Casa Grande Ruins National Monument

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, pre-Columbian ruins in south-central Arizona, U.S., in the Gila River valley immediately north of Coolidge. Authorized as Casa Grande Ruins Reservation in 1889 and proclaimed as such in 1892, the site was designated a national monument in 1918. It has an area of 0.7 square mile (1.8 square km).

The ruins of a walled compound, discovered in 1694 by Eusebio Kino, a Jesuit missionary, are dominated by the extraordinary Casa Grande (“Big House”), a four-story building constructed of unreinforced clay (caliche). The first story of Casa Grande is filled with earth, apparently to support the other three stories of the structure. The second and third stories had rooms in them that were used as living spaces, and the fourth story consisted of only one central room. Openings in the walls of Casa Grande align with the Sun and Moon at different times during the year. Built by Salado Indians, a Pueblo people, in the early 14th century, it is the only pre-Columbian building of its type in existence. The monument has a museum in its visitor centre that displays local artifacts.

About 20 miles (32 km) northwest of Casa Grande is Hohokam Pima National Monument (established 1972), which covers 2.6 square miles (6.7 square km). The monument, which is in the Gila River Indian Reservation, preserves partially excavated village sites established many centuries before the Salado by the Hohokam people. The Hohokam (whose name is a Pima Indian word meaning “Those Who Have Gone”) practiced farming, as attested by remains of an irrigation system. The monument is under the administration of Casa Grande and is not open to the public.