A home built in 1960 near the Arizona Inn has been designated a historic landmark by the city.
The John Beck house, on Potter Place in the Catalina Vista neighborhood, was nominated by the Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation as βa rare residential expression of modern architecture.β
Designed by architect Beck, the house incorporated a cast exposed-aggregate concrete panel system, and each panel was fabricated on-site using river rock.
The primary living spaces surround a glass-walled atrium and courtyard.
βThrough this designation, the mayor and council continue to underscore the importance of protecting historic resources in our community. The Historic Landmark designation protects the exterior character features of the house under local zoning law,β said Demion Clinco, CEO of the Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation. βDesignation of properties like the John Beck House is only possible through the partnership of forward-thinking owners who understand the importance of protecting the architectural heritage of our community and region.β
Michael Fassett, the foundationβs board president, said the organization makes itself available to homeowners of historic architecture interested in protecting the facade.
The Beck HouseΒ incorporated a cast exposed-aggregate concrete panel system, and each panel was fabricated on-site using river rock.
βWe hope owners of other John Beck buildings will work to designate their properties,β he said.
John H. Beck was born in Boston in 1919. He studied architecture at Wentworth Institute and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His first architectural project was a home for his family in Seattle built in 1953.
The Becks moved to Tucson in 1956, and in 1959 he designed the new Bill Breck Dodge building, at the southeast corner of Speedway and Bentley Avenue, using a hyperbolic paraboloid concrete structure β a doubly curved surface that resembles a saddle. It has since been demolished.
His other Tucson buildings include Randolph Park Communications Center (1960), Palms Mortuary and Chapel (1960), Beta Theta Pi Greek House (1960), Christopher City (1962), Park Student Union at the University of Arizona (1965), and Alvernon Village Shopping Center (1969). Beck died in 2006.
The Beck House near the Arizona Inn has been designated a historic landmark by the city of Tucson. The primary living spaces surround a glass-walled atrium and courtyard.
The John Beck house was first recognized for its design by the Southern Arizona Chapter, American Institute of Architects in 1968 with the inclusion of the house on its annual tour. It was included on the Modern Architecture Preservation Projectβs Modern 50 list, designated by the Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation in 2016 as Modern Classic, and has twice been featured on the Tucson Modernism Week Home Tour. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on Feb. 1, 2021.
The cityβs designation is a zoning overlay that places restrictions on the property that require approval from the mayor and council for demolition.
The Beck House was designated by the Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation in 2016 as Modern Classic.
The John Beck house was first recognized for its design by the Southern Arizona Chapter, American Institute of Architects in 1968 with the inclusion of the house on its annual tour.
The John Beck house, on Potter Place in the Catalina Vista neighborhood, was nominated by the Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation as βa rare residential expression of modern architecture.β
Then and Now Around Tucson
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THEN: The 150-room Plaza International Hotel on the corner of North Campbell Avenue and East Speedway Boulevard, close to the University of Arizona, nears completion on March 18, 1971.
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NOW: The Aloft Tucson University building in 2016, formerly the Plaza International at 1900 E Speedway Blvd., went through extensive renovation which was completed in 2013.
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THEN: The east side has a new high school being built on the city's fringes on North Bowes Road near East Snyder Road. Sabino High School currently under construction on March 18, 1971.
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NOW: What started as a hole in the ground in the middle of nowhere has become the home of the Sabino High School Sabercats in 2016.
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THEN: Work seems to have come to a standstill where the metal framework is evident at the new K-Mart on West Miracle Mile and North Flowing Wells Road at the northeast corner on March 18, 1971.
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NOW: A Kmart discount store preceded what is now the Tucson Police Dept. Rillito substation at 1310 W Miracle Mile at North Flowing Wells Road in 2016.
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THEN: The Veinte de Agosto Park rests between La Placita Village and Braniff-Place-Tucson hotel, left, and the county's buildings on the right in early August, 1973.
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NOW: Veinte de Agosto Park in 2016, bounded by North Church Avenue, West Congress Street and West Broadway Boulevard, has become a shady oasis in the downtown area. The park includes the statue of the Mexican revolutionary figure, Pancho Villa, background left middle.
