Mesa Grande Cultural Park
Introduction
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Mesa Grande Cultural Park, in Mesa, Arizona, preserves a group of Hohokam structures constructed during the Classical Period. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, when it was owned by a local actress. The site was acquired from the actress in 1988 by the city of Mesa. After the 2013 completion of the Mesa Grande Visitor's Center, the site is open seasonally to the public from October through May and is operated by the Arizona Museum of Natural History. The museum is currently undertaking archaeological studies at the site. The mound remains remarkably intact while the general site remains protected and undeveloped.
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Backstory and Context
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The ruins are located to the west and across the street from the former Mesa Lutheran Hospital, now a Banner Health corporate center housing billing and Information Technology employees.
Artifacts presumably associated with the ruins have been found in the neighborhood to the west. Axe heads, arrowheads, and pottery sherds were regularly uncovered and collected by residents during the 1960s and 1970s just under the surface of the earth in private property there.