity: Public art at intersection meant to make you think
- PHOTOS BY A.E. ARAIZA / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
You're expected to sort this out for yourself: The four classical elements - earth, air, water and fire - are represented on the caps of the pillars at the intersection of South Houghton and East Golf Links roads. That is what the artist, Herb Stratford, wanted you to do.
Tucson Oddity: With no slope nearby, it's still called Hilltop
- BENJIE SANDERS / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
The Hilltop Market, 1843 W. Ajo Way, sits in an area that meets the definition of flat. No word on how it acquired the name. Today the store is a bustling venue for liquor sales, complete with a drive-thru window.
Tucson Oddity: Park's caboose tracks S. Arizona rail history
- MAMTA POPAT / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Colossal Cave Mountain Park acquired the old caboose in 1996 and eventually hopes to rehab it. It is located in the parking lot of La Posta Quemada Ranch and sits on rails dating to the 1800s.
Tucson Oddity: North-side area just fine with dirt roads, rural feel
- Kelly Presnell/Arizona Daily Sta
There's scant paving in Richland Heights West, but you'll find a traffic circle on North Vine Avenue and (paved) Greenlee Road. Residents have repeatedly voted to keep paving at bay.
Tucson Oddity: Gnarled metal 'tree' takes firm root at piercing studio
- A.E. ARAIZA / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
It's not the scene of a construction accident or explosion but, instead, a piece of metal art in front of Straight to the Point piercing studio. It expresses the owner's life vision. "We plant roots, and life is like a tree," says Alec Bezzina.
Tucson Oddity: Animals are very low care down on his small 'farm'
- MAMTA POPAT / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
The cost of animal feed is nonexistent at Phil Bushey's spread on the far east side. His plywood farm animals occasionally need a bit of paint, but that's about it.
Tucson Oddity: Boxcar in air has pulled in shoppers for 4 decades
- A.E. ARAIZA / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
A railroad boxcar hoisted onto two pillars bears the name of a small-business complex started nearly 40 years ago by Virgil Dile, owner of a store that formerly sold usable merchandise from damaged freight cars.
Tucson Oddity: His Old West town lives on
- DAVID SANDERS / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Rick Harker built his Old West town in the middle of a south-side neighborhood and opens it to the public every other year. The former Old Tucson stuntman hopes to get a haunted house up and running for Halloween.
Magic Carpet Golf
- A.E. Araiza/ Arizona Daily Star 2012
Magic Carpet Golf, which stood for 40 years on East Speedway, closed in 2008 β swallowed up by a neighboring car dealership.
The rebar-and-concrete characters were scattered throughout the city after a preservation effort by State Rep. Steve Farley, D-Tucson and artist Charles Spillar
The Poo Monkey, plus palm tree, are now stationed at a private residence.
See more of the statues and their locations here.
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It's not every day that you see an 8-foot-long Gila monster lounging beside a city street.
The whales wear unicorn horns on the edge of one historical Tucson neighborhood.
Ancient and modern symbols greet patrons entering the Murphy-Wilmot Branch Library.
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