Once member of Confederate army, Drachman prospered as tobacconist

Sam Drachman, left, with cigarette, in front of Drachman Tobacco shop. When his business grew, Drachman opened up a shop in Phoenix.

European-educated Philip Contzen surveyed land across Southern Arizona

After extensive travels throughout Europe, Philip Contzen returned to Tucson in 1891. Contzen was a surveyor, a three-term Tucson city councilman and a captain in the National Guard.

Street Smarts: NY salesman's jesting may have inspired Tucson's Broadway

Fred Ronstadt's Store

Street Smarts

Fred Ronstadt, ca. 1880. Courtesy University of Arizona Special Collections

McKale Memorial Center over the years

McKale Center under construction dated June 9, 1971.

McKale Memorial Center over the years

McKale Center dated Feb. 28, 1973.

McKale Memorial Center over the years

McKale Center under construction from the interior, date August 1972.

McKale Memorial Center over the years

Undated photo of McKale Center under construction.

McKale Memorial Center over the years

McKale Center from the northeast, dated 1982.

McKale Memorial Center over the years

Copy of a blueprint of the first level of the McKale Center.

McKale Memorial Center over the years

Copy of a blueprint of the second level of McKale Center.

McKale Memorial Center over the years

Copy of a blueprint of the third level of McKale Center

McKale Memorial Center over the years

McKale Center from the air, dated 1976.

McKale Memorial Center over the years

Opening night of the McKale Center, Feb. 1, 1973.

McKale Memorial Center over the years

The beginning of construction of McKale Center dated January 1971.

McKale Memorial Center over the years

McKale Center under construction dated September 1971.

McKale Memorial Center over the years

The interior one of the entrances to McKale Center dated March 24, 1975.

McKale Memorial Center over the years

The football training room at McKale Center dated March 24, 1975.

McKale Memorial Center over the years

A room in McKale Center, dated November 1976.

University of Arizona in history

University of Arizona Old Main 1891. University of Arizona Library Special Collections. HP-165

University of Arizona in history

McKale Center under construction dated September 1971, courtesy of the University of Arizona Special Collections.

University of Arizona in history

U.S. Navy occupied Bear Down Gym during WWII. University of Arizona Library Special Collections. HP-173

University of Arizona in history

The Steward Observatory circa 1928. Courtesy University of Arizona special collections.

University of Arizona in history

The Old University of Arizona Library. Photo courtesy of University of Arizona Special Collections

University of Arizona in history

University of Arizona students on the steps of Old Main. 1896. HP-168

University of Arizona in history

Old Main, the original building on the campus of the University of Arizona. Courtesy University of Arizona

University of Arizona in history

A 1929 view of the square outside the University of Arizona Main Gate looking towards downtown Tucson. The photo was taken from the library's upper floor. Photo courtesy of UA Library Special Collections.

University of Arizona in history

The beginning of construction of McKale Center dated January 1971, courtesy of the University of Arizona Special Collections.

University of Arizona in history

The Steward Observatory, July 1920. Courtesy University of Arizona library special collections department.

University of Arizona in history

McKale Center under construction dated June 9, 1971, courtesy of the University of Arizona Special Collections,

University of Arizona in history

McKale center from the air, dated 1976, courtesy of the University of Arizona Special Collections.

University of Arizona in history

The University of Arizona cavalry. Photo courtesy of University of Arizona Special Collections

University of Arizona in history

A 1927 view of the square outside the University of Arizona Main Gate. The drug store stands on the corner of University and Park Avenue. Photo courtesy of the UA Special Collections.

University of Arizona in history

Students in 1968 exit the UA's infirmary, which underwent a "face lift" the year before that included a new emergency room and accommodations for 50 beds. The building now houses the Sonett Space Sciences Building. (Photo courtesy of University of Arizona Special Collections.)

University of Arizona in history

The University of Arizona's second official infirmary was a low-slung red-brick building constructed in 1936 on the site of a former military barracks. (Photo courtesy of University of Arizona Special Collections.)

University of Arizona in history

Soldiers training for World War I were among the first to use the University of Arizona's first official infirmary. Started in 1919, the infirmary occupied the former home of Reuben R. Schweitzer. Today, the site is occupied by the Koffler Building. (Photo courtesy of University of Arizona S…

Centennial Hall

Centennial Hall (originally called the University of Arizona Auditorium) on the University of Arizona campus. Photo date unknown. Built by Sundt Construction Inc.

Steward Observatory

Steward Observatory, about 1921.

Neto's Tucson: Mining's history interwoven with Arizona's

Miner Alfred T. (Torres) Diaz. He was born in Jerome.

Flow of Anglos had reshaped the city by statehood

The first Tucson depot was this 200-foot-long Victorian structure built in 1880 as the Southern Pacific Railroad reached town. The depot accommodated passenger and freight trains. The photograph is not dated.

Towns split asunder

An open dirt street is all that marked the U.S.-Mexico line in June 1890. That's Nogales, Sonora, on the left, and Nogales, Ariz., on the right, similar to the situation that existed between Douglas and Agua Prieta, Sonora. The informal divisions are long gone, replaced today with imposing b…

Nov. 29, 1956: Fire breaks out at Cele Peterson's store in downtown Tucson

Cele Peterson's downtown Tucson women's store burned in November of 1956. Cleo Chilikas and Alex Simons were within the building at the time, however, both of them and five other persons survived the blaze. Chilikas's husband, William, and Simons's wife, Emma were at the scene.

70s chic

You can't see it here — black-and-white photo — but Arizona wore electric blue jerseys during the funky 1970s. Quarterback Bruce Hill led Arizona’s “1-2-3” offense to one of the best seasons in school history. Hill finished the 1975 season with 1,747 passing yards and 18 touchdowns. Courtesy…

Basic blue

Back when uniforms were, well, uniform, Fred W. Enke led the Wildcats' single-wing attack under coach Miles W. Casteel’s single-wing attack. Courtesy of University of Arizona Libraries, Special Collections, University of Arizona Photograph Collection

A Fair to remember

Children enjoy cotton candy on the first day of the Pima County Fair on March 22, 1967. Cotton candy is sure to be on the minds and faces of kids at this year's fair, too.

HISTORY OF FAIRS IN PIMA COUNTY

Fairgoers check out the wildlife on display at the Pima County Fair on March 22, 1967.

HISTORY OF FAIRS IN PIMA COUNTY

Kids climb aboard a train ride chugging at the Pima County Fair on October 23, 1955.

Mary 'Mamie' Bernard Aguirre: Headed two UA departments; her diary told of Old West

Mary spoke no Spanish and her husband, Epifanio, spoke no English when they met in Missouri. He held freighting contracts along the Santa Fe Trail and brought Mamie west in 1863. She kept a detailed diary of their journey. Epifanio and three others were killed by Indians near Sasabe in 1870…

Dr. James & James Stuart Douglas: Father and son built mining empires, towns, schools & more

Canadian-born James Douglas got into mining when he was called to help — unsuccessfully — save his father’s mine from financial ruin. He learned, though, and with a partner developed the first commercial electrolytic copper refining process. His expertise earned him a job as consultant to Ph…

Charles Trumbull Hayden: Early trader, probate judge and founder of Tempe

As early as 1848, Hayden left Independence, Mo., with wagons full of goods he planned to sell in New Mexico. He soon operated shops in Santa Fe, south of Tubac and in Tucson. The governor appointed him Tucson’s first probate judge in 1864, and he heard a grand total of one criminal case in h…