Stations across the state are profiling notable highway markers in the On the Road in Arizona series. The four-part series is a collaboration between public radio stations KJZZ, AZPM, KAWC and KNAU.
Bridget Dowd/KJZZ
Just south of the intersection of North Horne and East McKellips Road in Mesa sits the Park of the Canals. It’s one of just a few places where you can still see remnants of canals dug by the ancestral Sonoran Desert people who occupied the Salt River Valley before the time of Christ.
Library of Congress
The story behind a historical marker for Tom Mix, a legendary Western actor, just off State Highway 79, 18 miles south of Florence.
Lindsey C. Riley/KJZZ
In 1956, two passenger planes collided in midair above the Grand Canyon. It was a tragedy that left 128 people dead — and reshaped the nation’s aviation regulations.
Arizona State Parks and Trails
Before there was a United States Border Patrol, the customs service was the first line of defense along the U.S.-Mexico border. Their headquarters — now designated by a historical marker — still stands.
More Arizona History
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New research shows the ancient site is much older than previously thought. In fact, it’s now confirmed to be the oldest known scientifically dated geoglyph in the Americas, 2,000 years older than the first Pyramids built in Egypt. -
Silas John Edwards was a towering figure among the Apache people in Arizona about a century ago — until he was accused of murdering his wife and put behind bars -
On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a measure out of its upper chamber that would transform the Chiricahua National Monument into the Grand Canyon State’s newest national park. -
Arizona’s history is well documented through its newspapers, and ASU English professor Vanessa Fonseca-Chavez dove deep into the long Spanish-language newspaper history here. -
Red light districts operated years after they were outlawed in Tucson. An Arizona historian explored in his recent book what these areas looked like and how women who worked there were treated.
