Mesa Grande Cultural Park
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Images
'Room D'. Here in 1955, ASU students excavated this portion of the ruins
!['Room D'. Here in 1955, ASU students excavated this portion of the ruins](https://storage.googleapis.com/clio-images/medium_17330.33379.jpg)
Actress/one-time owner of ruins--Acquanetta
![Actress/one-time owner of ruins--Acquanetta](https://storage.googleapis.com/clio-images/medium_17330.33380.jpg)
The Lewis family, in front of the mound at Mesa Grande in 1904, carried out excavations to see what was inside. They found a series of thick caliche walls.
![The Lewis family, in front of the mound at Mesa Grande in 1904, carried out excavations to see what was inside. They found a series of thick caliche walls.](https://storage.googleapis.com/clio-images/medium_17330.33381.jpg)
Temple Mound Ruins
![Temple Mound Ruins](https://storage.googleapis.com/clio-images/medium_17330.33382.jpg)
Woodcut illustration of Mesa Grande by Bartlett in the 1850s and published in his report, Ruins on the Salinas. The Salt (Salinas) River is marked by the line of trees in the middle distance.
![Woodcut illustration of Mesa Grande by Bartlett in the 1850s and published in his report, Ruins on the Salinas. The Salt (Salinas) River is marked by the line of trees in the middle distance.](https://storage.googleapis.com/clio-images/medium_17330.33383.jpg)
Aerial view of ruins
![Aerial view of ruins](https://storage.googleapis.com/clio-images/medium_17330.33384.jpg)
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
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.