Photos of Tucson's Historic El Conquistador Hotel, demolished in 1968
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Rick Wiley
Photo editor
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The historic El Conquistador Hotel, designed by Annie Graham Rockfellow, opened in 1928. The hotel's opening coincided with the Great Depression and it went bankrupt in 1935.
In 1959, El Con Mall started to emerge in what was initially meant to be a happy marriage between the shopping center and the hotel. But by 1964, the hotel closed and, in 1968, the hotel was demolished as El Con Mall started to expand.
Photos © Arizona Daily Star or Tucson Citizen
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1929 Aerials of Tucson, El Conquistador Hotel
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This is none other than the 70-room El Conquistador Hotel, photographed in 1929 — a year after it opened.
1929 Tucson, El Conquistador Hotel
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In this 1929 photo, Hi Corbett Field, bottom, can be seen with the newly developed Colonia Solana and El Encanto Estates to the north. To the east of El Encanto is the El Conquistador Hotel and its water tower across the street.
El Conquistador Hotel
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Aerial photo of the El Conquistador Hotel taken in 1940. The hotel would share the property with El Con Shopping Center to the east (right) after the property was sold in 1957. The El Conquistador opened in 1928, was torn down in 1968.
El Conquistador Hotel
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The El Conquistador Hotel in January, 1963. The hotel was designed by architect Annie Graham Rockfellow, who graduated from M.I.T. and taught at the University of Arizona prior to joining architect Henry O. Jaastad's firm in Tucson. She also designed the first buildings for the Desert Sanatorium, now Tucson Medical Center, and numerous homes and churches in Tucson and Southern Arizona.
El Conquistador Hotel
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A Royal typewriter with hotel stationary behind the front desk of the abandoned El Conquistador Hotel in March, 1968, awaiting demolition.
El Conquistador Hotel
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Aerial view of the El Conquistador Hotel in 1954. The hotel would share the property with El Con Shopping Center to the east (right) after the property was sold in 1957. The "open-air mall" began taking shape in 1959. The marriage didn't last and the hotel was closed by 1964 and demolished in 1968 to make way for the mall footprint in existence today.
El Conquistador Hotel
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The pool at El Conquistador Hotel around 194l.
El Conquistador Hotel
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The nearly empty pool behind the abandoned El Conquistador Hotel in March, 1968, awaiting demolition. The hotel was built on 120-acres, so there was plenty of for the pool, casitas, tennis courts and a riding stable. The pool was constructed years after the original hotel opened.
El Conquistador Hotel
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El Conquistador Hotel and grounds on Aug. 15, 1951.
El Conquistador Hotel
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Cast iron tubs and other bathroom fixtures salvaged from the abandoned El Conquistador Hotel in March, 1968, as it was undergoing demolition. The tower shows the building's Mission-style architecture.
El Conquistador Hotel
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Eagles adorned the porte-cochere (carriage porch) outside the lobby of the El Conquistador Hotel. Photo taken March, 1968, when hotel was awaiting demolition.
El Conquistador Hotel
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Historic bathroom fixtures, windows and doors salvaged from the hotel before demolition sit in the lobby of El Conquistador Hotel in March, 1968.
El Conquistador Hotel
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The boarded-up windows below the Terrace Lounge sign, which beckoned bar patrons but stands silent in 1968 at the abandoned El Conquistador Hotel.
El Conquistador Hotel
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The El Con Shopping Center during construction in August, 1961. As designed, it was open to outside air at both ends. It had "indirect air conditioning," according to the Tucson Citizen, "with cool air released through entrances to stores on either side." The original tenants included Woolworth's, Kresge, El Rancho Market, Lerner's, House of Fabric, GallenKamp Shoes and Kinney Shoes.
El Conquistador Hotel
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El Con mall in January, 1972, shortly after it was enclosed after more than 10 years as an open-air mall.
El Conquistador hotel dome
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Signs of new growth in the northwest section of Tucson included the Casa Blanca Plaza on North Oracle Road and West Rudasill Road as it was on Nov. 16, 1972. The dome on the right was salvaged from the El Conquistador Hotel on East Broadway Boulevard when it was dismantled.
Rick Wiley
Photo editor
As featured on
El Conquistador Hotel was demolished in 1968 to make way for El Con Mall, which will soon se…
The "de-malling" of El Con has begun. Demolition crews already have torn down the west wing and the food court on the north end of the mall at 3601 E. Broadway.
Demolition continues at El Con Mall. The central Tucson mall, which got its start in the ear…
