Old Tucson was built in 1938 by Columbia Pictures for the filming of Arizona. It was as exact a duplicate of the real Tucson that an 1864 map and photos would allow. Tohono O'odham Indians were the actual builders hired by Columbia (That's pretty cool.)
Unbelievably, the next movie was... well, if I was a bettin' woman, I'd bet you five bucks that you would never, ever in a million years guess what the next movie was! So, I think I'll keep that news to myself for a lil' while.
There were so many projects using the location that there was no time for public tours! It wasn't open to the public until 1960.
Think of the palm-held video cameras of today. This monster is what it took to film movies "back in the day." That camera is so big that it actually makes Granpa look small!!
Old Tucson itself has a fascinating history. Buildings were built for this movie or that. A warehouse was constructed to hold wardrobes for various TV series including Little House on the Prairie. Things were going pretty good around here.
Then, in April, 1995, a frightening disaster befell Old Tucson. An arsonist set a fire, and one piece of bad luck followed another until half the sets had burned. According to the Old Tucson Wikipedia site, "100 pieces of equipment and over 200 firefighters from every fire department in the Tucson metro area, including Davis Monthan Air Force Base and the Arizona National Guard were used to fight the flames.
"By this point, the wind was out of the west, pushing the fire into the sound stage and west along Kansas Street. Approaches to the fire were restricted by three propane tanks which had vented and were burning. The fire quickly turned into a firestorm with vortices of flames carrying burning shingles and wood throughout the park. Fire control efforts were hampered by high winds. Most of the buildings in the studio were classified as "Temporary Structures," meaning fire prevention devices such as sprinklers were not required. A large propane tank, stashes of black powder used in staging gunfights, and a diesel fuel tank demanded the attention of firefighters and much of the scarce water supply. So much water was used in the attempt to prevent an explosion that the surrounding areas became flooded, further impeding the firefighters as they attempted to wade through the mud. After four hours of firefighting, the flames were extinguished and hot spots located and put out. The loss included all of Kansas Street and Front street to the wash on the east side, the corner store on the west, and the sound stage. The Mission area was destroyed along with the Mission, the Greer Garson house, and the cantina from Rio Lobo. The south end of town and the Silverlake area were not affected. Damages were estimated to be in excess of $10 million ($15 million in 2013), with 25 buildings destroyed. Fortunately, there were no human or animal casualties."
The only piece of (barely) good news was that some of the wardrobe used in Little House on the Prairie had been loaned out to a museum in the city of Tucson and so was saved from the fire. (Sorry about the glare.)
The rebuild, including "three new streets lined with 12 new buildings, was completed in November 2011 at an estimated cost of $300,000. The design and construction of the new sets was led by Production Designer Gene Rudolf, credited with creating sets for movies including Young Guns II, The Great Gatsby, The Right Stuff, Raging Bull, Marathon Man, and Three Days of the Condor. The project added dressmaker shops, a general store and a blacksmith, and are part of 'living history' presentations."
Once you have been here you will begin to recognize these sets and the surrounding scenery in tons of films. The original set for High Chaparral (1966-1971) survived unscathed by the fire. (Yes, there are stage coach rides, and horseback rides and even a small train ride at Old Tucson today.)
(Tomorrow I'll tell you the name of the second movie ever shot here at Old Tucson.)
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