Mesa Grande

Mesa Grande Cultural Park, in Mesa, Arizona, preserves a group of Hohokam structures constructed during the Classic Period. The ruins were occupied between AD 1100 and 1400 (Pueblo II – Pueblo IV Era) and were a product of the Hohokam civilization that inhabited the Salt River Valley. There the Hohokam constructed an extensive system of water canals. It is one of only two Hohokam mounds remaining in the metro Phoenix area, with the other being the Pueblo Grande Museum Archaeological Park. The site's central feature is a massive ruin of adobe walls and platforms. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 when it was owned by B-movie actress Acquanetta and her husband Jack Ross. The site was acquired from them in 1988 by the city of Mesa. Since the 2013 completion of the Mesa Grande Visitor Center, the site is seasonally open to the public from October through May. The Mesa Grande Cultural Park is operated by the Arizona Museum of Natural History, which is undertaking archaeological studies there. The mound remains remarkably intact. The general site remains protected but undeveloped. The ruins are located to the west and across the street from the former Mesa Lutheran Hospital, which became 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, arrow heads, 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.