The Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of the historic, architectural, as well as cultural heritage of Tucson, Arizona. Through advocacy initiatives, educational programs, architectural resources, and cultural events, the foundation’s goal is to encourage the community to learn about and preserve the historic buildings that make the Tucson and Pima County unique.
Founded in 1985, the organization is committed to honoring and preserving Tucson's unique architectural treasures and public spaces. During the early 1980s, a growing concern over the continual demolition of historic buildings sparked the conception of a non-profit organization that could actively protect and advocate for Tucson's historic built environment. In March 1985, the Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation was established for the purpose of acquiring, maintaining, and preserving endangered historic properties in the Tucson area. The Tucson-Pima County Historical Commission was instrumental in helping organize the Foundation. Judge Norman S. Fenton, the first president of the new non-profit, said: "The Foundation was created by those who felt frustrated at having to stand helplessly by on many occasions and see historical buildings and part of Tucson's heritage destroyed because there was not an appropriate organization available for their acquisition and preservation."
Ironically initial funding for the Foundation came from the sale of salvageable materials donated by Frank McClure and Homes Tuttle Ford from the demolition of the Spanish Revival Mansion "Avalon House" on Oracle Road. The Foundation's primary goal was to establish a solid financial base that would enable THPF to act quickly, if necessary, to save endangered historic buildings. Although the foundation never fulfilled it intended mission, it did influence the protection and stabilization of many Tucson Historic Properties. Funds from the Foundation were loaned to Fort Lowell Neighborhood Association to preserve the Historic San Pedro Chapel. In the early 1990s, the Foundation became dormant. In 2008 under the leadership of Demion Clinco the organization was restructured and a new board established.
The organization has been able to save Tucson's neon signs, [1] listed numerous building on the National Register of Historic Places and as Local Historic Landmarks. The Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation launched Tucson Modernism Week in 2011 and continues to manage the annual educational program. The foundation has worked to save southern Arizona's early silent film heritage including restoration and screenings of silent films shot in Tucson and southern Arizona including The Mine with the Iron Door and Ridin' Wild (1925 film). [2] As of 2016, Demion Clinco serves as the Executive Director and Suzy Gershman as the President of the Board. [3]
In 2016 the Foundation purchased and saved the Hirsh's Shoes building, located at 2934 E Broadway Blvd in Tucson and in 2019, saved, purchased and restored the Ball-Paylore House.
Each year the Foundation presents awards to recognize the individuals, organizations and projects that work to preserve Tucson's heritage :
The organization's Archives exist to sustain the mission of the foundation by collecting, preserving, organizing, and encouraging use of its historical documents and research materials. Maintained are a collection of books, historic documents, resource materials and photographs dealing with architecture, Tucson, Arizona history, historic preservation, as well as horticulture and landscape architecture.
Mission San Xavier del Bac is a historic Spanish Catholic mission located about 10 miles (16 km) south of downtown Tucson, Arizona, on the Tohono O'odham Nation San Xavier Indian Reservation. The mission was founded in 1692 by Padre Eusebio Kino in the center of a centuries-old settlement of the Sobaipuri O'odham, a branch of the Akimel or River O'odham located along the banks of the Santa Cruz River. The mission was named for Francis Xavier, a Christian missionary and co-founder of the Society of Jesus in Europe. The original church was built to the north of the present Franciscan church. This northern church or churches served the mission until it was razed during an Apache raid in 1770.
Riverview High School is a four-year public high school in Sarasota, Florida, United States. Riverview educates students from ninth grade to twelfth grade. The school has 2,654 students and 129 teachers. The school's mascot is the ram. As of the 2012–2013 school year, it is the largest school in the county.
The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation is the United States' largest statewide, nonprofit preservation organization with more than 8,000 members. Founded in 1973 by Mary Gregory Jewett and others, the Trust is committed to preserving and enhancing Georgia's communities and their diverse historic resources for the education and enjoyment of all.
The Archaeological Conservancy is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that acquires and preserves archaeological sites in the United States. Whereas nearly every other nation protects all archaeological sites within its borders as part of its national patrimony, in the United States archaeological resources on private land are the private property of the landowner. As a result, archaeological sites in the United States are subject to destruction by urban development and sprawl, mechanized agricultural and land-leveling, and commercial looting to fuel the antiquities trade. By the 1970s the extent of archaeological site loss was increasing recognized as a crisis for the scientific study of the nation's past.
The Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach is a private, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to the preservation of the historic, architectural, as well as cultural heritage of Palm Beach, Florida. Through advocacy initiatives, educational programs, architectural resources, and cultural events, the foundation’s goal is to encourage the community to learn about and save the historic buildings that make the town of Palm Beach special.
DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun Historic District is the artistic manifestation and architecture constructed by Ettore DeGrazia. The property is a series of buildings scattered throughout a natural desert setting. Built in Tucson near the intersection of Swan Road and Skyline the property is now a museum open to the public. Construction began in 1951 with the open air Mission in the Sun followed by a series of other expressionistic adobe buildings. The gallery/museum was constructed in 1965 with details including cactus flooring, exposed wood beams, rafters and unique artistic finishes.
The Tucson Jewish Museum & Holocaust Center, formerly known as the Jewish History Museum, and the Jewish Heritage Center of the Southwest, is a museum housed in a historic synagogue building in Tucson, Arizona. The museum's building, which housed the first synagogue in the Arizona Territory, is the oldest synagogue building in the state.
