Copyrights and Site Access

Some materials and sources may be subject to copyrights though nothing that originates on either the blog or website is copyrighted. This creates some complications: 

• For fair use of some materials, our use must be for educational, research or scholarship purposes. Those are the purposes of the website which has no commercial purpose. 
• The website is not public. Users are expected to use the site only for the above purposes and never for any commercial purpose. To preserve the non-public status of the website, registration of users is required. 
• The inconvenience of registration is unfortunate but I will be glad to help any of the few people I expect to seek registration. If you don't already have a Google account, you will need to create one. If you have a Gmail address, you already have a Google account. How to: Create a Google Account
• The blog is public and is not to contain any copyrighted materials. Posts I create or submitted by someone other than me become a part of the public domain (no copyright). 

Website Fixed

Earlier this week, a friend told me that the website would not work for him. I looked into it and found that there was a problem caused by human error (mine). It is now fixed. Thanks Jim. 

I'm sorry if this inconvenienced you. 

I've been occupied the last few days doing backups of my online accounts to reduce the risk of data loss. That's done for now, so I'm back to doing research and posting articles. 

New material and Better Organization

I've found many historic photos of Tucson's early years, many more than I can use here. While doing that, I learned some new things about our city. I'm not surprised but didn't know that Tucson had an Indian school. Such schools are quite controversial today, with good reason. There are a great many pictures related to the school but I want to know more about the lives of their students. Perhaps there are still former students willing to share their stories. 

Naturally there are more photos of more recent times but I would like to stick mostly with the WW II years and earlier. I also want to focus on the downtown and the five Historic Preservation Zones but as time passed, these communities were influenced by events outside of those places. Major events in the growing city should not be ignored. There is still a lot of research to be done. 

As I filled in the pages with new content some reorganization seemed best. The main two subject areas are history and historic preservation. In some ways, each is distinct but the boundaries become blurred in some cases. The goal is to make it easy for you or me to access material of interest. That's not as easy as I first thought. 

My last chore will probably never be entirely completed: finding and fixing broken or erroneous links. It's annoying to click a link and get nothing of use. There are hundreds of links in a complex website and the content they point to can be moved or deleted. Each link must be tested and fixed as needed. A good link today may be bad tomorrow. 

If you discover any problem in the blog or website, please let me know at historictucson@gmail.com. 

Progress Report

I've made good progress at organizing and adding new content to the website; there is still much to be done. Portraits and biographic sketches of early Tucsonans have been added; more will be coming. Some pages are nearly complete but others are waiting for my attention. If you come across a blank or incomplete page, please be patient. I'll get around to it. Many pages are nearly complete. If you have comments, questions or problems, please let me know at historictucson@gmail.com. 

Big Changes

The structure of this site and arrangement of the content have been substantially changed, The blog (https://historictucson.blogspot.com/) is still the best starting place. Blog posts like this one will point out new or reorganized content along with discussion of historic information in the Old Pueblo. Some blog posts may be the basis for new pages on the website. Google Sites is the host for the web pages and provides many more features to organize the content and make it more useful to those viewing the site. 

The Topics page (https://sites.google.com/view/historictucson/topics) on the website is a way to see the variety of subject categories and pages on the site. It is the home page of the website and is where the link near the top of the left column of the blog will take you. The Topics menu at the top of every web page has the same function. 

I have cleaned up many broken or outdated links but there are more likely to need attention. if you find a bad link or other problem, please let me know at historictucson@gmail.com.

Back to Work

After another long break I'm returning to collecting and publishing materials about old Tucson's history and efforts to preserve historic structures that enrich our community. 

More work is needed to make sure all parts of the site are working properly. There are many links and some will be broken or no longer current. Please let me know if you encounter any problems. 

I will resume devoting most efforts to locating source material and organizing it for easier access. It will be a work in progress even as I resume posting articles. If you are a history buff, you may find the research sources helpful as you research your own interests in Tucson history. If you want to see the current version of the research sources page, click here.

Community history is a niche interest, especially researching and writing about it, but if you are interested in either of these activities, please contact me at historictucson@gmail.com (preferred) or use the Contact Me form at the bottom of the left column.

For over seven years, I lived in a 1900 brick bungalow in Armory Park and became interested in the history and was active in neighborhood affairs. I've since moved but still live in downtown Tucson and my interest in the city's history broadened. Previous posts were mostly about Armory Park and have not had new ones added for some time. Now that I have given up my neighborhood activities, I can resume working on this blog and researching Tucson history more broadly. 

