Amphitheater School District:
A Rural Setting in 1893 Tucson

Catalina Mountains, looking north and northeast from downtown Tucson in 1890.
The vacant area in the foreground will soon become Armory Park with residential
development and the construction of the Carnegie Library. The University of Arizona's
original forty acres with Old Main under construction can be seen in the distance
to the right, and the far distance to the left side of the photograph what
would soon become Amphitheater School District.

Founding of District, 1893

All beginnings of cultural and community in the desert begin with a consistent supply of water. The development of Tucson began with water from the Santa Cruz, natural springs, and a shallow water table. The rural northwest area received irrigation water through a system of ditches and later concrete pipe that originated from Sentinel Peak location along the Santa Cruz. In addition, the Rillito flowed most of the year and was the visual enticement for ranchers and homesteaders to settle along this oasis of cottonwoods that defined a corridor from the Rincon Mountains to beyond the confluence with the Santa Cruz. A rural community developed that was called the Rillito settlement and by 1889 a school district was organized.  Today this is the Flowing Wells District but in its infancy was known as Rillito District No. 22. Controversy would arise over the location of a new school with the concern that the location would not be suitable for some of the residents. View Video "Founding of the District"

Controversy

There is a timeless desire for residents to want a school close for their children and in the early 1890s this was the motivation for a new school district. A new school was proposed for the Rillito School District but many settlers in this rural area felt the proposed location was as undesirable as the Congress Street School on Congress Street in town. After petitioning the Board of Supervisors, Amphitheater School District became a reality on July 3, 1893. The founding board members were rancher and assayer Edward L. Wetmore, land investor and cabinetmaker Levi Marston Prince, and rancher Joseph D. Andrews.

Naming of the District
How could a school district be named “Amphitheater”? Our District's unique name relates to the geography of the Tucson basin. One of our founding board members, J. D. Andrews, gazed north towards the Tortolitas and Catalinas, east to the Rincons, south to the Santa Ritas, and west to the Tucson Mountains and the view reminded him of a huge Amphitheater.
View Video "Naming of the District"

Paralelling the Growth of northwest Tucson
From one-room country school to expansive urban district, Amphitheater's growth from a rural to an urban setting is a microcosm of Tucson's transformation from wide-open desert vistas to a checkerboard of residential and commercial development defined by the automobile. What would be Prince and Oracle Roads were dirt pathways when Caroline Mary Hughston taught school in an adobe ranch house.
View Video "Caroline Mary Hughston"

District Boundaries 1893	District Boundaries 2003

The once green oasis and surface flow of the Rillito are gone but the geographic feature remains, now surrounded north and south by 23 schools and with no end to the population growth and the need for future schools.

DID YOU KNOW??? Stewart Udall, former Secretary of the Interior during the Kennedy Administration, was a school board member in the 1950s. Science fiction writer Ray Bradbury attended school in Amphi District. The very first Tucson Gem and Mineral Show was held in the cafeteria at Keeling Elementary School.

1893	Amphitheater School (various locations)	1971	Donaldson Elementary
1913	Amphitheater School	1974	Cross Middle School
1947	Keeling Elementary	1976	Coronado K-8 School
1949	Wetmore Elementary (Admin. Center 1981)	1978	Mesa Verde Elementary
1953	Prince Elementary	1980	Rillito Center
1956	Amphi Junior High	1981	Amphi Alternative High School
1956	Amphitheater High School (orig. 1939)	1986	Rio Vista Elementary
1957	Holoway Elementary	1988	Copper Creek Elementary
1960	Nash Elementary	1989	La Cima Middle School
1960	Harelson Elementary	1996	Wilson K-8 School
1963	Canyon del Oro High School	2000	Painted Sky Elementary
1963	Walker Elementary	2001	Ironwood Ridge High School

Links

District's Infancy
1893-1920

Amphitheater becomes part of the larger community.
1920-1950

Amphitheater responds to the growth of northwest Tucson.
1950-1975

Continued growth and expansion.
1975-Present

Historical Research Materials