Located approximately an hour from Phoenix, we stopped at Casa Grande Ruins National Monument on our way to Tucson. We arrived via Arizona State Route 87 and spied the monument in the distance - recognizable because of the large roof over Casa Grande (the “Great House”). It was disconcerting to find a Walmart just down the street from the entrance to the monument. Located in the city of Coolidge, AZ, this is not an isolated National Park unit.
The ruins are dominated by the Great House and its large steel shelter roof. It is reminiscent of a car canopy placed in the driveway with a car parked underneath it for protection. But unlike a prized older car finding refuge from the weather, there is a four-story ruin constructed of unreinforced clay (caliche). Held together with modern beams, the building and site were defaced by graffiti (carved into the clay) and damaged by souvenir hunting and vandalism during the late 1800s. There is something incongruous about the juxtaposition of the sturdy steel roof and the forlorn ruin hunched beneath it.
We snapped a few pictures and read a few signs before hopping back in the car for the rest of our drive to Tucson.
Wayside Exhibits - text, artwork and audio of the park interpretive signs
History and Culture - history and culture of the ruins including information on the Ancestral Sonoran Desert People
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument Image Collection - historic photographs and architectural maps
