Casa Grande Ruins National Monument

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The Hohokam people lived in the Arizona area from 300 a.d. to about the year 1450. In the latter years of their stay, they built a big house that today remains as the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. It is in today’s town of Coolidge, Arizona, which proud welcome sign reads: “The home of the Casa Grande Ruins.”

The big house in its heyday was surrounded by smaller structures – homes, ball parks, water canals, etc. Hundreds of people lived in this land that suffered first droughts, then floods, and that eventually became too hostile to support them.

The big house remains a mystery of what it was used for, how it was built, and what its several circular windows specifically placed to wait for the sun and the moon say regarding the depth of the Hohokam’s scientific discoveries.

Through the years, centuries really, people kept just walking by it. Others felt moved to write their “I was here” of sorts by signing their name and the date on the rock. It was pretty much vandalism, but it was done so long ago (some in the 1800s!) that their signatures are by now sort of historical graffiti. One of the pictures below shows a signature that reads: “J.W. Ward – Sgt. 1^st Cavalry – 1871.” Tsk-Tsk-Tsk Sergeant Ward! You should not have written on a historical monument!

... but seriously, how cool is that!

A big roof was installed over the big house several years ago. It has effectively stopped the deterioration of the building due to rain. Some obvious reconstruction has been done to keep the structure from falling. Lots of birds have made the house their home, so there’s plenty of bird poop around. A big owl sat like a king on one of the roof’s beams when I was there. The visitors' brochure said there would be bats but none were visible to me. Bummer.

Visiting Casa Grande does not take long and is a great break for a long day of driving between destinations. There is a charge of $5 for people 16 and over. There is a picnicking area so you could schedule it to be your eating break. They have a film that plays every half hour and a guided tour that starts on the hour. I did neither one and enjoyed it just fine, however.



Casa Grande Ruins National Monument

1100 West Ruins Drive,

Coolidge, AZ 85128

[phone]

http://www.nps.gov/cagr/index.htm

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