TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Tucson turns 250 later this month, with a big birthday celebration scheduled for August 23.
It marks 250 years since the opening of the Spanish fort Presidio San Agustín del Tucsón.
"You know millennial history," said Amy Hartmann- Gordon, the executive director of the Presidio museum.
Hartmann-Gordon understands the history of the region dates back much further than the establishment of this Spanish fort.
"Probably the longest inhabited community in all of North America,"
Hartmann-Gordon said.
There is evidence that people have lived in the Tucson area for at least 4,000 years, with settlements dating back to the Hohokam period and earlier.
The more recent history of the area is marked by the date August 20, 1775.
"A soldier came in and put a flag in the ground and wrote a letter back to his boss saying we have established this fort," explained Hartmann-Gordon.
And Tucson, as we now know it, was born.
"What's cool about that is that's earlier than the American Revolution," said Hartmann-Gordon.
She pointed out that as they have been planning events to celebrate Tucson's 250th, they did not want to lose sight of the area's thousands of years of history.
"250 is important, and what happened in 1775 is really important, and yet we know it's kind of one date in a longer story," explained Hartmann-Gordon.
250 years ago, the Spanish built the Presidio San Agustín del Tucsón in the area from what is now Church and Pennington, across Alameda, to Main and Washington.
It remained active until around the time of the Gadsden Purchase in 1853.
"People start building buildings on top of what was here," Hartmann-Gordon said. "Well, we don't care about this fort anymore. So, the old town buildings here in our neighborhood, the Presidio Neighborhood, are almost surely built from the bricks of that original fort."
It wasn't until the Tucson Presidio Trust came together, and with the help of Rio Nuevo, they reconstructed the northeast corner of the Presidio in 2007.
"We had the archaeologists come in, they excavated this," said Hartmann-Gordon. "Then we were able to recreate a corner of it."
Today, a visit to the Presidio San Agustín Museum gives you a glimpse into what life was like for the soldiers and their families living inside the Presidio.
"For most of these young men this is a major job opportunity," Hartmann-Gordon explained. "It's a steady paycheck. That was pretty rare."
Many of the soldiers married into the community, forming some of the first families of the city of Tucson. Names like Elias, Grijalva and Ochoa can trace their family history back to soldiers stationed at Presidio San Agustín.
"That was really what was the beginning of what we think of Tucson as today," said Hartmann-Gordon. "We talk about the city of gastronomy, and we talk about this incredible multi-cultural fusion that is Tucson, and that is really the beginning of that."
And 250 years later, our multi-cultural city of Tucson is Absolutely Arizona.
The Presidio museum is located at 196 N. Court Ave.