Visitors to Fort Lowell Park and the surrounding area on Saturday got to step back in time momentarily to get a glimpse of life in the late 1800s.
Many took part in a free, self-guided tour, part of the annual Fort Lowell Day Celebration that the Old Fort Lowell Neighborhood Association has hosted for 29 years.
Janet Marcus is on the neighborhood council and helped organize the tour.
The neighborhood has a rich history with the fort, which was in existence from 1873 to 1891, she said.
Fort Lowell was established as Camp Lowell in 1860. The event is a celebration of the area's history, and the neighborhood association hopes to shine a light on this microcosm of southwest history, Marcus said.
The former hospital at the post - at what is now known as Fort Lowell Park - was open Saturday for the public to wander through. The hospital, which is a ruin, is normally closed.
People are also reading…
Inside, Bob Hunter was dressed as an army surgeon from the 1880s and showed visitors some of the tools that were available to doctors at that time.
Hunter, a doctor in real life, works for the Arizona Historical Society and enjoys doing re-enactments for events such as the Fort Lowell Day Celebration.
Margaret Brucato walked through the Fort Lowell Museum in the park to look at some old photos and read about the area's history.
Brucato said she thought the event was fun and never realized there was so much history so close by."You can drive by a place many times but never really see it until you walk it," she said.
"You can drive by a place many times but never really see it until you walk it." Margaret Brucato
Contact photographer Mamta Popat at mpopat@azstarnet.com or 573-4155.
