Coolidge, AZ Road Trips

Home to the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, Coolidge is a small city of over 13,000 (2020) in the south central Arizona desert, south of metro Phoenix. The area around what is now Coolidge was occupied by the Hohokam, an indigenous ancient Sonoran Desert people who built a massive compound consisting many of caliche structures and remained in the area for over 1,000 years. The only remaining and preserved structure from this compound is the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. The modern history of the city is centered around agriculture, particularly cotton. Coolidge was founded in 1925 when R.J. Jones laid out an 80 acres (32 ha) site during the construction of the Coolidge Dam on the nearby Gila River, which was completed in 1930. Both the dam and the townsite were named for Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President of the United States. The dam made the sandy soil native to the area into very rich farmland, and soon vast expanses of desert were plowed and acres of cotton were planted. This is when the area's status as the hub of the Arizona cotton industry was solidified and led to the incorporation of Coolidge as a city in 1945.

1 Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, 1110 W Ruins Dr, ☏ +1 520-723-3172. An impressive multi-story adobe building and fortress constructed by pre-Columbian Hohokam Indians. Ironically, the town of Casa Grande is farther away from the national monument and is not on any convenient route to the monument. 2 Pinal Geology & Mineral Museum, 351 N Arizona Blvd, ☏ +1 520-337-3080, [email protected]. W-Sa 10AM-3PM (Sept-May), Fridays 10AM-3PM (June-August). You can look at minerals and fossilized dino bones. Kids activities. Free.

1 Windmill Winery Wine Tasting Room, 1140 W Butte Ave; Florence, ☏ +1 480-313-2303. Th 11AM-9PM, F 11AM-5PM, Sa 11AM-9PM, Su 11AM-5PM. (updated Aug 2022)

In Coolidge: 1 Grande Vista Motel, 1211 N Arizona Blvd; Coolidge, ☏ +1 520-723-7793. Check-out: 11AM. free parking, free Wi-Fi. (updated Aug 2022) In Florence, about 10 mi (16 km) east of Casa Grand Ruins National Monument: 2 Blue Mist Motel Florence, 40 S Pinal Pkwy Ave; Florence. Check-in: 3PM, check-out: 11AM. pool, free parking, free Wi-Fi. (updated Aug 2022) 3 GreenTree Inn & Suites Florence, 240 W Highway AZ-287; Florence, ☏ +1 520-868-9900, [email protected]. Check-in: 3PM, check-out: 11AM. pool, free parking, free Wi-Fi. (updated Aug 2022)

Coolidge is east of Interstate 10 and Casa Grande, accessible from I-10 on Arizona State Routes 87, 287 and 387.

The City of Coolidge operates local and regional bus service: The Cotton Express (fixed service route, weekdays only M-F 7AM-8PM), which provides local bus service around the city Central Arizona Regional Transit (CART) (2½ hour fixed service route, weekdays only M-F 5:15AM-8:30PM), which provides transportation between Florence, Coolidge, Central Arizona College and Casa Grande.