Casa Grande was built about 1350 by the Hohokam people. It is a four story building "as large as a castle" found in Arizona. The Hohokam people had arrived in this region about 300 BC. They lived in huts until they began building pueblos in the 1100s; the tower is a part of such a pueblo. The Hohokam developed an extensive system of irrigation canals, and scientists have suggested that their disappearance about 1450 was the result of increased alkalinity of the soil caused by over watering.
Archaeologists are not certain why Casa Grande was built. Perhaps it was the home of a chieftain, a temple, a large storage facility or an astronomical observatory as indicated by holes in the wall that are aligned with equinoxes. The structure was reinforced by more than 600 roof beams which had to be carried from 50 miles away, and these people had neither horse nor wheel!!! The walls of the tower are 4 1/2 feet thick at the base and taper to 3/4 of a foot at the top. The building consisted of a 5-foot-high foundation, a two-story building on top of that, and finally, the tower.
Some archaeologists such as J. Walter Fewkes, Adolph F. Bandelier, Frederick Webb Hodge, and Frank H. Cushing helped bring national attention to the rapidly deteriorating ruin. In 1892 it came under federal protection, and the first roof was built over it in 1903. It became a national monument in 1918.
Kristina Welp