Downtown Tucson has a new splash of color. Turquoise lines cropping up on sidewalks are connecting modern Tucson with the past.
The turquoise trail is the new Presidio Trail, a self-guided historic-destinations urban tour. Local lawyer Marjorie Cunningham came up with the idea after a visit to Boston's Freedom Trail.
"Boston maybe has sites of more national significance, but our sites are just as interesting and just as old — and we have much better weather," she said.
The city began painting lines in mid-December and plans to complete the painted path this week. The trail leads to 23 numbered locations; plaques at most sites detail colorful histories in English and Spanish.
"I think it's a fun idea, and I'm hoping it will encourage more people to come Downtown and learn about Tucson's history," said Gayle Hartmann, president of the Tucson Presidio Trust for Historic Preservation, who was instrumental in making the path a reality.
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A brochure with a map and information is free at the Metropolitan Tucson Convention & Visitors Bureau and some area hotels and businesses. The map includes the primary locations as well as nine attractions that can be spied from the path but aren't directly on the loop trail. Some of the sights are as far as Sentinel Peak ("A" Mountain) and Tumamoc Hill or as close as St. Augustine Cathedral and the Arizona Historical Society Downtown Museum. The map also conveniently lists parking areas, water fountains and restroom locations.
The 2.5-mile path is outside and almost entirely on sidewalks, but there are a few stairs and slight inclines and declines.
The boundaries of the zigzagging trail extend east to Toole and Fourth avenues, south to Main Avenue and Simpson Street and west to the west side of the Tucson Convention Center.
You can pick up the trail anywhere, but if you follow the order suggested in the brochure, you'll start at a fenced-off dirt lot at the northern point of the trail at Church Avenue and Washington Street. It's the site of the Presidio San Agustín de Tucson, a fort established in 1775 that marked the northwestern edge of the Spanish frontier in Arizona. Downtown Tucson now rests in the footprint of the 11-acre fort, which was the second European structure in Tucson.
"We started it at the Presidio because that's where Tucson started," Hartmann said.
The northeast corner of the Presidio is being reconstructed on its original site as part of Rio Nuevo. Construction on a two-story adobe tower and 10-foot-tall adobe walls should begin this spring and be completed in about a year.
Next up is the Pima County Courthouse, which was built in 1929 in Spanish Colonial Revival style with a large courtyard and a green-tiled dome on the roof.
Continue onward and you'll pass commemorative statues and footbridges, parks and plazas and brightly colored murals and Barrio Viejo buildings.
Some stops on the tour are steps from each other, such as El Tiradito, a wishing shrine on the National Register of Historical Places where people come to light candles and pray; La Pilita, a history museum and store with a brightly colored mural on the south wall; and Carrillo Intermediate Magnet School, which was built in 1930 and contains historical photographs of the area.
Other destinations are blocks apart, such as the newly reopened Fox Theatre and the Historic Depot, where in 1882 Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday took revenge on the man who killed Earp's brother Morgan.
You can follow the Presidio Trail at a run to get some heart-thumping exercise or take it at a leisurely pace and stop and explore along the way. Duck into the rich history of the museum in the Sosa-Carrillo-Frémont House (also on the National Register of Historical Places) 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays or check out the Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays and noon-4 p.m. Sundays.
Other sites, such as the Ferrin House (now Cushing Street Bar & Grill) and the International Order of Odd Fellows Hall (now Barrio), offer spots to enjoy a bite to eat or a refreshing drink while relaxing after your time-traveling walk through some of Tucson's colorful history.
clip 'n' go
The Presidio Trail
What: A self-guided walking tour that links 23 Downtown historic sites. The 2.5-mile loop trail is marked with a turquoise line on the sidewalk and informational plaques at most sites.
Where: The trail officially begins at North Church Avenue and West Washington Street but can be started anywhere.
Information: The brochure, with map and historical information, is available at the Metropolitan Tucson Convention & Visitors Bureau, 100 S. Church Ave., in La Placita Village, 624-1817.