page_title: List of historic properties in Tucson, Arizona
section_title: Brief history
hierarchical_section_title: List of historic properties in Tucson, Arizona / Brief history
caption_attribution_description: English: Adobe Brick Kilns (Ruins) — near, Pima County, Arizona Detail of Adobe Brickwork at arched openings, looking west. The Kilns were built by Spanish colonists in the 18th century. Image courtesy of Historic American Buildings Survey—HABS.
context_page_description: This is a list of historic properties in Tucson, Arizona, which includes a photographic gallery of some of the remaining historic structures. Tucson is a city and the county seat of Pima County. It is the second-largest populated city in Arizona behind Phoenix. Included in this list are the photographs of some of the districts. buildings and individual properties identified as historic by the National Register of Historic Places. Also included are images related to the historic Fort Lowell which was an active United States Army post from 1873 to 1891 on the outskirts of Tucson.
context_section_description: It is unknown exactly when and who were the first Native-American tribes to settle in the Tucson Valley. However, archaeologists have found evidence of agricultural settlements along the Santa Cruz River and have dated these settlements back to 1080 B.C.
  There was an era when the Hohokams lived and farmed in the valley. This was between 200 and 1450 A.D. The disappearance of the Hohokams remains a mystery to this day. It is commonly believed that the Pima and Tohono O'odham are the descendants of the Hohokams and that they continued to inhabit the region. 
  In 1540, Francisco Vázquez de Coronado led an expedition through Arizona in search of transportable riches, rumored to be in the "Seven Cities of Cibola". Coronado and his men were the first Europeans to explore the area, however the "Seven Cities of Cibola", whose structures were supposed to be made of gold, was only a myth. In 1699, Father Eusebio Francisco Kino arrived in the valley and decided to establish a Catholic mission. The mission church, which he named Mission San Xavier del Bac, was not completed until 1797, almost a hundred years later.
  The City of Tucson was officially established in 1775, the year that Hugo Oconór established the Tucson Presidio. O'Connor was born in 1732 in Dublin, Ireland. He moved to Spain where he changed the spelling of his surname to the Spanish sounding "Oconór" and joined the regiment of Volunteers of Aragon. Oconór, a.k.a. "The Founding Father of Tuson" was a military governor of northern Mexico. Tucson, became part of Mexico in 1821, when Mexico fought for and gained its independence from Spain.
  In 1854, Tucson ceased to be part of Mexico and became a United States Territory (New Mexico Territory) as a result of Gadsden Purchase. The Confederacy established the Arizona Territory in February 1862 using the east–west boundary after the American Civil War began. They named Tucson their Arizona Territory capital. The United States, on the other hand, created the Arizona Territory in 1863 using the current state boundary. On May 20, 1862, the California Volunteers led by Captain Emil Fritz secured Tucson without firing a single shot. Arizona became an official United States territory in 1863 and Tucson served as the territorial capitol between 1867 and 1877.
caption: Adobe Brickwork of the Kilns arched openings, built by Spanish colonists in the 18th century.
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