The Acadia Ranch, now the Acadia Ranch Museum and home of the Oracle Historical Society,
Retrieved 2013-09-14. at 825 E. Mt. Lemmon Highway
[ in ]Oracle
An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination.
Description
The word '' ...
in Pinal County, Arizona, is a historic ranch complex built up during 1885 to 1930.[ A portion of the ranch was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. The listing included two ]contributing buildings
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...
: the Acadia Ranch House and an outbuilding which includes a smokehouse and a garage. It also included a contributing structure
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...
: a water tower.[
The property was developed as a lodging house for travelers and summer visitors in the 1880s by Mr. and Mrs. Edwin S. Dodge, in partnership with a Jack Aldwinkle. One room served as Oracle's U.S. Post Office from 1985 to 1901. The Dodges had previously operated a lodging house in Tucson, which is to the south; the Oracle location in the San is significantly cooler at its elevation in foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains.][
The Acadia Ranch House, the main house of the ranch, faces north on E. Mt. Lemmon Highway, a principal street through Oracle, which, in 1984, was ]Arizona State Route 77
State Route 77 (or SR 77) is a state highway in Arizona that traverses much of the state's length, stretching from its northern terminus at the boundary of the Navajo Nation north of Holbrook to its junction with I-10 in Tucson.
Route descriptio ...
(AZ 77).[Google maps] The AZ 77 highway was rerouted in 1964, and now goes around Oracle on the north; E. American Avenue, very close to the house, is also known as Old Highway 77.[
The main house is a one-story L-shaped building incorporating a five-room ]adobe
Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...
original area about in plan, and frame, stone, and adobe additions. It has a shed-roofed porch on its north side, facing the street, and extending around the west side, unifying the north elevation. The north side consists of the adobe and stucco core (built in two phases ca. 1880's), a breezeway, and a one-room adobe structure (ca. 1915) to the east.
The Acadia Ranch water tower is a contributing structure, southeast of the main house. It is about in plan and is upon a small hill.[ With ]
The complex was deemed "historically significant for its association with a regional industry oriented towards health and tourism. Also, the Ranch is architecturally significant, within a local context, for its use of adobe as the primary building material. The main house is also important for its evolutionary additive character which reflects its increased use as both a guest ranch and a health resort."[
The smoke house or "ice house" once had four-foot thick adobe walls, which "melted" over the years. This was restored in a project completed in 2013.]
References
External links
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Oracle Historical Society
{{National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places in Pinal County, Arizona
Buildings and structures completed in the 1880s
Museums in Pinal County, Arizona
Ranches on the National Register of Historic Places
Ranches in Arizona
1880s establishments in Arizona Territory
Historical societies in Arizona
History museums in Arizona