Yuma Arizona and beyond
Old Yuma, located along Main Street, was doomed from the start because flooding from the Colorado River turned the back of the building into the mud they were made of. Today, most of Main Street consists of buildings dating back to the 1920s. However, during the city’s early days in 1849, more than 60,000 people used this route to cross the Colorado River on the ferry rope panning for gold in California. Today, visitors will find a wide variety of shops, entertainment, and restaurants along Main Street, as well as the Historic Yuma Theater built in 1911, now the centerpiece of the Yuma Art Center and the home and gardens of E. F Sanguinetti, one of the Yuma business pioneers.
Colorado River State Historic Park in Yuma maintains important history from our early military days. Beginning in 1864, the Yuma Quartermaster Depot served as a lifeline for the military forts of the Southwest, storing a six-month supply of ammunition, clothing, food, and other goods. Goods came upriver from the Gulf of California on steamboats and were shipped overland by muleteers or shipped upriver. In 1877 with the arrival of the railway, the destiny of the deposits vanished. However, when the army closed the reservoir, engineering pioneers used the site to tame the river by building dams to generate power and a vital water supply for the community’s survival. Today, five of the original buildings still stand and are among the oldest and best preserved in the state of Arizona. Right next to the park is the Yuma Siphon built in 1912, a huge tunnel under the Colorado River used to bring irrigation water into the Yuma Valley, which is still in operation.
Forced ventilation, electricity, sanitation, including tubs and showers, even a library were more amenities than most Yuma homes and were called “The Country Club on the Colorado” by residents. On the other hand, the unbearable heat made this place feel like hell where an inhuman snake lair was carved into the granite walls and ball and chain was the routine punishment made this place impossible to bear and be. surrounded by rivers, quicksand and desert made it impossible to escape. The prisoners feared and hated this place and called it a pure “Hell Hole”. Yuma Territorial Prison only lasted 33 years, but during this time, it built a fearsome reputation in Old West history. From 1876 when it opened to 1907 when it closed its doors, the prison housed over 3,000 inmates where most of the cell blocks were carved from granite by their own hands. Although no executions were carried out at the prison, 111 inmates died while serving their sentences and are buried on the prison grounds.
No trip to Yuma is complete without visiting the town of Los Algodones in nearby Mexico, which is a friendly community located in Baja California on the Arizona-California border. Recognized by the American Government as a safe community for tourists, crossing the border is easy, driving or walking. Walking is by far the best option, this way you don’t have to worry about finding a parking space. Right across the border within four blocks is where all the businesses are. The community offers a great selection of dentists, pharmacies, and optical clinics that snowbirds and seniors take advantage of at great cost savings. Also, the streets are lined with curio shops and outdoor cafes.
About 40 miles northeast of Yuma, with the last seven miles down an unpaved road, is the Castle Domes Mine Museum, and with more than fifty weather-beaten buildings, it leaves one with the impression of finding a lost City. The museum contains three different sections where the largest part is where all the buildings were moved to a central location. A short walk through the desert is a couple of 1970’s era buildings. A half mile walk leads to mine shafts and buildings located on their original construction site. In 1878, Castle Dome was larger than Yuma and little has changed since 1800, other than everything is still and quiet. Details on most of the buildings remain intact, allowing you to experience what the Wild West was really like in the 19th century. With the last miners leaving Castle Dome around 1979, this location became the oldest mine in the state of Arizona.