Rating:

0.0 (0 votes)

TUCSON - Next month, Arizona will be celebrating a big birthday - 100 years of statehood!

A lot has happened in 10 decades, but probably the most obvious is how much our cities have changed - grown up, if you will.

That's what Arizona Highways Magazine is all about next month: 100 years in pictures, 1912 - 2012.

Editor-in-Chief Robert Stieve stopped by the News 4 Tucson studios today to whet our whistle. Check out the slideshow above of the images described below:

1) Downtown Tucson was the center of commerce for residents, travelers, tourists and salespersons traveling across Southern Arizona in 1921. The Hotel Arizona on Broadway, along with the Hotel Congress and the Pioneer Hotel, was one of the primary hotels in downtown Tucson for decades. Today, the Hotel Arizona is a modern high-rise building adjacent to the Tucson Convention Center.

2) Tucson's Congress Street has long been one of the town's busiest. In this photo, which dates to 1940, flags and banners promoting the city's Fiesta de Los Vaqueros Rodeo hang from awnings, and the 11-story Chase Bank Building - located at 2 E. Congress Street - looms in the background. Built for $1 million in 1929, the building was the first skyscraper in the Old Pueblo. Today, Congress Street is home to restaurants, bars, coffee shops, boutiques and nightclubs.

3) In 1939, Yuma was home to approximately 5,300 residents. Perched at the confluence of the Gila and Colorado rivers, the agricultural community was first settled by Spanish explorers. As Arizona's gateway to California, Yuma boasts the oldest railroad and automobile bridges across the Colorado River. Today, the Western Arizona community yields one of the largest lettuce crops in the world.

4) This view of the south side of Camelback Mountain shows the Phoenix landmark before the development that now surrounds it. Long before statehood, the federal government planned to use the area around Camelback Mountain as an Indian Reservation. Those efforts failed, and the mountain was privately owned for several decades. In the 1960s, Barry Goldwater spearheaded preservation efforts, and today, the city of Phoenix operates the upper portion of the mountain as a park and desert preserve.

5) The $240 million Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge is the focal point for the massive Hoover Dam Bypass project, which was completed in late 2010. The bridge was named for former football star Pat Tillman, an Army Ranger who was killed in action, and former Nevada governor and Korean-War veteran Mike O'Callaghan. The bridge, which towers 900 feet above the Colorado River, features four lanes and replaces the winding two-lane portion of U.S. Route 93 that moved travelers between Arizona and Las Vegas for decades.

6) The Arizona Centennial Photo Project: A Day in the Life of the 48th State is open to all professional and amateur photographers.

It's goal is to capture Arizona and Arizonans doing what they do on one specific day - February 14, 2012, the Centennial. For example, ranchers herding their cattle, the Governor in meetings, school children at recess, artists painting, park rangers leading hikes, etc.

The images will be compiled in an online gallery, which will serve as a sort of digital time capsule. More information about the project can be found on the Arizona Highways website:

www.arizonahighways.com, click on the tab "online extras".

(Direct link: http://www.arizonahighways.com/arizonahighways/extras/centennial_project.asp)