The Santa Cruz River ( Spanish : Río Santa Cruz " Holy Cross River") is a left tributary of the Gila River in Southern Arizona and northern Sonora , Mexico . It is approximately 184 miles (296 km) long.
27-530: Tumacácori National Historical Park is located in the upper Santa Cruz River Valley in Santa Cruz County , southern Arizona . The park consists of 360 acres (1.5 km) in three separate units. The park protects the ruins of three Spanish mission communities, two of which are National Historic Landmark sites. It also contains the landmark 1937 Tumacácori Museum building, also a National Historic Landmark. The first Spanish Colonial Jesuit missions in
54-506: A different nearby location. It was established one day before Mission Los Santos Ángeles de Guevavi , making it the oldest Jesuit mission site in southern Arizona. The first mission was named Mission San Cayetano de Tumacácori, established at an existing native O'odham or Sobaipuri settlement on the east side of the Santa Cruz River . After the Pima rebellion of 1751, the mission was moved to
81-544: Is usually a dry riverbed , unless the area receives significant rainfall. This was not always the case, but a combination of human errors and natural catastrophes in the late nineteenth century led to the decline of the Santa Cruz. Prior to this, water flowed perennially in a number of places, including along nine stretches in the Tucson area, and the river's banks were lined with cottonwood and mesquite bosques . Although there
108-472: Is open to the public. Nearby are the park's visitor center and the Tumacácori Museum in a historic Mission Revival style building. The Guevavi and Calabazas missions are not open to the general public, but can be visited on reserved tours led by park staff. The Tumacácori missions complex was originally protected as Tumacácori National Monument, in 1908 by President Theodore Roosevelt . It was listed on
135-436: Is some disagreement among historians and hydrologists as to what the biggest causes of the river's decline were, contributing human factors included overgrazing, excessive pumping of groundwater for agricultural irrigation and industry, and the construction of dams and ditches. In the mid-20th century, the river's stretch through Tucson dried up completely. The city of Nogales, Sonora , has been releasing treated sewage into
162-574: The Central Arizona Project . This has led to the revival of vegetated riparian zones along the river, including areas of cottonwood shoots and seep-willow . Further downstream at the Roger Road Waste Water Treatment Plant has been releasing treated wastewater , which extends the perennial flow of the river for approximately 46 miles (74 km). The Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail parallels much of
189-844: The Historic American Buildings Survey amassed information about culturally and architecturally significant properties in a program known as the Historic Sites Survey. Most of the designations made under this legislation became National Historic Sites , although the first designation, made December 20, 1935, was for a National Memorial , the Gateway Arch National Park (then known as the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial) in St. Louis , Missouri. The first National Historic Site designation
216-517: The National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. In 1990 the national monument was redesignated a National Historical Park . The Guevavi and Calabazas mission units were added to the Tumacácori missions complex unit, within the new Tumacácori National Historical Park. The site was on the route of the 1775–1776 Juan Bautista de Anza Expedition from New Spain to Alta California ,
243-606: The United States Congress . In 1935, Congress passed the Historic Sites Act , which authorized the interior secretary authority to formally record and organize historic properties, and to designate properties as having "national historical significance", and gave the National Park Service authority to administer historically significant federally owned properties. Over the following decades, surveys such as
270-819: The 50 states. New York City alone has more NHLs than all but five states: Virginia , California , Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and New York, the latter of which has the most NHLs of all 50 states. There are 74 NHLs in the District of Columbia . Some NHLs are in U.S. commonwealths and territories, associated states, and foreign states . There are 15 in Puerto Rico , the Virgin Islands , and other U.S. commonwealths and territories ; five in U.S.-associated states such as Micronesia ; and one in Morocco . Over 100 ships or shipwrecks have been designated as NHLs. Approximately half of
297-800: The Greene Canal, the Greene Wash empties into the Santa Rosa Wash which empties into the original Santa Cruz River riverbed. This riverbed is followed all the way until it terminates at the Gila River. Between Nogales and Tucson the river valley is flanked by the San Cayetano and Santa Rita Mountains on the east and the Atascosa, Tumacacori, and Sierrita Mountains on the west. Most of the Santa Cruz River
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#1732917238788324-634: The National Historic Landmarks are privately owned . The National Historic Landmarks Program relies on suggestions for new designations from the National Park Service, which also assists in maintaining the landmarks . A friends' group of owners and managers, the National Historic Landmark Stewards Association, works to preserve, protect and promote National Historic Landmarks. If not already listed on
351-608: The National Register, or as an NHL) often triggered local preservation laws, legislation in 1980 amended the listing procedures to require owner agreement to the designations. On October 9, 1960, 92 places, properties, or districts were announced as eligible to be designated NHLs by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton . Agreements of owners or responsible parties were subsequently obtained, but all 92 have since been considered listed on that 1960 date. The origins of
