Arizona

Located at the Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza near the State Capitol in Phoenix, the 9/11 Memorial in Arizona was unveiled on Sept. 11, 2006. The memorial is often — and perhaps best — described as a circular plan with a flat inclined metal ring. The memorial opened to some controversy. The controversy centered on a number of quotes engraved into the ring, including “Congress Questions Why CIA and FBI Didn’t Prevent Attacks” and “You Don’t Win Battles of Terrorism With More Battles.”

Since 1983, the Arizona Railway Museum has been dedicated to preserving and interpreting the state’s railroad history. The museum moved to its current location at the southwestern edge of Tumbleweed Park since 2006. Two items in its collection are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. They are Southern Pacific Railroad Locomotive No. SP 2562 (and Tender No. 8365) and Railroad Steam Wrecking Crane and Tool Car.

The Bird Cage Theatre was a theater, saloon, gambling parlor and brothel. It operated from 1881 to 1889. Of the theatre, someone once called it “the wildest, wickedest night spot between Basin Street and the Barbary Coast.” Stepping into this said-to-be-haunted theater is like stepping into a time machine. When the establishment close in 1889, its doors were sealed until 1934. The old theater remains riddled with bullet holes. One of the more interesting artifacts is a poker table that hosted a game that allegedly lasted for more than eight years, five months and three days. Doc Holliday (the legendary dentist) and Adolphus Busch (who created some beer or something) were among the famous people who participated in the game.

The 140-acre Desert Botanical Garden was established in 1939 and is home to more than 21,000 flowers. Plants are on display along five thematic trails that cover a range of topics, including conservation, desert living and people of the Sonoran Desert.

El Tiradito is a famous shrine in the Old Barrio section of Tucson. The memorial is said to be the only Catholic shrine in the country “dedicated to a sinner buried in unconsecrated ground.” According to one version of the legend, the monument honors Juan Oliveras, an 18-year-old ranch hand who had an affair with his mother-in-law. His father-in-law subsequently killed Oliveras. The original shrine dates to 1870, but the current version dates to 1920s. The shrine is said to exemplify Sonoran Catholicism, a blending of Catholic doctrine with local customs. The National Register of Historic Places added it to its list in 1971.

The Gilbert 9/11 Memorial features an 8-foot steel girder beam that once held up the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Gilbert Fire Chief Collin DeWitt and Assistant Fire Chief Jim Jobusch drove to New York City to personally collect the beam, then gave it the same honorable and respectful ride home they would give to a fallen soldier. Before it was installed at the memorial, the beam traveled through town so residents could see, touch and learn about it. The memorial was designed and built in four months. It also features four granite walls with the names of those lost in the attacks.

In 2004, the hometown of “Mr. Conservative” Barry Goldwater unveiled a statue of its most famous resident. Sculpted by Arizona artist Joe Beeler, the statue stands one-and-a-half times taller than Goldwater did in life. Located on a busy corner in the heart of Paradize Valley, Ariz., Goldwater’s likeness stands in the shadow of his former home. The monument is surrounded by neatly landscaped terrain featuring a plethora of local flora. An avid ham radio operator, Goldwater is perhaps best remembered for helping rekindle the conservative movement during the 1960s, publishing the acclaimed “The Conscience of a Conservative” in 1960.

The story of Arizona would be far from complete without the Native American perspective. While it is at times a difficult story to tell and a difficult story to hear, the Heard Museum does a magnificent job brining the Native American Experience to life. Dwight B. and Maie Bartlett Heard founded the museum in 1929 to house their personal art collection. Today, the 130,000-square-foot museum features more than 40,000 items in its collection, including the Barry Goldwater collection of Hopi kachina dolls.

Jacob Waltz could be called the ultimate wanderlust. According to legend, he discovered a great gold mine somewhere in the hills around Apache Junction, but the precise location was lost to history after he died in 1891. A monument in Apache Junction helps keep his story and the legend of the Lost Dutchman alive.

This 200,000-square-foot, $250 million museum museum opened in April 2010. Its collection is astounding, bringing together more than 15,000 instruments from 200-plus countries under one roof. But, these are not just static displays. To bring the instruments to life, the museum uses a combination of wireless technology and high-resolution videos. When a museum guest approaches a video screen, they can listen to and watch the instruments in action, played by true artisans who can bring them to life.

Old Tucson is half movie studio and half theme park that features live entertainment, including action stunt shows and musicals. Columbia Pictures built the studio on land Pima County owned, in 1938 to serve as a replica of 1860s Tucson for the movie Arizona. Over the years, dozens of producers have turned to Old Tucson to film at the studio, including 1993’s Tombstone. Today, guests can walk the studio’s streets, ride on a miniature train, watch shows and see how stuntmen film gunfights for movies. Old Tucson is near the western portion of Saguaro National Park.

