2015 Tucson: Tubac (5/14/2015)

Thursday, May 14, 2015 (continued)
Madera Canyon was a dead end, and we retraced our way back to I-19 and continued south to the Tubac Presidio State Historic Park.
Here the lady at the desk had us watch a 7-minute video which would help us decide if we wanted to pay the $5 to enter the open-air museum. We had already decided we would do so, but then she kept us for a long discussion about the weather and  Cleveland's Blizzard of 1978. The park does have a nice printed booklet for a self-guided tour.
The visitor center had some period furnishings, a model and paintings of the presidio/fort, and a touch table of assorted antique household items.

Territorial Schoolhouse (1885); second oldest in Arizona

Schoolhouse interior

List of punishments, part 1

List of punishments, part 2

Tamiko wielding a ruler (KAH)

Sections of presidio walls of the commandant's house;
stairs took you down to see the fort foundations from 1752

The presidio or fort was established by the Spanish in 1752, and was the first European settlement in Arizona. The fort was moved to Tucson in 1776. By 1860, Tubac was the largest town in Arizona, but with removal of the troops during the Civil War, they were left open to attacks from the Apaches.

Arrastra for grinding ore to extract gold or silver

Print shop in museum (KAH)

The Washington Hand Press and all the type was brought from Cincinnati, OH and used to print Arizona’s first newspaper in 1859, The Weekly Arizonian.

Rojas House, a vernacular row house

Rooms are added as needed, in a single line

Boys playing marbles

There was a group of school children participating in a program to study an era of history where they come in period dress with lunch pails, and attend the school on the grounds.

Conestoga wagon

St Anne's Church is located on the site
of the original presidio church

A patch of grass...

Old shops

Tubac had become a town of writers and artists, with many interesting artisan shops.

We drove down the frontage road to Tumacácori, to Wisdom's Café for lunch.

Wisdom's Café

Karen with one of the café's chickens

We shared a cheese crisp/fried tortilla topped with cheese, that also had turkey, lettuce , and tomato on it, sort of like a crisp flauta. Since the café is known for its fruit burritos, we had to split a cherry one.

Cherry fruit burrito

Next: Tumacácori.