CR4.02 Canoa Ranch Buildings Rehabilitation

Drawn by the area's natural springs, there is evidence of prehistoric human habitation dating back to 2500 B.C. The Hohokam were there from 600 to 1450 A.D. and the Tohono O’odham called it home from the 1600s. Father Eusebio Francisco Kino and other Jesuit missionaries passed by the Canoa site at the turn of the 1700s on their way to what would become Mission San Xavier del Bac and the city of Tucson.  In 1775, Juan Bautista de la Anza, a lieutenant colonel in the Royal Spanish cavalry and the commander of the Tubac Presdio, led a 240-person expedition to northern California. The group spent its first night at the paraje, or campsite, at La Canoa, which is Spanish for wooden drinking trough.  Mexican and Anglo settlers came to the area in the mid- to- late 1800s, but it was during the Manning Family era (1912-1970s) when the full potential of the Hacienda de la Canoa was realized.

During the Manning period, Canoa became a showcase ranch and community worked by both Anglo and Mexican families. There were numerous breeds of cattle and horses, in addition to extensive farms and irrigation systems, many of which are still visible.

Historical Timeline of Canoa Ranch

A detailed historical overview for Canoa Ranch is presented in: 

• National Register of Historic Places Nomination form for the Canoa Ranch Rural Historic Landscape, listed in 2007.
• Canoa Ranch Master Plan Background Report (Febraury 2006)

 

For more than a year, a team of consultants, led by Poster Frost Associates, worked with the Pima County Board of Supervisors, Pima County staff, the Canoa Ranch Community Trust and Oversight Committee, and local stakeholders to develop a Master Plan for the Historic Canoa Ranch. Since purchasing the 4,800 acre Canoa Ranch, south of Green Valley, in 2001, Pima County has embarked on a number of projects at the ranch to preserve and protect the valuable natural and cultural resources. The preservation and restoration of historic buildings were completed in early 2013, and efforts to protect important habitat and restore natural systems continue today. The Master Plan represents an important milestone towards the goal of making the Canoa Ranch a public site where its rich history can be understood and appreciated by visitors.

The Canoa Ranch Master Plan Background Report (April 2006)

The Canoa Ranch Master Plan Final Report (February 2007)

The architectural resources at Canoa Ranch are centered around the Canoa Ranch Headquarters that was developed during the "Manning Period" from 1912-1966. A collection of these buildings and ranch features are listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Canoa Ranch Rural Historic Landscape. In the great variety of architectural resources present at the Ranch Headquarters, there is a remarkable cohesiveness to the complex based on a uniformity of materials, scale, texture, color and the repetition of architectural features. Rehabilitation of the architectural resources occurred between 2005 and 2012.

Canoa Ranch Headquarters

The building numbers presented below are keyed to an aerial photograph of Canoa Ranch Headquarters:

• Building 101 - "The Big House", Howell Manning Sr. House
• Building 102 - Garage
• Building 103 - Guest House
• Building 104 - "The Long House", Howell Manning Jr. House
• Building 105 - Employee's Cottage
• Building 106 - Employee's Residence
• Building 107 - Utility Building
• Building 108 - Equipment Storage Shed
• Building 109 - Employee's Residence
• Building 110 - Foreman's House
• Retaque Fences - Corrals
• Site Walls - Adobe walls