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Located between East Broadway and Randolph Way lies the stunning El Conquistador Water Tower. El Conquistador Water Tower is surrounded by other popular Tucson attractions like El Con Mall, Hi Corbett Field, Randolph golf course and Reid Park Zoo! The tower sits smack dab in the middle of an apartment complex parking lot located directly across from El Con Mall.

Background:

The tower was originally apart of the El Conquistador Hotel, Tucson's largest and most exotic hotel at the time. Designed by the University of Arizona professor Annie Graham Rockfellow, the hotel started production in 1922 on a 120 acre lot. Unfortunately they had to stop multiple times to overcome a few financial issues before they were able to officially finish in 1928. While the hotel started building in 1922, the El Conquistador Water Tower wasn't built until the hotels grand opening in 1928. Standing at 90 feet and made of steel, the El Conquistador Water Tower was hard to miss. The hotel opened with 70 guest rooms. Sadly, the hotel went bankrupt in 1935 due to the great depression. In 1957, the land was sold to early developers of the El Con Mall and In 1968 the hotel was torn down to make space for the full development of the El Con Mall. 

History:

In 1932 a local Tucson architect Roy Place, who was known for his work on the infamous pink Pima County Courthouse, redesigned the entire tower. He designed it to follow the same Spanish style theme that a majority of Tucson's buildings have today. Using plaster and wire he was able to build a shell around the original tower to give the El Conquistador Water Tower its full potential. In 1980, the tower officially became a Tucson landmark thanks to the National Register of Historic Places. This means that El Conquistador Water Tower will forever be standing as it is now going to be preserved as a permanent landmark to Tucson’s community. To this day the city of Tucson is home to only six historical landmarks. In 1994, El Conquistador Water Tower was restored by the Tucson Pima County Historical Commission with a little financial help from the Arizona Heritage Fund. Since then there has been minor touch ups to keep the tower looking shiny and new. Many people have the misconception that the tower provided water to the El Conquistador Hotel, but this has been proven to be incorrect by the Arizona Daily Star Archives. The water towers original purpose was to provide water to the residents of the Colonia Solana Neighborhood. Many websites to this day that have information on the El Conquistador Water Tower still provide false information about what the original purpose of the tower was or where the water was going.  Sitting on top of the El Conquistador Water Tower lies a weather vane that features a minor and his donkey.

The El Conquistador Hotel was one of Tucson’s most iconic buildings to date.  With the tower being the only part of the hotel left in its original location, it has become greatly appreciated by the citizens of Tucson, Arizona. Some of the hotels structure was retrieved to use in other parts of Tucson.

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References:

Star, Andrea Rivera Arizona Daily. “Tucson Oddity: Old water tower now historical landmark.” Arizona Daily Star, 6 Dec. 2010, tucson.com/news/local/tucson-oddity-old-water-tower-now-historical-landmark/article_cbc3059a-a6a3-594e-bd6c-ac22e9238c2b.html.

“El Con Water Tower.” Pima County Public Library, www.library.pima.gov/content/el-con-water-tower/.

“ El Conquistador Water Tower.” El Conquistador Water Tower - Tucson, AZ - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.Com, www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM8PFV_El_Conquistador_Water_Tower_Tucson_AZ.

“El Conquistador Water Tower.” Wikimapia, wikimapia.org/8821512/El-Conquistador-Water-Tower.

Star, Rick Wiley Arizona Daily. “El Conquistador revisited.” Arizona Daily Star, 21 Aug. 2011, tucson.com/news/state-and-regional/history-and-culture/el-conquistador-revisited/article_fbd23eb4-c2e4-5d07-a0bb-b53e51ef92a7.html.