Arizona ‘Lawns’ – We’re Not in Kansas Anymore…

Photo of a Sun City Leisure Lawn included in a March 1963 National Geographic article on Arizona.

Photo of a Sun City Leisure Lawn included in a March 1963 National Geographic article on Arizona.

Headline and photo from a February 23rd, 1963 Arizona Republic article on Leisure Lawns.

Headline and photo from a February 23rd, 1963 Arizona Republic article on Leisure Lawns.

A 1968 Arizona Republic ad for Leisure Lawn Stones.

A 1968 Arizona Republic ad for Leisure Lawn Stones.

Bermuda grass is considered a weed in most parts of the nation. In many Arizona communities, however, a patch of bermuda is not an unsightly blight on the landscape, but is instead thought of as a ‘lawn.’ Of course, the blistering heat of an Arizona summer often proves overwhelming for even the best maintained Sonoran Desert-variety lawns, leading some to seek an alternative to the cost and labor required to maintain grass in the desert. Enter the “Leisure Lawn.”

A 1972 Arizona Republic ad for Leisure Lawn Stones.

A 1972 Arizona Republic ad for Leisure Lawn Stones.

Arizonans who have driven through Sun City, Mesa’s Leisure World, Pima County’s Green Valley, or any number of mobile home parks throughout the Phoenix, Tucson, and Yuma metropolitan areas have likely seen many such lawns, which appear verdant year-round regardless of temperature or rainfall levels. The rich green color of these lawns is not the result of a Space Age turf-greening technology developed at one of the state’s universities. Rather, it is a material no more technologically advanced than the pet rock was biologically innovative — painted rocks.

A 1973 Arizona Republic ad for Leisure Lawn Stones.

A 1973 Arizona Republic ad for Leisure Lawn Stones.

Leisure Lawns came about as a product intended to serve as a low-cost, no maintenance lawn that that could withstand the brutal Arizona sun, thrive in times of drought, and render lawn mowers obsolete. Though now little more than a kitschy relic of Arizona’s mid-century retiree influx, Leisure Lawns were once quite popular throughout the warmer regions of the Grand Canyon State.

 

A 1976 Arizona Republic ad for Leisure Lawn Stones.

A 1976 Arizona Republic ad for Leisure Lawn Stones.

The green rock fad, something likely incomprehensible to residents of more temperate climes, was touted in a February 23rd, 1963 Arizona Republic article as a choice that allows “retired couples who prefer hobbies to hoeing” to “have an at-ease lawn, thanks to colored gravel,” and won notice in National Geographic’s March 1963 story entitled “Arizona: Booming Youngster of the West.” However, just as tail fins, hula hoops, and drive-in theaters have faded from the scene, so too has the Leisure Lawn. A 2011 Arizona Republic article lamenting the demise of the water-conscious landscaping option detailed the growing rarity of this once-common sight, bringing renewed — albeit brief — attention to green rock landscaping. In this age of xeriscaping, might Leisure Lawns be poised for a comeback? Just imagine the Phoenix Open played on a course comprised of green-painted rocks…

Arizona and the Moon Landing

 

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The front page of the July 25th, 1969 Arizona Republic, which featured a headline announcing the safe return of the triumphant Apollo 11 crew.

The front page headline of the July 25th, 1969 Arizona Republic announced, “They’re back and safe,” they being the three Apollo 11 astronauts who had splashed down in the Pacific Ocean the day prior, thus completing their heroic “giant leap for mankind.” Terrestrial sites most often associated with the July 1969 moon landing include the Kennedy Space Center near Cape Canaveral, Florida, from which the Moon-bound rocket blasted off on July 16th, and NASA’s Houston, Texas Mission Control Center. However, several Arizona locations number among the lesser known sites tied to the overall success of the Apollo 11 mission specifically and astrogeology in general.

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A postcard showing Arizona’s Meteor Crater, one of the many sites visited by NASA astronauts in preparation for the Apollo moon missions of the 1960s and 1970s.

While training for lunar missions including Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong and other astronauts visited the Grand Canyon, Meteor Crater, Sunset Crater, and Kitt Peak National Observatory. Cinder Lake and Sunset Crater proved to be important locations for testing technology such as cameras and vehicles to be deployed on the Moon and Flagstaff proudly served as home to the U.S. Geological Survey’s Center of Astrogeology, a significant contributor to NASA’s successful Apollo program. Though now little-known for its role in putting men on the Moon, the Flagstaff area did receive widespread recognition during the historic mission. Notably, CBS assigned several journalists to report on-location from the Flagstaff area during the network’s Apollo 11 coverage.

For more information on Arizona’s contributions to the field of astrogeology, please visit http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2005/1190/of2005-1190.pdf.

