Tumacácori National Historical Park

Tumacácori is a National Park Service site located about 45 miles south of Tucson and 17 miles north of the international border in Nogales, at Interstate 19, Exit 29. Tumacácori was set aside as a National Monument by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1908, and became a National Historical Park by act of Congress in 1990. Its purpose is to protect and preserve the ruins of Tumacácori, Calabazas and Guevavi Missions, and to foster public understanding and appreciation of their significance. The Tumacácori mission was founded by Jesuit Father Eusebio Francisco Kino in 1691. The remains of the mission church built beginning around 1800, the associated cemetery, mortuary chapel, and portions of the convento are still standing. There is also a visitor center, dedicated in 1937, a museum, renovated in 2008, a patio garden, and an historic orchard. In 2002, Congress authorized a new, larger boundary for the Tumacácori mission property, including rare riparian environments along the Santa Cruz River and historic mission agricultural land. The development of an historic orchard on this property is one of the projects supported by the Friends.