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THEN: The Grand Opening of the shopping center along North Campbell Avenue between East Silver and Water Streets featured a Wee-Wash-It Laundry, a Quinn's Shoe store, the M & M Hardware store, Thorne's Market and the Tucson Costume Co.
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NOW: The strip mall on North Campbell Avenue, north of East Grant Road between East Silver and Water Streets, features a variety of retail businesses in 2016.
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THEN: Tucson General Hospital, which was located on East Allen Road and North Campbell Avenue, first opened in 1949 as a 15-bed facility at Grant and Country Club Roads. In 1954 the hospital was expanded to a 30 bed site at 3838 N Campbell Ave. The site had once been the Harding Guest Ranch and the hospital was a group of converted adobe buildings, according to the Tucson Citizen.
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NOW: The Arizona Cancer Center in 2016, at 1515 N Campbell Ave., was once the site of Tucson General Hospital.
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THEN: The skeletal structure of the county's new Superior Courthouse is visible next to the old Pima County Courthouse on the right in early August, 1973.
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NOW: The Pima County Superior Court building in 2016, at 110 West Congress Street, is the fourth one built in Pima County. Its recognizable predecessor, a pink structure with big dome on top, is on the other side of the current building.
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THEN: Then Tanque Verde Bridge over the Pantano Wash was allowing traffic to make its way toward the northeast side of town in mid 1950s.
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NOW: Eastbound traffic flows over a much larger Tanque Verde Bridge as it goes over the Pantano Wash in 2016.
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THEN: Work continues on the JC Penney's department store at El Con Mall on East Broadway Boulevard on March 18, 1971.
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NOW: What was once the front, is now the rear of the JC Penney department store at the El Con Mall, 3501 E Broadway in 2016.
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THEN: The Arizona Trust Company, at 4575 E Broadway Blvd., nears completion on March 18, 1971.
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NOW: The Community Partners, Inc. building, at 4575 E Broadway Blvd, anchors the strip mall at midtown in 2016.
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THEN: A view of the area south of the Tucson Medical Park off East Grant Road at North Beverly Avenue in 1973.
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NOW: A view of the area south of the Tucson Medical Center off East Grant Road; runs left to right; at North Beverly Avenue in 2016. Looking southeast.
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THEN: The Academy Medical, at 310 N Wilmot, is currently under construction next to the St Joseph's Hospital on March 18, 1971.
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NOW: The Academy Medical Center building, at 310 N Wilmot sits at the intersection of East Carondelet Drive, just south of St Joseph's Hospital in 2016.
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THEN: The Amphi Plaza Shopping Center, at North First Avenue and East Fort Lowell Road, was a vibrant, bustling shopping center featuring a Jarrold Drug store, Goldwyn's, Goodman's, McLellans, Wilson's furniture store and a Southern Arizona Bank on December 4, 1957.
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NOW: The once bustling Amphi Plaza, at East Fort Lowell Road and North First Avenue, in 2016 is now a mere shell of its past existence.
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THEN: Construction workers build the Valley National Bank on the northwest corner of East Broadway Boulevard and North Country Club, on March 18, 1971.
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NOW: The unique shape of the Chase bank building, at 3033 E Broadway Blvd., across from the Broadway Village Shopping Center, makes the decades-old structure stand out in 2016.
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THEN: The nearly finished Jerry Lewis Cinema at 7010 E Broadway Blvd., near South Kolb Road, comes close to completion on March 18, 1971.
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NOW: The Gaslight Theatre, which is a place for those with a taste for fun, free popcorn, great melodramatic entertainment and music, is housed in the old Jerry Lewis Cinema at 7010 E Broadway Blvd, in 2016.
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THEN: Another branch office of the Valley National Bank is under construction at 7004 E Broadway Blvd, close to South Kolb Road, as it nears completion on March 18, 1971.
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NOW: The east side of the former Valley National Bank on East Broadway Boulevard near North Kolb Road, has changed somewhat but the front now has a salon plus the Gaslight Print Shop and Costume Shop in 2016.
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THEN: The Bridal Boutique, a wedding service, was located in the building at right while a barber shop and a beauty salon occupied the spaces left of that at the Broadway 7000 shopping and service center at East Broadway Boulevard and North Kolb Road on July 8, 1970.
