Casa Grande Ruins National Monument

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument is a U.S. National Monument located in Coolidge, Arizona just northeast of the city of Casa Grande. This area was reserved for protection by the order of President Benjamin Harrison in 1892, but was set aside as a National Monument by Woodrow Wilson on August 3, 1918.

The National Monument is the site of a set of ruins or structures thought to have been built in the 1400s by the Hohokam people. "Casa grande" is Spanish for "big house" and the name refers to the largest structure on the site, which is what remains of a four story structure that may have been occupied for less than a century. The structure is made of caliche-adobe, rather than a more durable stone, but has managed to survive extreme weather conditions for about six centuries. Graffiti from 19th-century passers-by is scratched into its walls.

Reference

• Noble,David Grant. Ancient Ruins of the Southwest. Northland Publishing, Flagstaff, Arizona, 1995. ISBN 0–87358–530–5.

External Link

• National Park Service: Casa Grande Ruins National Monument