14 Iconic Buildings to Explore in Arizona

Checkout places to visit in Arizona

Arizona

Arizona is the 48th state and last of the contiguous states to be admitted to the Union. It is known for its desert climate, with very hot summers and mild winters. There are so many attractions in and around Arizona state.

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Iconic Buildings to Explore in Arizona

Arizona Historical Society Sanguinetti House Museum and Gardens

The Sanguinetti House Museum and Gardens are open to the public for tours and tea throughout the day. Enjoy our exhibits and treat yourself to a delightfully decadent sweet from the Sanguinetti Chocolate Shoppe. Discover why the Sanguinetti House Museum and Gardens are known as the Jewel of Historic Yuma.

Arizona Science Center

The Arizona Science Center is a science museum located in Heritage and Science Park in the heart of downtown Phoenix. Home to over 350 permanent hands-on exhibits, the Center provides 400,000 annual visitors with interactive experiences. It has featured a number of nationally traveling exhibitions. Along with daily demonstrations throughout the Center, the Center provides shows in the Dorrance Planetarium and in a five-story, giant screen IMAX Theater.

Arizona State Capitol

The Arizona State Capitol is located in Phoenix, Arizona and was the last home for Arizona's Territorial government until 1912. The three branches of state government initially occupied the four floors of the statehouse. As the state expanded, the branches relocated to adjacent buildings and additions. The 1901 portion of the Capitol is now maintained as part of the Arizona Capitol Museum with a focus on history and culture. The re-opened library from 1938 occupies part of this museum as well.

Center for Creative Photography

The Center for Creative Photography established in 1975 and located on the University of Arizona campus, is a research facility and archival repository containing the full archives of over sixty of the most famous American photographers. , as well as a collection of over 80,000 images representing more than 2,000 photographers. The CCP collects, preserves, interprets, and makes available materials that are essential to understanding photography and its history.

DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun

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.

Desert View Watchtower

It is a 70-foot-tall circular structure called Desert View Watchtower, also known as the Indian Watchtower, that grabs the attention of the many who visit the area. The building was strategically designed by Mary Colter in 1932. This magnificent structure offers one of the most spectacular views that overlook the eastern end of the Grand Canyon National Park.

Historic Kannally Ranch House

The Historic Kannally Ranch House in Oracle State Park was built in the later 1920s and early 1930s in Oracle, AZ.The original 160-acre ranch was purchased by Neil and Lee Kannally in 1903. The two brothers were later joined by three other family members and the ranch grew to almost 50,000 acres.The present Kannally Ranch House was built in 1929Ð1932 and is of Mediterranean Revival Style with Moorish influences, patterned on Italianate villas of the 1920s.

Mystery Castle

Mystery Castle is located in the city of Phoenix, Arizona, in the foothills of South Mountain Park. It was built in the 1930s by Boyce Luther Gulley for his daughter Mary Lou Gulley. The sprawling 18-room, three story castle is built from a wide range of materials — stone, adobe, automobile parts, salvaged rail tracks from a mine, telephone poles, etc. It features a chapel, cantina, and a dungeon.

Navajo Nation Council Chambers

Navajo Nation Council Chamber is the center of government for the Navajo Nation. The landmark building, in Window Rock, Arizona, is significant for its association with the 1930s New Deal, and its change in Federal policy for relations with Native Americans, as established in the Indian Reorganization Act. With its red sandstone façade and overall rustic architectural style, the chamber was designed to harmonize with its spectacular natural surroundings.

Schieffelin Hall

Schieffelin Hall is a building from the American Old West in Tombstone, Arizona Territory, the largest standing adobe structure still existent in the United States southwest. It was built in 1881 by Albert Schieffelin, brother of Tombstone founder Ed Schieffelin, and William Harwood as a first class opera house, theater, recital hall, and a meeting place for Tombstone citizens.

Snowflake Arizona Temple

The Snowflake Arizona Temple is the 108th dedicated temple in operation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Unlike many other recently constructed temples, the temple does not share property with a stake center or Church meetinghouse but is adjacent to a golf course. This Temple serves 35,000 members, many of them descendants of the first pioneers to the area.

Taliesin West

Taliesin West was architect Frank Lloyd Wright's winter home and school in the desert from 1937 until his death in 1959 at the age of 91. Today it is the main campus of The School of Architecture at Taliesin and houses the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. It is open to the public for tours and is one of the prime attractions in Maricopa county.

Tovrea Castle at Carraro Heights

Tovrea Castle at Carraro Heights is a historic landmark in Phoenix, Arizona. The castle was built in the early 1900s by Alessio Carraro. It was inspired by the architecture of his homeplace in Italy and the castle was originally designed to be a hotel centrepiece of a planned resort. But it became a private residence soon after its construction in 1931. The castle sits atop a hill in the middle of a barren desert and is surrounded by cacti gardens.

Yavapai County Courthouse

The Yavapai County Courthouse is located at 120 South Cortez Street in Prescott, Arizona. The current courthouse building was built in 1916. It was designed by architect William N. Bowman and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. It is also known for its statue of Bucky O'Neill, a Rough Rider and former Mayor of Prescott. Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater announced his presidential candidacy in 1964 from the steps of the courthouse.

Map of Iconic Buildings to explore in Arizona