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NOW: In 2016, the shopping center at East Broadway Boulevard and North Kolb Road has restaurants, a gun store, photo studio and still has a barber shop. The Gaslight Theatre along with the adjoining costume shop are also located there.
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THEN: A man walks down West Congress Street past the new Superior Courthouse being built in early August, 1973.
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NOW: A pedestrian walks towards the Superior Court building, at 110 West Congress Street, in 2016. Built in 1974, it was part of Tucson's urban renewal project.
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THEN: The new Pima Verde Shopping Center at the north east corner of East Pima Street and North Craycroft Road was nearing completion on March 29, 1956. A new Food Giant Supermarket occupied the corner space on the left and a drug store eventually settled on to the space at the other end with several businesses in between.
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NOW: Pedestrians walk through the busy intersection of East Pima Street and North Craycroft Road in 2016.
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Ralph's Service Station at South Fourth Avenue and East 19th Street, Tucson, in January 1979. Photo by Jon Hemmer, Tucson Citizen.
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Current photographs of Ralph's Service Station on South Fourth Avenue and East 19th Street. The photo was taken in Tucson on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. A.E. Araiza / Arizona Daily Star
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Garcia's Cleaners at 205 E. 22nd St., Tucson, in November 1970. Manuel Miera / Tucson Citizen
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Current photograph of Garcia's Cleaners and Shirt Laundry at 205 E 22nd St. The photo was taken in Tucson, Ariz., on Monday, Jan. 25, 2016. A.E. Araiza / Arizona Daily Star
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Interstate 10 (formerly U.S. 80) under construction at Speedway Boulevard in October 1958. Tucson Citizen
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The frontage road at Interstate 10 and West Speedway Boulevard looking to the southeast showing the new I-10 overpass, part of a four-mile freeway reconstruction completed in about 2009. The photo was taken in Tucson, Ariz., on Monday, Jan. 25, 2016. A.E. Araiza / Arizona Daily Star
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Home at 241 N. Granada Ave., Tucson, in February 1963. Tucson Citizen
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Current photograph of La Entrada Apartments at 255 N Granada. The photo was taken in Tucson, Ariz., on Monday, Jan. 25, 2016. A.E. Araiza / Arizona Daily Star
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The Palo Verde Overpass south of Tucson (Southern Pacific RR tracks), looking East on 36th Street, in 1956. Tucson Citizen
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Current photograph of the Palo Verde Overpass near East 36th Street, looking east. The photo was taken in Tucson, Ariz., on Monday, Jan. 25, 2016. A.E. Araiza / Arizona Daily Star
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Valley National Bank (now Chase Bank) at 947 N. Park Ave., Tucson, in 1963. Tucson Citizen
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The Chase Bank building at 947 N Park Ave. The photo was taken in Tucson, Ariz., on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. A.E. Araiza / Arizona Daily Star
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La Mariposa Restaurant at 1500 N. Jones, Tucson, in January 1983. Dan Tortorell / Tucson Citizen
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La Mariposa Resort at 1501 N. Houghton Road is known for its fitness and health club and as a special event and wedding venue. The photo was taken in Tucson, Ariz., on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. A.E. Araiza / Arizona Daily Star
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Steinfeld's, far left, and Jacome's, far right, department stores seemed to bracket the then-new federal building (middle) in downtown Tucson on January 9, 1974. The Pioneer National Title Insurance Co., or the PNTI building, is also on the right.
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West Pennington Street no longer looks crammed with buildings as when Steinfeld's and Jacome's department stores were on the corners at North Stone Avenue. Also gone is the Pioneer National Title Insurance Co., or PNTI building, on the right.
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On Feb. 24, 1970, the new Hobo Joe's coffee shop at 2701 E. Broadway Blvd. opened to the public. It was operated by Broadway Restaurants Inc.
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The Industrial Commission of Arizona building at 2675 E. Broadway now occupies the spot that was once the site of Hobo Joe's Coffee Shop.
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The Town of South Tucson Municipal Offices were on 1810 S. Sixth Ave. on Jan. 13, 1971.
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A warehouse stands where the municipal offices for the Town of South Tucson once stood at 1800 S. Sixth Ave. at West 28th Street looking south.