The Pima Air & Space Museum is one of the world’s largest aerospace museums. The museum, established in 1976, is home to roughly 300 aircraft and more than 125,000 artifacts displayed outdoors and in five hangars across more than 80 acres. Its collection includes an SR-71A Blackbird, an A-10 Warthog, a Boeing B-29 Superfortress and President Kennedy’s Air Force One. The museum, situated adjacent to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, is the country’s third largest aviation museum and the largest privately funded aviation and aerospace museum in the world. The museum is also home to the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame.

The Saguaro cactus is perhaps the most endearing symbol of the Sonoran Desert and the American southwest. Among the best places to see these marvels of nature up close is the 92,000-acre Saguaro National Park. There are two sections of the park: east (the Rincon Mountain District) and west (the Tucson Mountain District). President Herbert Hoover in 1933 used the Antiquities Act to establish the Saguaro National Monument, and President John. F. Kennedy added the Tucson Mountain District in 1961. In 1994, Congress combined the two districts to form the national park. Today, in addition to the stunning views, there are 165 miles of trails for visitors to explore.

The Southern Arizona Transportation Museum preserves and interprets the history of railroads in southern Arizona. The one-time records vault building at the former Southern Pacific depot houses the museum. The city of Tucson purchased the building in 1998 and renovated it in 2004 to restore it to its 1941 style. Tucson Mayor Bob Walkup helped dedicate the museum on March 20, 2005, the 125th anniversary of the arrival of the railroad in Tucson. The centerpiece of this museum is Southern Pacific locomotive No. 1673. Schenectady Locomotive Works built the steamer in 1900, and it starred in the movie Oklahoma in 1955.

On March 20, 1882, Deputy U.S. Marshal Wyatt Earp shot and killed Frank Stillwell in the Tucson train yards. Stillwell likely killed Earp’s brother, Morgan, following the Shootout at the OK Corral in Tombstone, and Earp formed a posse to hunt down to pursue suspects, an event later remembered as the Earp Vendetta Ride. Sculptor Dan Bates created the statue of Earp and Doc Holliday that stands near the historic Tucson depot. The sculpture debuted on March 20, 2005, the anniversary of the shooting, as part of an overhaul of the historic train depot. Following the shooting of Stillwell, Earp fled Arizona as he was wanted for murder.

The Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also called St. Mary’s Basilica, is the oldest Catholic parish and the second oldest church in Phoenix. Between 1872 and 1881, Catholic priests from Florence, Arizona, would travel by buggy every three months to perform the liturgy. The building was constructed between 1902 and 1914, blending the Mission Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival architectural styles. It was officially dedicated in 1915 and replaced an earlier adobe church built in 1881 when the parish was founded. Starting in 1895, Franciscan Friars staffed the parish. Until 1924, it was the only Catholic parish in Phoenix. On September 6, 1976, the Arizona Historical Society named St. Mary’s an historic site. About a decade later, in 1985, Pope John Paul II elevated the church to a minor basilica.

During the 1960s, the U.S. Air Force built 54 missile silos around the country, including 18 around Tucson, Ariz., to defend the country in case of attack. By the 1980s, these Titan Missile silos were obsolete, so President Reagan decommissioned them. The Titan Missile Museum opened on May 21, 1986, inside the former Titan II Missile Site 8 (571-7) in Sahuarita, Ariz., about 20 miles south of Tucson. The museum interprets life at the complex and the steps to fire the missile. The centerpiece of the museum is an inert Titan II intercontinental ballistic missile in the silo.

Tombstone’s Historama offers a historically accurate multimedia account of the history of Tombstone. It features the town’s story from the days of Geronimo’s Apaches to the more recent times and, of course, includes information about the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. The 25-minute show, narrated by actor Vincent Price, also highlights the fires that devastated the community and the flooding that ultimately spelled the end for Tombstone’s mines, making it a helpful overview for anyone looking for more about the backstory of the “Town Too Tough to Die.” Admission to Tombstone’s Historama in included with a ticket to the O.K. Corral.

The Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block was founded 1924 in the El Presidio Historic District of downtown Tucson. The 74,000-square-foot museum features permanent and traveling exhibitions of Modern and Contemporary, Native American, American West, Latin American, and Asian art. The main museum occupies a contemporary building, while the museum’s Historic Block of 19th and 20th century adobe and Mission Revival-style buildings, encompassing an entire four-acre city block, includes the John K. Goodman Pavilion of Western Art, which displays the Museum’s notable art of the American West collection, the Museum restaurant Café a la C’Art, and other exhibition and studio spaces.