I am still devoting most efforts to locating source material and organizing it for easier access. It will be a work in progress even as I resume posting articles. If you are a history buff, you may find the sources helpful as you research your own interests in Tucson history. If you want to see the current version of the sources page, click here. 

Since this site has not been updated for some time and there are many links, there will be some links that are broken or no longer current. Please let me know if you encounter any problems. 

Community history is a niche interest, especially researching and writing about it, but if you are interested in either of these activities, please contact me at historictucson@gmail.com (preferred) or use the Contact Me form at the bottom of the left column. 

Review: Living in the Past

An Owner's Guide to Understanding & Repairing an Old Home

Many people coming to Armory Park are novices in the details of living in an historic home and neighborhood. Author Scott Sidler has provided answers to the questions us novices should have asked. 

Perhaps the best way to learn what this book has to offer is to review the subject matter extracted from the Table of Contents:

WHO NEEDS THIS BOOK?

INTRODUCTION

UNDERSTANDING YOUR OLD HOUSE

WHAT IS A HISTORIC HOUSE?

WHY SHOULD I BUY AN OLD HOUSE?

BEFORE YOU BUY AN OLD HOUSE

PRESERVATION OR REMODELING

DEALING WITH HISTORIC DISTRICTS

THE "GREEN" OLD HOME

MODERN LIFE IN AN OLD HOUSE

RENOVATING THE RIGHT WAY

THE DANGERS OF DEFERRED MAINTENANCE

HISTORIC HOME MAINTENANCE 101

THE 5 WORST MISTAKES OF HISTORIC HOME OWNERS

OLD HOUSE HEALTH HAZARDS

REPAIRING YOUR OLD HOUSE

WORKING WITH FLOORS

WORKING WITH WINDOWS

WORKING WITH DOORS

WORKING WITH PLASTER

WORKING WITH EXTERIOR WOOD

WORKING WITH PAINT

WHY DOES ANY OF THIS MATTER

The best time to read the book is before purchasing an historic property. The challenges of maintaining or repairing an old house may be more than you want to take on. If you have exterior changes in mind, you may find that the historic review process will make those changes impossible or more difficult. The process will always take time and may incur more cost. There are permit fees involved.

If you decide to go forward or already own an Armory Park property, the second section can be helpful. The tips regarding some of the most common repair tasks may help with your repairs. 

I couldn't find the book in the Pima County Library system. The print version of the book is fairly expensive at $33 but you can buy the Kindle version for $10. Here is the link at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=living+in+the+past&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

Whichever you choose, this book will be useful as you live the adventure of caring for an old house or decide that this adventure is not for you. 

The AZ Republic Likes Armory Park

The reputation of Armory Park as a historic gem even extends to Phoenix. This article appeared on the azcentral.com website on 10/15/21. 

Armory Park 

Armory Park, just south of the city center, is the first residential district in Tucson to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, according to the Blenman-Elm Neighborhood Association.

Research Team

History research can be a team sport. Finding historic details is like a detective story. Success is built on leads, tips and networking with others who may have a part of the picture. Put these things together and another bit of Armory Park history emerges. I would like to facilitate collaboration among the Armory Park residents who are interested in our history. 

There are two ways for you history buffs to stay engaged. The easiest is to become a follower which you can do by clicking on the blue button in the left column. This will notify you of each post to this blog. 

The second way is to become part of the Armory Park history discussion group. Just send me an email indicating your desire to join and I'll add you to the list. This will be a forum for sharing neighborhood history and research options. Since not all Armory Park listserv members are history buffs, it is considerate for us to limit the amount of discussion on that platform. Since only people interested in history will sign up to our discussion group, you can feel free to discuss whatever you want. 

I hope one or both of these options will help you to be a part of our Armory Park history research team. If you have trouble with either, please let me know at blog@kmtaylor.com. 

Historic Gem For Sale

 

One of Armory Park's historic gems has been on the market for a while now. The McGinty-Laos house at the corner of 4th Avenue and 17th Street was featured in the Armory Park 74ff study which led to creation of our Historic Preservation Zone. It is a late 1800s bungalow with a large family room addition at the rear. It is set on one of the few full-depth lots spanning from 4th Avenue to Railroad Avenue. The main house has two bedrooms and there is another in a structure at the rear of the lot. You can see marketing details on Zillow at https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/647-S-4th-Ave-Tucson-AZ-85701/8484203_zpid/.