Main Street formed the geographical western limit of the Barrio. Located along Main Street were the homes of Governor McCormick, Peter Kitchen, the Drachmans, Oteros and other prominent Tucson families; to the west of this area were Carrillo's Gardens, containing Little Eye Springs and Simpson's Baths... more>> A comprehensive look at the history of our barrios and the fort preserved by the Arizona Historical Society

What is El Ojito Springs?
Before the American Civil War, Tucson women washed their clothes in the Santa Cruz River, with a guard nearby as protection against Apaches. Drinking water was available from a well inside the walled city or from the well on Bishop's Farm. El Aegypti Spring (near the Wishing Shrine, south of the present Tucson Community Center) was a reliable water source for many years, but few people dared to venture alone so far outside of town, even for water.

After the end of the Civil War and the defeat of the Apaches in the late 1860s, more and more people moved to Tucson, which became Arizona's most important city. The services of a water carrier were needed to supply the growing population.

Adam Sanders built a bath house at El Ojito, where rich and poor alike (but only males) could get their occasional bath for twenty five cents. A daily bath was considered a downright "waste of water".  W.C. Davis installed Tucson's first personal bathtub in a home on Congress Street sometime in the 1880's... more>> Many commonly unknown facts about water sustainability in Tucson through history, from the University of Arizona

Meyer Street

Meyer Street at Cushing

Tucson Today