Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Look Up, Yuma! A Walking Tour of Yuma, Arizona
    Look Up, Yuma! A Walking Tour of Yuma, Arizona
    Look Up, Yuma! A Walking Tour of Yuma, Arizona
    Ebook20 pages22 minutes

    Look Up, Yuma! A Walking Tour of Yuma, Arizona

    By Doug Gelbert

    5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    There is no better way to see America than on foot. And there is no better way to appreciate what you are looking at than with a walking tour. Whether you are preparing for a road trip or just out to look at your own town in a new way, a downloadable walking tour is ready to explore when you are.

    Each walking tour describes historical and architectural landmarks and provides pictures to help out when those pesky street addresses are missing. Every tour also includes a quick primer on identifying architectural styles seen on American streets.

    Today, when watching people splash in the placid waters of the Colorado River, it takes a leap of imagination to picture the frothy, dangerous waters that flowed through Arizona for millions of years. There was almost no place where it was safe to cross the Colorado and travelers had to come south from the confluence with the Gila River to where modern day Yuma stands to find a place where the granite outcroppings caused a natural narrowing and calming of the river. The United States acquired this region via the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, just in time for the California Gold Rush. It is estimated more than 60,000 gold hunters used L.G.F. Jaeger’s rope ferry across the Colorado River in Yuma to reach the California gold fields between 1850 and 1851, paying $2 a head.

    The stream of traffic did not escape the attention of the United States Army which established Fort Yuma in 1852 on a hill overlooking the crossing. A town called Colorado City grew up here but it was washed away by the Colorado River and rebuilt as Arizona City. In 1866 a street grid was laid out with a 100-foot wide Main Street able to handle the most ambitious wagon trains. In 1871 Arizona City was officially incorporated and two years later became Yuma.

    In 1876 the Yuma Territorial Prison was established on the banks of the Colorado River with prisoners hacking the first seven cells from the granite walls of granite. Prisoners would keep at work building the notorious prison until it closed in 1909 by which time a total of 3,069 prisoners, including 29 women, had been detained. In 1910 fire destroyed Yuma High School and for the next five years classes were held in the cellblocks and sports teams adopted the nickname, the Yuma Criminals.

    In 1916 floodwaters on the Gila River swept into Yuma causing the worst of many floods that ravaged the town. It was also the last major flood, thanks to dams created by the Bureau of Reclamation. After that adobe buildings were banned in downtown Yuma and new construction adopted the newly trendy Spanish Colonial Revival style; in 1925 Main Street was paved for the first time. The streetscape we will encounter in downtown Yuma dates to that era but first we will begin our walking tour of the sunniest place in America along the Colorado River near the crossing that made the town famous...

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDoug Gelbert
    Release dateNov 9, 2012
    ISBN9781301332250
    Look Up, Yuma! A Walking Tour of Yuma, Arizona

    Read more from Doug Gelbert

    Related to Look Up, Yuma! A Walking Tour of Yuma, Arizona

    Related ebooks

    Special Interest Travel For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Small Town Colorado Notes

      Oct 4, 2022

      Small Town Colorado Notes
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Panama Canal 1915

      Apr 8, 2022

      In theory, the Panama Canal was such a simple idea. The Isthmus of Panama was just a thin strip of land separating two mighty oceans. If you dug a canal across it, you’d save yourself the long, hazardous journey around the Cape, or the even worse one

      6 min read

    • Article

      Fairbank, Arizona

      Mar 1, 2022

      Fairbank, Arizona
      4 min read

    • Article

      Life On The Colorado

      Aug 24, 2021

      Life On The Colorado
      10 min read

    • Article

      The Midwest Main Street

      Apr 5, 2022

      The Midwest Main Street
      5 min read

    • Article

      Frio Town, Texas

      Sep 24, 2019

      Frio Town, Texas
      3 min read

    • Article

      Coal Mining and Toll Scrip

      Sep 5, 2023

      Coal Mining and Toll Scrip
      5 min read

    • Article

      Gene Autry in Oklahoma

      Mar 5, 2024

      Gene Autry in Oklahoma
      6 min read

    • Article

      A Gem In Southern Wyoming

      Oct 26, 2021

      A Gem In Southern Wyoming
      3 min read

    • Article

      Gold Hill, Nevada

      May 23, 2023

      Gold Hill, Nevada
      3 min read

    • Article

      Hill’s country

      Feb 22, 2022

      Hill’s country
      5 min read

    • Article

      THE Radically INTERNATIONAL History of AMERICA’S BEST IDEA

      Jun 1, 2017

      The United States may have invented national parks—but the rest of the world helped perfect them. Now, generations later, that spirit of cooperation and competition might just be the thing that saves them.

      11 min read

    • Article

      Tracking Omaha’s Past

      Mar 24, 2020

      Tracking Omaha’s Past
      3 min read

    • Article

      Out On The Town

      Sep 24, 2019

      Out On The Town
      3 min read

    • Article

      Keeping the Legacy Alive

      Sep 1, 2023

      Keeping the Legacy Alive
      3 min read

    • Article

      Independence, Colorado

      Jul 6, 2021

      Independence, Colorado
      4 min read

    • Article

      Timbuctoo, California

      Sep 25, 2018

      Timbuctoo, California
      3 min read

    • Article

      From the River

      May 26, 2022

      From the River
      3 min read

    • Article

      Historic Hummelstown

      Jun 7, 2022

      Historic Hummelstown
      4 min read

    • Article

      Celebrating Black History on Staten Island

      Apr 1, 2020

      Celebrating Black History on Staten Island
      2 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Look Up, Yuma! A Walking Tour of Yuma, Arizona

    5/5

    1 rating0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Look Up, Yuma! A Walking Tour of Yuma, Arizona - Doug Gelbert

      Look up, Yuma! A Walking Tour of Yuma, Arizona

      a walking tour in the Look Up, America series from walkthetown.com

      by Doug Gelbert

      published by Cruden Bay Books at Smashwords

      Copyright 2012 by Cruden Bay Books

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the Publisher.

      Today, when watching people splash in the placid waters of the Colorado River, it takes a leap of imagination to picture the frothy, dangerous waters that flowed through Arizona for millions of years. There was almost no place where it was safe to cross the Colorado and travelers had to come south from the confluence with the Gila River to where modern day Yuma stands to find a place where the granite outcroppings caused a natural narrowing and calming of the river. The United States acquired this region via the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1