Founder's Day for Tucson is designated as August 20, 1775.
On August 20, 1775 the site of Presidio of San Agustín del Tucson was selected and laid out by Lt. Colonel Don Hugo O'Connor, Lt. Juan De Carmona ( Royal Spanish Army) and Father Francisco Garces. This was the northernmost outpost of Spain in the new world. The Presidio enclosed an area of present-day downtown Tucson that is marked by Church Ave. on the east, Washington St. on the north, Main Ave. on the West and Pennington St. on the south.
In 1971, August 20, 1775 was selected as Founder's Day by a committee of historians, anthropologists and citizens. Founder's Day is celebrated with a variety of events of the week of August 20 annually. Founder's Day 1975 was celebrated as the 200th birthday of Tucson.
"Hello Tucson: A Newcomer's Guide", A Star/Citizen suppl. Pages 8-16 and 8-17, 1991.
"Two pivotal dates picked, but still no founder's day." Tucson Citizen. March 26, 1971. Page 29.
"200 years ago today, Tucson had its start." Arizona Daily Star. August 20, 1975. Page 5.
Find the information you need by calling the library's Infoline at 520-791-4010 or by sending your question to Askalibrarian.