Arizona History Guide

Flagstaff area

A 20-room cliff dwelling built by the Sinagua people around 1100 AD, tucked into a limestone cliff 70 feet above Beaver Creek. One of the best-preserved cliff dwellings in North America. Despite the name, it has nothing to do with the Aztec emperor — early settlers made that mistake.

Flagstaff area

Over 800 ancient pueblo ruins scattered across the red desert north of Flagstaff. The largest — Wupatki Pueblo — was once a thriving trade center with over 100 rooms. The Sinagua, Cohonina, and Ancestral Puebloan peoples built here after Sunset Crater's eruption enriched the soil around 1085 AD.

Monument Valley

The Navajo Nation is the largest Native American reservation in the United States, spanning 27,000 square miles across Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico. Monument Valley's iconic sandstone buttes have been home to the Navajo (Dine) people for centuries. Guided tours led by Navajo guides reveal petroglyphs, ancient dwellings, and cultural stories invisible to the casual visitor.

Flagstaff area

The Hopi have lived on three mesas in northeastern Arizona for over 1,000 years. Old Oraibi, founded around 1100 AD, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in North America. The Hopi Cultural Center on Second Mesa offers a museum, restaurant, and guided tours. Photography restrictions apply — always ask first.

Petrified Forest

Puerco Pueblo within Petrified Forest National Park was home to Ancestral Puebloan people around 1300 AD. The 100-room pueblo sits along the Puerco River, and the nearby petroglyphs include a solar calendar that aligns with the summer solstice. The park preserves both geological and human history spanning millions of years.

Tucson

The "White Dove of the Desert" — a stunning Spanish Colonial mission founded by Father Kino in 1692 and completed in 1797. The ornate Baroque interior is one of the finest examples of Spanish Colonial architecture in the United States. Still an active parish for the Tohono O'odham Nation. Free to visit; donations appreciated.

Tucson area

The site of the first European settlement in Arizona, established as a Spanish presidio in 1752. The park preserves the original presidio foundations, and the museum tells the story of Spanish, Mexican, and American occupation of the Santa Cruz Valley. Today, Tubac is an artist colony, but the layers of history run deep.

Tucson area

Three Spanish mission ruins along the Santa Cruz River, south of Tucson near the Mexican border. The main church at Tumacacori — founded by Jesuits in 1691 — is a haunting ruin with partially intact walls, frescoes, and a domed sanctuary. The annual Tumacacori Festival in December celebrates the region's multicultural heritage.

Tombstone

The "Town Too Tough to Die" — site of the legendary Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in 1881, where Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday faced the Clanton-McLaury gang. Today, the entire town is a National Historic Landmark with daily reenactments, the Bird Cage Theatre, Boothill Graveyard, and saloons that have been pouring whiskey since the silver mining days.

Bisbee

Once the largest copper mining town in the world, Bisbee produced over 8 billion pounds of copper before the mines closed in 1975. The Copper Queen Mine Tour takes you 1,500 feet into the mountain on the same rail cars miners used. Above ground, the Lavender Pit — a massive open-pit mine — is a jaw-dropping testament to the scale of Arizona's mining industry.

Sedona area

A copper mining ghost town perched on Cleopatra Hill above the Verde Valley. Jerome went from a population of 15,000 in the 1920s to fewer than 50 by the 1950s. Today it's a quirky artist colony with galleries, wine tasting rooms, and the Jerome State Historic Park housed in a former mining mansion. The town literally slid down the mountain — the old jail is 225 feet from its original foundation.

Flagstaff

Arizona has the longest surviving stretch of Route 66 in the country. Flagstaff's downtown is anchored by the Mother Road, with neon signs, historic motels, and diners that haven't changed since the 1950s. The stretch from Seligman to Kingman is the most scenic — a winding two-lane road through high desert with classic Americana at every turn.

Phoenix area

Opened in 1876 on a bluff above the Colorado River, the Yuma Territorial Prison held over 3,000 inmates during its 33 years of operation — including 29 women. Conditions were harsh but surprisingly progressive for the era, with a library and hospital. The prison museum preserves original cells, guard towers, and the dark hole solitary confinement cell.

Phoenix

Arizona became the 48th state on February 14, 1912 — the last of the contiguous states to join the Union. The Capitol building in Phoenix, topped with its distinctive copper dome (what else in the Copper State?), houses a museum covering territorial days through statehood. Free admission.

Phoenix area

Built during the Great Depression between 1931 and 1936, Hoover Dam tamed the Colorado River and made modern Phoenix and the agricultural boom of central Arizona possible. The dam is 726 feet tall and created Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States. Guided tours of the power plant and dam interior run daily.

Phoenix

One of the finest museums of Native American art and culture in the world, located in central Phoenix. The permanent collection spans centuries of Southwest Native art, from ancient pottery to contemporary installations. The "HOME: Native People in the Southwest" exhibit is essential viewing for understanding Arizona's indigenous cultures.

Saguaro National Park

The saguaro cactus is Arizona's most recognizable symbol — and this national park flanking Tucson protects the largest concentration of them on earth. Some saguaros live over 200 years and grow to 40 feet tall. The park's Rincon Mountain and Tucson Mountain districts preserve Sonoran Desert landscapes that represent Arizona's natural heritage as powerfully as any man-made monument.