These Ancient Native American Ruins in Coolidge Are A Must-See in The Phoenix Area

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument(Creative Commons/Jasperdo)

There's something uniquely interesting about seeing the ruins of ancient civilizations, and The Casa Grande Ruins National Monument is no different. Although the original purpose of these ruins is unclear, the Casa Grande Ruins are among the largest prehistoric structures ever built in North America. The ancestral Sonoran Desert people built the structure around the year 1350 A.D. Nearby, archaeologists say there is also evidence of advanced developments in agriculture by the ancestral Sonoran Desert people.

These ruins are particularly hard to determine the use of because the ancestral Sonoran Desert people did not have any written language. The first written historical accounts of Casa Grande began in 1694 with journal entries by Padre Eusebio Francisco Kino. Padre Kino described the ancient structure as "Casa Grande," ( or "Great House")

In the 1800s, more and more people began visiting Casa Grande due to the construction of a railroad line twenty miles to the west of the monument. Souvenir hunters, graffiti artists, and vandals raised concerns about how well the government should preserve the monument.

(Creative Commons/midiman)

On August 3, 1918, President Woodrow Wilson designated the structure as a national monument. The area is now managed by the National Park Service, which carefully monitors and cares for the structure. If you are planning on visiting the Casa Grande Ruins, make sure to read up on the National Park Service's website to make sure they will be open and able to permit you entry into the area.

This national gem is one of the magical monuments in the Arizona desert, and it is still standing today, almost 700 years after it was built.