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The Sav-On Furniture store at 1724 S. South Sixth Ave. was in the process of getting a new facade on Jan. 13, 1971.
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The Handyman's Haven, at 1724 S. Sixth Ave., was the Sav-On Furniture store at least through the early 1970s.
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Based on the sign for the Country Club Swimming Pool in the background, Ruthie's Drive-Inn restaurant was in the vicinity of 2627 E. Benson Hwy. on Aug. 14, 1972. Bypassed after Interstate 10 was opened in 1969, businesses on the Benson Highway struggled to survive. The four-mile stretch was once a vital thoroughfare before the interstate system was created.
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An empty lot where Ruthie's Drive-Inn once stood near 2627 E. Benson Hwy.
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This is the former Parkview Hotel, 159 W. Pennington in March 1962, which at the time housed the Tucson Police Department's detective division.
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A vehicle heads east on West Pennington Street as it goes toward the Old Pima County Courthouse and the Allande Footbridge on the right.
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The intersection of South Sixth Avenue and East 29th Street on Jan. 13, 1971.
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The Chase Bank at 1818 S. Sixth Ave. in South Tucson was once a Valley National Bank.
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A new glass front at Porters' (not Porter's, per the sign) Western Store, at 120 N. Stone Ave., was just installed on Aug. 15, 1957. The improvement increased the selling area by 15 percent allowing expansion of the men's clothing department. The store was next to the Pioneer Hotel.
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A couple walks along North Stone Avenue, across the street from the old Porters' Western Store at 120 N. Stone. In 1957 the store was located next to the former Pioneer Hotel, far right.
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Porter's (the sign was changed to reflect the correct placement of the apostrophe, from Porters' to Porter's) moved from its previous spot next to the Pioneer Hotel to make way for the new Union Bank.
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Now the home of Break Out Studios, in 1963 this was once the site of Porter's Western Store at 828 N. Stone Ave.
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The four-mile stretch of Benson Highway was once a vital thoroughfare before the interstate system was created.
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South Benson Highway near Motel 6 at 1025 E. Benson Highway looking southeast toward Ajo Way.
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By July 24, 1970, the figures from Felix Lucero's Last Supper had been on the west side of the Santa Cruz River for more than 20 years. City authorities had decided to leave it in place while a new bridge on West Congress Street was to be replaced.
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The Garden of Gethsemane at West Congress Street and the Santa Cruz River is the work of World War I veteran Felix Lucero. The story goes he pledged to create Christian art while wounded on a battlefield. For a time after the war he lived under the Congress Street bridge. He then began sculpting the figures. One group of figures, seen here, depicts The Last Supper.
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The Copa, a 24-lane bowling alley, restaurant and cocktail lounge at 1909 S. Craycroft at East 29th Street in Tucson, pictured in November 1961, also featured packaged liquor and free babysitting.
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A Valero gas station sits on the same site of The Copa, which was at 1909 S. Craycroft at East 29th Street. During the early 1960s, The Copa featured 24 bowling lanes, liquor and free babysitting, according to the Arizona Daily Star.
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By July 24, 1970, the old bridge on West Congress over the Santa Cruz River had to be replaced by a new bridge.
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The Congress Street bridge with the Armory Park Apartments in the background and "A" Mountain in the distance.
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This stretch of Benson Highway near South Palo Verde Road was bypassed after Interstate 10 was opened in 1969. It was just another string of businesses along the road that struggled to survive on Aug. 14, 1972. The four-mile stretch was a vital thoroughfare before the interstate system was created.
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A man drives a mower along East Benson Highway, west of South Palo Verde.
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Bypassed after Interstate 10 was opened in 1969, Motel Mesa at 1951 E. Benson Hwy. was just another business along the road that struggled to survive on Aug. 14, 1972. The four-mile stretch was a vital thoroughfare before the interstate system was created.
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This building is now the Wagon Wheel Inn at 1951 E. Benson Highway.
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Traffic moves along South Tucson Boulevard looking north on South Sixth Avenue on May 19, 1975.
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South Sixth Avenue in South Tucson looking north from East 34th Street.
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Traffic moves along South Tucson Boulevard looking north on South Sixth Avenue on May 19, 1975.
