Casa Grande Ruins National Monument ( ood, Siwañ Waʼa Ki: or ''Sivan Vahki''), in
Coolidge, Arizona
Coolidge is a city in Pinal County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2020 census, the city's population is 13,218.
Coolidge is home of the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. The monument was the first historic site to receive protect ...
, just north-east of the city of
Casa Grande
, settlement_type = City
, image_skyline = Casa Grande-Casa Grande Union High School-1920-2.jpg
, imagesize = 250px
, image_caption = Historic Casa Grande Union High School which now serves as the ...
, preserves a group of
Hohokam structures dating to the Classic Period ().
History of the area
The
national monument
A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure.
The term may also refer to a spec ...
consists of the
ruins
Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...
of multiple structures surrounded by a compound wall constructed by the ancient people of the Hohokam period, who farmed the
Gila Valley in the early 13th century. "Archeologists have discovered evidence that the ancient Sonoran Desert people who built the Casa Grande also developed wide-scale irrigation farming and extensive trade connections which lasted over a thousand years until about .
"Casa Grande" is
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
for "big house" (''Siwañ Wa'a Ki:'' in
O'odham
The O'odham peoples, including the Tohono O'odham, the Pima or Akimel O'odham, and the Hia C-ed O'odham, are indigenous Uto-Aztecan peoples of the Sonoran desert in southern and central Arizona and northern Sonora, united by a common herita ...
); these names refer to the largest structure on the site, which is what remains of a four-story structure that may have been abandoned by 1450. The structure is made of
caliche
Caliche () is a sedimentary rock, a hardened natural cement of calcium carbonate that binds other materials—such as gravel, sand, clay, and silt. It occurs worldwide, in aridisol and mollisol soil orders—generally in arid or semiarid regions ...
, and has managed to survive the extreme weather conditions for about seven centuries. The large house consists of outer rooms surrounding an inner structure. The outer rooms are all three stories high, while the inner structure is four stories high. The structures were constructed using traditional adobe processes. The wet adobe is thicker at the base and adds significant strength. Noticeable horizontal cracks define the breaks between courses on the thick outer walls. The process consisted of using damp adobe to form the walls and then waiting for it to dry, and then building it up with more adobe. Casa Grande contained a ball court much like that found at
Pueblo Grande de Nevada
Pueblo Grande de Nevada, (26 CK 2148), is a complex of villages located near Overton, Nevada, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Native American history
The site, also known as ''Nevada's "Lost City"'', was founded by Basket ...
. Father
Eusebio Kino
Eusebio Francisco Kino ( it, Eusebio Francesco Chini, es, Eusebio Francisco Kino; 10 August 1645 – 15 March 1711), often referred to as Father Kino, was a Tyrolean Jesuit, missionary, geographer, explorer, cartographer and astronomer born i ...
was the first European to view the Hohokam complex in November 1694 and named it Casa Grande.
Graffiti
Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...
from 19th-century passers-by is scratched into its walls; though this is now illegal. Casa Grande now has a distinctive modern roof covering built in 1932.
Administrative history
In 1891, the monument underwent repairs supervised by
Cosmos Mindeleff of the
Bureau of American Ethnology
The Bureau of American Ethnology (or BAE, originally, Bureau of Ethnology) was established in 1879 by an act of Congress for the purpose of transferring archives, records and materials relating to the Indians of North America from the Interior D ...
, until funds ran out. Proclaimed Casa Grande Reservation on June 22, 1892 by
Executive Order 28-A of President
Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia–a grandson of the ninth pr ...
, 480 acres around the ruins became the first prehistoric and cultural reserve in the United States. It was then re-designated a national monument by President
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
on August 3, 1918. As with all historical areas administered by the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
, Casa Grande was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
on October 15, 1966.
Historic adobes
Between 1937 and 1940 the
Civilian Conservation Corps
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of ...
built several adobe buildings to serve as housing and administrative offices for the national monument. The adobe buildings, constructed using traditional methods, continue in use today and are now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Because of careful conservation, the physical appearance of Casa Grande Ruins has hardly changed since the 1940s.
Olmsted shelter
In 1932, a
ramada to shelter the ruins from weathering was built by Boston architect
Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. In the early 21st century, a pair of
great horned owl
The great horned owl (''Bubo virginianus''), also known as the tiger owl (originally derived from early naturalists' description as the "winged tiger" or "tiger of the air"), or the hoot owl, is a large owl native to the Americas. It is an extrem ...
s took up residence in the rafters of the Olmsted shelter.
The current protective structure covering the "Great House" replaced a wooden similar structure built to protect it in 1903. Due to the fragile nature of the "Great House," visitors to the site are not permitted inside. To protect its integrity, observation by visitors is only permitted outside the structure.
See also
*
Hohokam Pima National Monument
The Hohokam Pima National Monument is an ancient Hohokam village within the Gila River Indian Community, near present-day Sacaton, Arizona. The monument features the archaeological site Snaketown southeast of Phoenix, Arizona,Martin, Paul and P ...
*
List of the oldest buildings in Arizona
*
Mesa Grande
Mesa Grande Cultural Park, in Mesa, Arizona, preserves a group of Hohokam structures constructed during the Classic Period. The ruins were occupied between AD 1100 and 1400 ( Pueblo II – Pueblo IV Era) and were a product of the Hohokam civil ...
*
Oasisamerica cultures
Oasisamerica is a term that was coined by Paul Kirchhoff (who also coined "Mesoamerica") and published in a 1954 article, and is used by some scholars, primarily Mexican anthropologists, for the broad cultural area defining pre-Columbian sout ...
*
Pueblo Grande Ruin and Irrigation Sites
Pueblo Grande Ruin and Irrigation Sites are pre-Columbian archaeological sites and ruins, located in Phoenix, Arizona. They include a prehistoric platform mound and irrigation canals. The City of Phoenix manages these resources as the Pueblo Gran ...
Gallery
File:Casa Grande. West wall of the Casa Grande ca. 1880.jpg, West wall of the Casa Grande c.1880
File:Casa Grande. The east side of the Casa Grand ca. 1900.jpg, The east side of the Casa Grande c.1900
File:2021 Sivan Vahkih, Casa Grande Ruins, north facade.jpg, The northern facade from the south
File:2021 Sivan Vahkih, Casa Grande Ruins, east facade from northeast.jpg, The northeast corner of the Big House
File:Casa Grande Big House Doorway.jpg, Doorway to the Big House
File:2021 Sivan Vahkih, Casa Grande Ruins, interior 1.jpg, Inside the Big House
File:2021 Casa Grande Ruins 2.jpg, Another ruin in the monument, just to the east
File:2021 Casa Grande Ruins 4.jpg, A ruin to the south of the Big House
References
Notes
Bibliography
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External links
National Park Service: official Casa Grande Ruins National Monument website*
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Buildings and structures completed in the 13th century
National Park Service National Monuments in Arizona
Hohokam
Archaeological sites in Arizona
Archaeological museums in Arizona
Museums in Pinal County, Arizona
Native American museums in Arizona
Native American history of Arizona
Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Arizona
Civilian Conservation Corps in Arizona
1918 establishments in Arizona
Protected areas of Pinal County, Arizona
Ruins in the United States
13th century in North America
Pueblo great houses
Casa Grande, Arizona
Historic American Buildings Survey in Arizona
Works Progress Administration in Arizona
National Register of Historic Places in Pinal County, Arizona
Ancient Puebloan archaeological sites in Arizona