Historic Charleston Foundation (HCF) was founded in 1947 to preserve and protect the integrity of the architectural, historical, and cultural heritage of Charleston, South Carolina, United States. The Foundation undertakes advocacy, participation in community planning, educational and volunteer programs, the preservation of historic places, research, and technical and financial assistance programs for the preservation of historic properties. Winslow Hastie has been the President & CEO of Historic Charleston Foundation since 2018.
Save Our Heritage Organisation (SOHO) is a non-profit organization devoted to the preservation of the historic architecture and landmarks around the San Diego, California area. Founded in 1969, Save Our Heritage Organisation maintains several historic buildings including the Whaley House and the George W. Marston House. They are directly partnered with the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
The Mine with the Iron Door is a 1924 American silent Western film directed by Sam Wood and produced by Sol Lesser. The film is based on the novel of the same name by American author Harold Bell Wright that was published in 1923.
Baltimore Heritage is an American nonprofit historic-preservation organization headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland.
The San Buenaventura Conservancy for Preservation is an historic preservation organization in Ventura, California also known by its early name of San Buenaventura. It works to recognize and revitalize historic, archeological and cultural resources in the region. The Conservancy is a non-profit 501c3 organization. The group was formed in 2004 after the demolition of the Mayfair Theater, an S. Charles Lee, Streamline Moderne, movie theater in downtown Ventura, California that was razed and replaced with a condominium project.
The Mississippi Heritage Trust (MHT) was established in 1992 as a non-profit preservation organization in the state of Mississippi. Its mission is to save and renew places meaningful to Mississippians and their history, which is accomplished by education, advocacy, and preservation. MHT is supported by private resources that include special funding events, membership fees, grants, and gifts. MHT is governed by a Board of Trustees, with day-to-day operation under the guidance of an Executive Director and staff located in Jackson, Mississippi.
Demion Clinco is an American politician, historic preservationist, philanthropist, and business leader from the state of Arizona. Clinco's social innovation included reestablishing the Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation in 2008 and launching Tucson Modernism Week in 2012 and work in the higher-education sector. A member of the Democratic Party, Clinco served in the Arizona House of Representatives, as a member for the second district until 2015. In December 2015 Clinco was appointed to the Governing Board of Pima Community College. Clinco was elected in 2016 to serve a full term and in January 2018 was elected chairman of the college's Governing Board. Under Clinco's leadership the college initiated large-scale bond projects focusing on workforce development and career technical education. During this period the college underwent a significant educational and physical transformation with the construction of major buildings including Centers of Excellence in applied technology, advanced manufacturing, automotive, aviation, and allied health. In 2019 Clinco relaunched and led the reorganization of the Arizona Association of Community College Trustees serving as the president. Clinco has served on numerous local, statewide, national and international boards.
Wintersburg Village is an area in Huntington Beach, California, United States, that represents over a century of Japanese immigration to the United States. The property, consisting of six structures on a 4.5-acre (1.8 ha) parcel, was noted as eligible for the National Register of Historic Places in the City of Huntington Beach General Plan in 2014. The C.M. Furuta Gold Fish Farm and the Wintersburg Japanese Mission are recognized nationally by historians as a rare, pre-1913 Japanese pioneer-owned property with intact physical features that convey the progression of Japanese American history.
Antoinette Forrester Downing was an American architectural historian and preservationist who wrote the standard reference work on historical houses in Rhode Island. She is credited with spearheading a movement that saved many of Providence's historic buildings from demolition in the mid 20th century and for her leadership was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame in 1978.
Ridin' Wild is a 1925 American silent Western film directed by Leon De La Mothe a written by Robert J. Horner and Matilda Smith featuring William Barrymore. The film was shot on location in Tucson, Arizona in 1924. An 8mm print of the Film was acquired by the Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation and digitized and restored in 2011. The film features the first 1924 Tucson Winter Rodeo: La Fiesta de los Vaqueros.
Hirsh's Shoes, is a Mid-Century modern store building located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Designed in 1954 by Jewish-American architect Bernard "Bernie" Friedman for entrepreneur Rose Hirsh, the open plan storefront is an iconic retail standard. Mrs. Rose C. (David) Hirsh hired Friedman to design this building as a free standing shop in what would become an early strip mall. Though now surrounded by other buildings, it was owned and operated by the Hirsh Family from its construction in 1954 until 2016. The opening of the store was featured in the Arizona Daily Star on April 7, 1954 and for 62 years the Hirsh Family maintained the character-defining architectural features of the north facade and unique architectural expression that defined the mid-century era. In 2014 the Hirsh Family restored the roof mounted neon sign.
The Jacobson House is a residential building located in Tucson, Arizona, designed by the American architect Judith Chafee. The house was commissioned in 1975 by clients Joan and Arthur Jacobson and completed in 1977. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2022 and designated a Pima County Historic Landmark in 2022.
The Blackwell House was a 1,800 square-foot residence located in the Tucson Mountains west of the City of Tucson, Arizona. Designed by master architect Judith Chafee, FAIA in 1978 the house pioneered passive solar building design including heating and cooling concepts, natural materials that would require minimal maintenance, and a minimized negative impact on the ecosystem surrounding it. Designed for Jerry Blackwell, an openly LGBTQ Old Tucson Studios film executive, the house was immediately recognized as a masterwork. The siting, architectural composition and arrangement of living spaces exemplified the tenets of critical regionalism. The property was purchased in 1987 by Pima County in a plan to expand Tucson Mountain Park. After a decade of county neglect, public controversy and efforts to save the house it was demolished by Pima County in 1998. The demolition is considered one of the county's most significant preservation mistakes and diminished the culture heritage of Southern Arizona and American modern architecture.