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South Sixth Avenue in South Tucson looking south from East 25th Street.
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Traffic along West Congress Street near the Santa Cruz River moves along on July 24, 1970. City authorities had decided to replace the bridge starting in the fall.
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The view of West Congress Street, just west of Interstate 10 and the Santa Cruz River.
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The old Southern Pacific Railroad Warehouse on North Stone Avenue and West Franklin Street had seen better days by Sept. 10, 1982. After a July storm blew its roof off, the writing was on the wall: Its time had come and soon it would be gone.
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Only the concrete foundation of the old Southern Pacific Railroad Warehouse remains on North Stone Avenue and West Franklin Street. A summer storm in the 1980s blew the roof off the building.
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The TTT Truck Terminal at Craycroft Road and Benson Highway in Tucson in June, 1966. It's a mile east of the original, built in 1954.
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The TTT Truck Stop on Interstate 10 and South Craycroft at 5451 E. Benson Hwy. It is also the home of Omar's Hi-Way Chef Restaurant.
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1955: Tucson firefighters from Engine 2, a 1954 American La France Foamite pumper, visit a duplex at 121-23 N. 2nd Ave. for a voluntary fire inspection. The spartan, open-air truck had a water tank that held 200 gallons.
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2014: Tucson Fire Department Engine 2, a 2007 Pierce Enforcer, at 121 N. Second Ave. The truck has an enclosed cab (with air conditioning!). The water tank holds 750 gallons.
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1956: Tucson Fire Department dispatcher Ellis Franklin on duty at the radio desk when the city had seven fire stations. Note the pack of Viceroy cigarettes in the big ashtray at the base of the microphone.
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2014: Christina Garcia, a public safety dispatcher for 20 years, poses for a photo at the Tucson Fire Department's computerized dispatch center, which Β tracks the locations of all fire vehicles for the city's 21 fire stations.
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1965: The Tucson Fire Department's Station No. 1, as seen in the 1960s, was once in the 100 block of South Sixth Avenue. The station housed six units and 18 firefighters. The Santa Rita Hotel rises behind the station.
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2014: Tucson Electric Power's headquarters is at the site of the original Tucson Fire Department Station No. 1 which once faced the 100 block of South Sixth Avenue.Β
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1956: The Fox Tucson Theatre after an $80,000 remodeling that included adding a box office and an all-glass front.
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1980: The historic marquee of the shuttered Tucson Fox Theatre on West Congress Street looms over people waiting for their bus to arrive.
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2014: The Fox Theatre reopened in 2005 after a $14 million restoration. It had closed in 1974 and sat empty for nearly 25 years.
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1960s: The Spanish Trail Motel on I-10 frontage east of Nogales Highway (Sixth Avenue), an accessible stop for cross-country travelers on the new Interstate 10. The inn was once a nice place featuring music and dancing in its large, round restaurant as well as pleasant grounds with an Olympic-sized swimming pool. A 1984 Tucson Citizen story tells of Cleveland Indians players, mostly minor leaguers, who were staying at the inn during spring training (17 of them got food poisoning, hence the story). But that era is long gone, and the buildings are on their way, too.
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2014: Spanish Trail Motel on the I-10 Frontage Road, east of Sixth Avenue. The restaurant is abandoned, though the 120 motel rooms behind were converted to apartments. South Tucson officials have worked with the property owners to clean up the clutter. There is interest in refurbishing the iconic neon sign, but the buildings are probably beyond repair.
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1974: Junked cars and trash spill into the Santa Cruz River, looking south, just south of Grant Road.Β
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2014: The Santa Cruz River south of Grant Road, after extensive river bank improvements and construction of The Loop bike trail, which parallels much of the Santa Cruz and Rillito rivers. The river park system dates to the 1970s, although the flood of 1983 prompted faster land acquisition. When completed, The Loop will be more than 131 miles long.
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1980: Sunrise Village Center, including Safeway, at Sunrise Drive and Swan Road shortly after completion in June. It was the first major grocery store in the Foothills.
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2014: The remodeled Safeway is still the anchor of a vibrant center at Sunrise and Swan, which now includes a very busy Starbucks.
