Goddesses of the Sun
Hacienda del Sol: Out West School for Girls 1929-1941

John W. Murphey took a deep breath as he stood on a patch of open desert in the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains. The cool water from a canteen refreshed him as he gazed south towards the small city of Tucson, some 8 miles distant. He knelt on one knee and ran his fingers through the desert. “Lovely land,” he thought to himself as he rubbed the dirt between his fingers while surveying the Saguaros, Palo Verde trees and greasewood that abounded on the property.

 

A perfect spot for the school.

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In 1928, Tucson was more of a big town than a city. Murphey’s view that day was one of mostly open desert, the foothills rolling down south to the Rillito River, followed by a flat, lush desert basin extending for miles to the city limits. At almost 30,000 residents, the Old Pueblo had experienced explosive growth in the “golden decade” of the 1920s.

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