place

McFarland State Historic Park

1974 establishments in ArizonaCommons category link is locally definedFlorence, ArizonaGovernment buildings completed in 1878History museums in Arizona
Law enforcement museums in the United StatesMuseums established in 1974Museums in Pinal County, ArizonaParks in Pinal County, ArizonaProtected areas established in 1974State parks of ArizonaUse mdy dates from August 2023
Florence First Pinal County Courthouse 1878
Florence First Pinal County Courthouse 1878

McFarland State Historic Park is a small historic park located in downtown Florence, Arizona on the corner of Main and Ruggles streets. The park consists of a preserved courthouse and other buildings dating to the Arizona Territory period. The original structure was built in 1878 with the addition of a jail in 1882 and the courthouse in 1891. The courthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. McFarland State Historic Park commemorates Ernest McFarland (1894-1984), who was successively a US Senator, Governor of Arizona, and Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court. McFarland bought the old courthouse building in 1974, donated it to the state, and paid for its renovation. The park was opened and dedicated October 10, 1979.The park reopened in February 2011 after repairs and renovations. It had been closed because of Arizona State Parks budget cuts.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article McFarland State Historic Park (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

McFarland State Historic Park
Ruggles Street,

Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address Nearby Places
placeShow on map

Wikipedia: McFarland State Historic ParkContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 33.036111111111 ° E -111.38777777778 °
placeShow on map

Address

Ruggles Street 2
85132
Arizona, United States
mapOpen on Google Maps

Florence First Pinal County Courthouse 1878
Florence First Pinal County Courthouse 1878
Share experience

Nearby Places

Harvey-Niemeyer House
Harvey-Niemeyer House

The Harvey-Niemeyer House, in Florence, Arizona, is a one-story house built around 1874. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986, as a result of a study of historic resources in the Florence area.It was built first as a T-shaped adobe house, which was probably flat-roofed, with an attached front porch and a rear frame addition, around 1874. It was renovated in 1892 with addition of a hipped roof and a veneer of fired brick on all but the rear facade. It was expanded also with a row of rooms across its rear in 1936.It was deemed significant as "an outstanding example of a local architectural type known as 'Early Transitional.' Early Transitional buildings manifest characteristics of both Sonoran and American Victorian styles. The building is also associated with two locally significant individuals: Dr. William Harvey, M.D., and Charles H. Niemeyer." It was judged to be comparable to the best examples of Early Transitional style in the National Register-listed Florence Townsite Historic District.It is located outside that district at 250 S. Main St., but when it was listed its address was 1618 Main St.It is a one-story house built of adobe around 1874. It was remodeled in 1892 and expanded in 1936. It is about 42 by 45 feet (13 m × 14 m) in plan.It was home of physician William Harvey, who became known as an "Angel of Mercy" during a smallpox epidemic. Harvey also came to address the aftermath of the 1888 Gabriel-Phy shootout. Charles Niemeyer, a later homeowner, served as a postmaster and, for 25 years, as Clerk of the Pinal County Board of Supervisors.

Arizona State Prison Complex – Florence

Arizona State Prison Complex – Florence also known as Florence State Prison (FSP) is one of 13 prison facilities operated by the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC). The main FSP prison is located in Florence, Arizona. The Florence complex used to include a unit in Picacho in unincorporated Pinal County however, the Picacho Unit was closed and destroyed in early 2013. The Globe Unit in Globe is also a part of Florence Complex.The Central Unit of ASPC–Florence houses Arizona's one of two male death row cell blocks and the State of Arizona execution chamber. FSP is the judicial site in Arizona for state executions since 1910. The death house is located beside Housing Unit 8. Lethal injection and the gas chamber are the sole methods of execution. In 1908 inmates finished building and opened the Arizona Prison at Florence. This new prison was to replace the territorial prison in Yuma. The convicts lived in tents while constructing the prison. The new prison featured a death chamber. The chamber was scaffolding above the death row cells that had a trap door for hanging inmates which opened to a room below. In 1934, hanging was replaced with the gas chamber following a botched hanging that took place in 1930. Convicts from Florence were a cheap source of labor and the state used them to build roads through the mountains between Bisbee and Tombstone in 1913. Convicts also built a bridge over the San Pedro River and improved the Douglas Highway. There is a concrete monument there commemorating the completion of the road. The prison was designed in a mission-revival style architecture.FSP has an inmate capacity of 3,946 in 6 housing units, housed at level 2, 3 and 5 security levels. The ADC uses a score classification system to assess inmates appropriate custody and security level placement. The scores range from 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest risk or need. Central Unit was recently changed from a split 3/5 level to a sole maximum security unit.