Join Strolls and Stories Tours for our Barrio Viejo Tour! We stroll the charming sidewalks of the Barrio Viejo learning All Things Barrio Viejo!
The Barrio Viejo features the largest collection of mud adobe structures found in the United States! Join me to see historic photos of the Barrio Viejo on our Barrio Viejo Tour! Learn how the structures changed over time with the oldest mud adobe Sonoran Row Houses dating to 1840 featuring a flat roof with water canals. Then in 1863 the Transformed Sonoran Row Houses appear with a pitched roof. This occurs after the Gadsden Purchase of 1854 makes Tucson a part of the United States and we have an influx of Anglo Americans moving to Tucson from the Midwest and East Coast bringing with them their pitched roof building style.
The Sonoran Row Houses see yet another style change in 1880 with the arrival of the railroad in Tucson, bringing with it yet another population boom! What we call the Territorial Style Sonoran Row House appears featuring a front porch and at times a small front courtyard or yard.
On our Barrio Viejo Tour, we discuss why these one story structures are built so tall, a Spanish Moorish Design that allows the heat to rise, keeping the inside of these structures cool. The 2 feet thick mud adobe blocks also keep out the daytime heat.
On our Barrio Viejo Tour, we discuss how many of the Sonoran Row Houses would have had a shop in the front room. If the occupants were a shoe cobbler possibly a shoe repair shop, or if they were a baker, possibly they were selling baked goods. Many street corners in the Barrio Viejo featured a small corner store or grocer, the historic signs from these corner stores saved on some of the row houses.
Join me for our Strolls and Stories Tour for our Barrio Viejo Tour to also hear how the railroad brought with it an influx of Chinese Laborers, some of which lived in the Barrio Viejo. In fact a Chinese Grocer operated in the Barrio Viejo until the early 2000's.
When the railroad arrived the White Collar Workers of the Railroad who moved to Tucson from other parts of the United States, built Victorian Styled Homes over east of 6th Avenue, South of Downtown, that were brick or wood siding with a small front yard...the same as they would have lived in when in the Midwest or East Coast. Interestingly these homes were not built for the harsh hot climate of the Sonoran Desert. That's right, the educated White Collar Workers were sweating it out in their homes, while the working class laborers were nice and cool in their Mud Adobe Sonoran Row Houses!
Join me on a Strolls and Stories Tour for our Barrio Viejo tour to learn how the Sonoran Row Houses were built for our harsh climate, hear the fascinating tales of this lively neighborhood, and learn how the neighborhood was nearly bulldozed and what saved the neighborhood from the wrecking ball in the 1960s...plus learn the tale of the El Tiradito Wishing Shrine...this is a fascinating story! All of this and so much more on our Barrio Viejo Tour!
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