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1979: Speedway Boulevard in the 1970s? Guess again. This is actually a clutter of signage along North Oracle Road between Roger Road and Limberlost Drive
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2014: North Oracle Road at West Roger Road looking north toward Limberlost Drive. Still plenty of traffic, but fewer signs and more trees. A 1985 city ordinance regulates the size, location and height of various signs, according to an Arizona Daily Star story. After a number of legal fights, billboard-industry lobbyists got the Legislature to pass a law in 2000 that said cities can act against billboards only if they file a complaint within two years of learning the signs violate local ordinances.
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1925: The All Auto Camp, on 2650 N. Oracle Road at Jacinto, featured names of U.S. states on the casitas.
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2014: Sedona Pointe Apartment homes at 2650 N. Oracle Road, where the All States Auto Camp welcomed visitors in the 1920s.
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1963: The Tucson High School marching band at the dedication ceremony for the new Broadway underpass at the Southern Pacific RR tracks east of downtown Tucson. Photo taken looking west from the SPRR bridge.
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2014: The newest alignment of Broadway, which splits to become Congress Street, zags to the left and under Toole and the Union Pacific RR. The Modern Streetcar joins traffic on the street. In 1998, five miles of Barraza-Aviation Parkway, from South Palo Verde overpass to Broadway, opened to motorists at an estimated cost of $150 million.
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1963: The Eliza Ward Rockwell House, built in 1907, in the El Presidio Historic neighborhood at Franklin and Granada in Tucson. Affluent and influential Easterners built mansions in what the masses then called Snob Hollow. βThey built grand houses and held great parties,β said tour guide Joanne Rogers. βAll the mothers of the single young ladies wanted their daughters to marry someone" from that neighborhood.
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2014: The Eliza Ward Rockwell House, well preserved and now the home of a law office, at Franklin and Granada in Tucson. The neighborhood was designated historic in 1975.
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1975: Silverbell Road and Artesiano Road (now Continental Reserve Loop) in Marana, looking east-southwest. The Town of Marana filed a land-use plan showing future housing developments.
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2014: No longer a two-lane county road, Silverbell intersects Continental Reserve Loop Road (formerly Artesiano) in a booming area of Marana.
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1958: New U.S. Post Office at 5612 E. Broadway, to serve Tucson's post-World War II suburban families purchasing new homes in subdivisions east of central Tucson.
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2014: The New Life Health Center now resides at 5612 E. Broadway Blvd., along with dozens of other businesses in a strip mall.
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1974: The first phase of Oracle Place, an office complex on the northwest corner of North Oracle and West Ina Roads. The Great Western Bank was to occupy the two-story, 20,000-square-foot building.Β
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2014: Bank of the West is the anchor business at Oracle Place, 7225 N. Oracle Road, north of Ina Road.
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1978: The El Paso and Southwestern Railway Depot at Congress Street and Interstate 10, with tracks still in place. It was being remodeled into a Big Yellow House restaurant, part of a chain. Later it became the popular Carlos Murphy's Mexican restaurant.
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2014: El Paso and Southwestern passenger train station, still owned by Alan Norville, who purchased it in 1976. The station opened in 1913 and is a mirror image of its sister station in Douglas.
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1950: North Oracle Road (Florence Highway) bridge at the Rillito River, west of the current bridge. A new four-lane bridge was being built to the east, on the current Oracle Road alignment.
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2014: North Old Oracle Road near where the road crossed the Rillito River (background left).Β
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1957: Construction workers' cars sit atop the Latimer Building on East Pennington Street during construction of Tucson's first rooftop parking area. What is now the Pima County Public Works building is under construction in the upper right of the photo. Reilly Funeral Home, now Reilly Craft Pizza, is in the lower right.
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2014: The rooftop is still usable for parking and Reilly Funeral Home, lower right, is now Reilly Craft Pizza.
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1955: Old adobe buildings on East Jackson Street near South Scott Avenue, which were more than 60 years old at the time, were to be razed to make way for a parking lot. The property extended to the north all the way to East Broadway Boulevard.Β
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2014: Looking from East Jackson Street toward the old Hotel Westerner, background left. The adobe buildings gave way to a parking lot and finally to a Federal Court annex at 44 E. Broadway, which is now commercial space and residential loft apartments owned by Providence Service Corp.