Arizona Petrified Wood in the Walls of the Washington Monument

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The assembled crowd of dignitaries and spectators present at the April 15th, 1924 dedication ceremony included President Coolidge, Senators Ralph Cameron and Henry Fountain Ashurst, Congressman Carl Hayden, and former Arizona Governor Thomas Campbell.
Image credit: Library of Congress

Senators Ralph Cameron and Henry Fountain Ashurst, Congressman Carl Hayden, and former Governor Thomas Campbell dedicated the Washington Monument’s Arizona stone ninety years ago this month. President Calvin Coolidge also spoke at the event, as did Nina Smith, the state Daughters of the American Revolution regent attending the ceremony as Governor Hunt’s official representative. Fittingly, our stone differs from those of all other states as it consists not of granite, marble, limestone, sandstone, or gneiss, but three slabs of petrified wood. The specimens displayed in the monument to President Washington were collected from the Chalcedony Forest near Holbrook, not far from the stunning and somewhat otherworldly landscapes of Petrified Forest National Park.

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April 15th, 1925 Prescott Evening Courier coverage of the dedication ceremony.

Each state of the Union boasts a stone of its own in the Washington Monument, as do many cities, organizations, companies, individuals, and foreign governments. If the choice to embed three pieces of Arizona petrified wood into the walls of the Washington Monument was made out of a desire to draw attention to Arizona’s uniqueness, those in charge of the selection achieved their purpose. President Calvin Coolidge’s dedicatory remarks included reference to the state’s grand agricultural potential and significant mineral resources. Likely to the great pleasure of farmers throughout the Grand Canyon State, Silent Cal asked the assembled crowd, “Do we fully realize that the Valley of the Nile, producing sustenance for the mother civilizations, and long afterward serving as the granary of Imperial Rome, was not to be compared for area of productive possibilities to the great valleys of semi-tropic Arizona when they shall presently have been watered by the works of engineering, as the Nile was watered by the works of nature?” More closely related to the petrified wood forests from which the newly placed Arizona stone originated, Coolidge praised the state’s overall importance, saying, “its riches in forests, in metals and minerals, in the inviting glories of the world’s most wonderful scenery will make it one of the wealthiest states.”

While still in place, the various commemorative stones are no longer as accessible as they once were. Visitors to the monument were formerly able to choose between riding an elevator or climbing stairs to reach the 500-foot level observation deck. Those who chose the stairs were rewarded with up-close views of the many stones worked into the walls of the monument, none of which could be seen from inside the elevator car. Now, however, visitors must plan ahead if they wish to view the state stones as the obelisk’s elevator is the standard mode of passage to the top. Visitors hoping to take the more scenic — and cardio-friendly — route to the top of what was once the world’s tallest structure must reserve a special tour in advance of their visit (plan ahead – the Washington Monument is slated to reopen on May 12th of this year). Thankfully, those choosing to ascend to the top in a more expeditious manner can now view selected stones through the special gas-filled elevator doors that clear several times over the course of the ride to allow passengers a fleeting glance at the most notable stones.

For more information on the Arizona stone and other stones donated over the years, please visit http://www.nps.gov/media/photo/gallery.htm?id=1EFD723B-1DD8-B71C-07E7EC2F30C1E167.

Castle Hot Springs – Going Once, Going Twice…

I once again had the pleasure of discussing Arizona history with Nadine Arroyo Rodriguez of KJZZ’s “The Show.” Today’s topic: Castle Hot Springs, “the grand dowager of Arizona’s resorts.”

Have a listen…

http://kjzz.org/content/20407/piece-arizona-history-sale-castle-hot-springs

Mercury Mining in Dreamy Draw

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A Depression-era photo taken from Arizona Department of Mines and Mineral Resources Bulletin 103, “A Review of Mercury Mining in the Phoenix Mountains, Maricopa County.” The caption shown accompanies the image in the bulletin.
Image credit: Arizona Department of Mines and Mineral Resources

Television weather forecasters often use the word mercury as a synonym for temperature, particularly when reporting on the summer heat. As such, it is appropriate that mercury, an element sometimes known as quicksilver, was once mined in the Valley of the Sun. Though the mercury-laden cinnabar found in the Phoenix Mountains yielded a relatively insignificant amount of the deleterious material used in the manufacture of explosives, thermometers, and a number of scientific instruments, its presence in the hills surrounding State Route 51 near Northern Avenue is reflected in nearby place names to this very day. Dreamy Draw, the area now enjoyed by many hikers and other outdoor enthusiasts, gained its moniker from the dazed, or ‘dreamy,’ effect witnessed in miners who worked with the neurotoxin, while Paradise Valley Unified School District’s Mercury Mine Elementary School takes its name from the filled-in mineshaft atop which the school’s ball field now sits.

I recently had the pleasure of discussing the history of Phoenix-area mercury mining with Nadine Arroyo Rodriguez, a reporter for KJZZ’s The Show, a weekly program that airs from 2 to 3 on Friday afternoons. To listen to Nadine’s segment and learn more about this interesting, albeit relatively unknown aspect of Valley history, please visit the following link:http://www.kjzz.org/content/1310/did-you-know-how-dreamy-draw-got-its-name.