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West Wetmore Road (Tucson, Arizona)

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Namesake: The Wetmore Family
The home of Ralph and Helen Wetmore sat where Sears and the Tucson Mall are now located. Early on, Helen Wetmore had the idea for a big shopping center in the area.
The Wetmore family arrived in Tucson well before statehood and left its mark on local education, entertainment and shopping. The road that bears their name is one they graded themselves with a team of horses. Edward L. Wetmore Sr. was Tucson's first meteorologist. He arrived in Tucson in 1878 from San Francisco and tracked weather for the government until his death in 1912. He also established the first school in what is now the Amphitheater Public Schools district. His son, Edward Wetmore Jr., was born in 1883 in an adobe house in Plaza de Armas Park, where Tucson City Hall now sits. He was one of the first students to enter the school. He farmed and was in the cattle and dairy business. His farm was part of his father's land, homesteaded in 1880 near the site of the former Wetmore Pool, a bit west of the current Walmart at 455 East Wetmore Road. After World War I, Edward Jr., along with his brother Ralph's wife Helen, opened an amusement park with a pool, roller skating rink and outdoor dance floor. Helen Wetmore came up with the idea for Tucson Mall from a trip to Chicago in the 1930s. Source: tucson.com/news/local/wetmores-had-deep-roots-in-north-...
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Coordinates:   32°17'12"N   110°59'42"W
This article was last modified 7 years ago