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1969: The Tucson Public Library, now the Tucson Children's Museum, at 200 S. Sixth Ave. City officials were concerned about trash and clutter downtown. The the original building, the Carnegie Free Library, was completed in 1901.
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2014: Tucson Children's Museum, formerly Tucson Public Library, at 200 S. Sixth Ave.
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1962:Β Tucson city workers repair pot holes at East Broadway and Tucson boulevards. At the time, supervisor Milton Dumm said the reason for the holes was that the old strip pavement was less than an inch thick.
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2014: Traffic and a bicyclist rides through the intersection of East Broadway and Tucson boulevards. The footprint of the intersection hasn't changed, but most of the structures and businesses from the 1960s (including Bob's Big Boy) are gone.
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1964: Free parking was available in the downtown area at the Park and Shop behind Steinfeld's department store. West Pennington Street and Pima County Courthouse are at right.
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2014: A man runs along Pennington Street near the Quick Print at the Bank of America building at 33 N. Stone Ave., formerly a free parking lot behind the old Steinfeld's department store.
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1961: Workers from Harlow Nursery plant Joshua and fan palm trees in front of a business as part of a city beautification project.
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2014: Palm trees have been replaced by oak trees in front of the Citizen Building at 82 S. Stone, now offices of COPE Community Services. Western cities like Tucson realized that palm trees don't provide needed shade and are no fun to maintain. Many cities have removed them over the years.
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1950: Looking south along North Oracle Road toward a new two-lane Rillito River bridge under construction.Β
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2014: Traffic proceeds southbound on North Oracle Road near West River Road, long after the road was widened to four lanes with a median.
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1972: The Fox Buena Vista Theater at 251 S. Wilmot Road after expansion and remodeling.
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2014:Β The Hampton Inn and Suites at 251 S. Wilmot Road, where the Fox Buena Vista TheaterΒ once showed first-run features.
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1954: Jones Boulevard at Speedway Boulevard, looking south. Note the Tucson cop chatting with somebody in the patrol car, lower left, and the vintage Texaco station at right.
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2014:Β Jones Boulevard at Speedway Boulevard, looking south, which at one time had a Texaco gas station on the corner and Korby's department store across the street. Speedway is much wider and a Grease Monkey occupies the corner where the Texaco stood.Β
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1970: Two kids angle for a polo ball after a polo match at North Fort Lowell Road east of Columbus.Β
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2014: The area north of Fort Lowell near the end of Columbus at the Rillito River, where polo ponies once raced, has been reclaimed by nature and the Creekside and Town and Country II housing developments.
Downtown Tucson Then and Now
Updated
This is the 200 block of East Congress Street in Tucson, south side looking east in June, 1965. An optometrist business anchors the corner and the rest of the stores are dotted with small businesses including an barber shop and shoe store.
Downtown Tucson Then and Now
Updated
The Crescent Tobacco Shop and Newstand at 200 E Congress (looking east) anchors a variety of shops across from the Ronstadt Transit Center. The photo was taken on Thursday, January 9, 2014.
Downtown Tucson Then and Now
Updated
This is the 300 block of East Congress Street in Tucson in Feb. 1972. At far left is the Paramount, now known as the Rialto Theatre.
Downtown Tucson Then and Now
Updated
The historic Rialto Theatre at 318 E Congress St (looking south east) now anchors the building at South Fifth Avenue. At one time, The Paramount movie theatre was in its place. Cadence, the new student housing building is in the background on the left. The photo was taken on Thursday, January 9, 2014.
Downtown Tucson Then and Now
Updated
This is the 200 block of East Congress Street, the north side looking east in June, 1965. There is the Federal Credit Clothing business along with Brott Jewelry, Posners art supply store and much further down the street, the Hotel Congress.
Downtown Tucson Then and Now
Updated
The Ronstadt Transit Center, at 215 E Congress St., is in the foreground while the Martin Luther King Jr Apartments and Hotel Congress toward the back. At one time there was a Federal Credit Clothing store, a Brott Jewelry store, Posners art supply store and more along the street. The photo was taken on Thursday, January 9, 2014.