378-525: The Santa Cruz Flats just to the south of Casa Grande and the Gila River . Before the development of agriculture in the Santa Cruz Flats, the river's course went right through the flats. As development started, the Greene Canal was formed to divert the Santa Cruz River to the Greene Wash to maximize agriculture in the area. Because of this diversion, the original Santa Cruz River riverbed was destroyed. From
405-674: The Santa Cruz River bed near West Silverlake Road as part of the Santa Cruz River Heritage Project. This has resulted in renewed perennial flow in an approximately 1-mile (1.6 km) stretch near downtown Tucson. Further upstream, perennial flows returned to a half-mile stretch of the river through the San Xavier Indian Reservation of the Tohono Oʼodham Nation in 2019 as a result of reduced ground water pumping due to greater availability of water from
432-423: The Santa Cruz River since 1951. This has resulted in the revival of approximately 9 miles (14 km) of riverbank within and north of the city of Nogales, Arizona. In recent years, due to water conservation efforts and restoration projects, perennial flows have returned to a few parts of the Santa Cruz River in greater Tucson. In June 2019, the city of Tucson began releasing treated wastewater daily into
459-632: The Santa Cruz. In Marana, there are approximately 10 miles (16 km) of paved multi-use recreational path along the Santa Cruz, located on Tangerine Road and through the Gladden Farms community park. National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark ( NHL ) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500, or roughly three percent, of over 90,000 places listed on
486-541: The United States secretary of the interior because they are: More than 2,500 NHLs have been designated. Most, but not all, are in the United States. There are NHLs in all 50 states and the national capital of Washington, D.C. Three states ( Pennsylvania , Massachusetts , and New York ) account for nearly 25 percent of the nation's NHLs. Three cities within these states, Philadelphia , Boston , and New York City , respectively, all separately have more NHLs than 40 of
513-561: The country's National Register of Historic Places are recognized as National Historic Landmarks. A National Historic Landmark District sometimes called a National Historical Park may include more than one National Historic Landmark and contributing properties that are buildings, structures, sites or objects, and it may include non-contributing properties. Contributing properties may or may not also be separately listed or registered. Prior to 1935, efforts to preserve cultural heritage of national importance were made by piecemeal efforts of
540-578: The first National Historic Landmark was a simple cedar post, placed by the Lewis and Clark Expedition on their 1804 outbound trek to the Pacific in commemoration of the death from natural causes of Sergeant Charles Floyd . The cedar plank was later replaced by a 100 ft (30 m) marble obelisk. The Sergeant Floyd Monument in Sioux City, Iowa , was officially designated on June 30, 1960. NHLs are designated by
567-457: The first Spanish overland expedition to claimed but un-colonized upper Las Californias territory. A 4.5 miles (7.2 km) segment of the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail lies along the Santa Cruz River between Tumacácori National Historical Park and Tubac Presidio State Historic Park . Mission San José de Tumacácori was established in 1691 by Jesuit padre Eusebio Kino in
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#1732917238788594-488: The locale were established in 1691 by Padre Eusebio Kino . Mission San Cayetano de Tumacácori (at Tumacácori) and Mission Los Santos Ángeles de Guevavi , are the two oldest missions in southern Arizona. The Franciscan church of Mission San José de Tumacácori , across the river from and replacing Mission San Cayetano de Tumacácori, was built in the 1750s. The third mission was established in 1756, Mission San Cayetano de Calabazas . The Mission San José de Tumacácori complex
621-490: The new Tumacácori National Historical Park. Tumacácori Museum was built in 1937 within what was then Tumacácori National Monument and is now Tumacácori National Historical Park. Designed by Scofield Delong, it contains interpretative displays relating to three historic missions preserved within the park, and includes artwork created by artist Herbert A. Collins . The museum building, a fine example of Mission Revival style architecture , with Spanish Colonial Revival details,
648-486: The present site on the west side of the Santa Cruz River and renamed San José de Tumacácori. By 1848, the mission was abandoned and began falling into severe disrepair. In 1854 it became a part of the U.S. Arizona Territory , after the Gadsden Purchase . Restoration and stabilization efforts began in 1908 when the site was declared Tumacácori National Monument by President Theodore Roosevelt . In 1990 it became part of
675-546: The south end of the Sierra San Antonio near Miguel Hidalgo (San Lázaro), thence north-northwest to reenter the United States just to the east of Nogales and southwest of Kino Springs . It then continues northward from the international border past the Tumacacori National Historical Park , Tubac , Green Valley , Sahuarita , San Xavier del Bac , Tucson , Marana , and Picacho Peak State Park to
702-658: Was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987. Movies with scenes filmed in the park include: Santa Cruz River (Arizona) The Santa Cruz has its headwaters in the high intermontane grasslands of the San Rafael Valley to the southeast of Patagonia, Arizona , between the Canelo Hills to the east and the Patagonia Mountains to the west, just north of the international border. It flows southward into Mexico past Santa Cruz, Sonora and turns westward around
729-657: Was made for the Salem Maritime National Historic Site on March 17, 1938. In 1960, the National Park Service took on the administration of the survey data gathered under this legislation, and the National Historic Landmark program began to take more formal shape. When the National Register of Historic Places was established in 1966, the National Historic Landmark program was encompassed within it, and rules and procedures for inclusion and designation were formalized. Because listings (either on
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