Ring's reflections: Tucson grew - and changed - with statehood

Famed pilot Charles Lindbergh came to dedicate the new municipal airport on Sept. 23, 1927.

Ring's reflections: Tucson grew - and changed - with statehood

Firefighters apply a steady stream of water during the Pioneer Hotel fire, which killed 29 people.

Ring's reflections: Tucson grew - and changed - with statehood

The Pioneer Hotel, on the northeast corner of Stone Avenue and Pennington Street, around 1950.

Ring's reflections: Tucson grew - and changed - with statehood

Tucson Police Chief C.A. Wollard, standing at far left, at John Dillinger's arraignment. Dillinger is at center, with his hat on his knee.

Ring's reflections: Tucson grew - and changed - with statehood

Navy P-3 (A and C models) sit in storage at the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center, commonly called the "boneyard," at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.

Ring's reflections: Tucson grew - and changed - with statehood

A rendering of the Phoenix Mars Lander. The program was headed by the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona.

Ring's reflections: Tucson grew - and changed - with statehood

1912 to present

Ring's reflections: Tucson emerges from frontier-village roots

Old Main, the original building of the University of Arizona, was built in the open desert, at a distance from the town of Tucson.

Ring's reflections: Tucson emerges from frontier-village roots

1854 to 1912

Ring's reflections: Tucson emerges from frontier-village roots

Journalist Ross Browne sketched this image of Tucson in 1864 as the U.S. Civil War raged.

Ring's reflections: Missing Headline

A photo shows St. Mary's Hospital at the turn of the 20th century. The hospital was one of many major "firsts" for Tucson in the 1880s.

Ring's reflections: Tucson emerges from frontier-village roots

In 1910, Congress Street (looking west) was still unpaved but was the principal roadway in downtown Tucson.

Ring's reflections: Tucson presidio formed nucleus of the town to come

1775 to 1854

Ring's reflections: Tucson presidio formed nucleus of the town to come

Tucson artist Cal Peter's conceptual drawing of the Royal Spanish Presidio in Tucson, circa 1795. This view is looking southeast.

Ring's reflections: Tucson presidio formed nucleus of the town to come

Reconstruction of San Agustín Mission Garden is under way at the foot of Sentinel Peak by Friends of Tucson's Birthplace.

Ring's reflections: Spanish influence reaches north

A well-known Tucson statue memorializes Father Eusebio Kino, who first visited the Sobaipuri people in 1692.

Ring's reflections: Spanish influence reaches north

Spanish authorities assigned Col. Hugo O'Conor to create a line of defense along the colonial frontier. The Tucson presidio was one of those posts.

Ring's reflections: Spanish influence reaches north

1694 to 1775

Ring's reflections: New picture emerges of Hohokam culture

A.D. 450 to A.D. 1694

Ring's reflections: New picture emerges of Hohokam culture

This picture shows what a part of the Hohokam's Honey Bee Village in today's Oro Valley might have looked like around A.D. 1125. The Hohokam early on used pit-house construction.