EL RANCHO DIABLO (14 images)

The intense summer heat in Tucson made “moonlite swimming” the perfect end to a long hot day so over the years different places arose, prospered and faded away. Sabino Canyon has always been a favorite, enough so they wanted to dam it up and make a swimming lake there. There was already Silverlake, where a fella dammed up a channel off the Santa Cruz, and Roy Drachman’s Elysian Gardens was popular for swimming, Vaudeville and later silent movies. The original Carrillo...
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The intense summer heat in Tucson made “moonlite swimming” the perfect end to a long hot day so over the years different places arose, prospered and faded away. Sabino Canyon has always been a favorite, enough so they wanted to dam it up and make a swimming lake there. There was already Silverlake, where a fella dammed up a channel off the Santa Cruz, and Roy Drachman’s Elysian Gardens was popular for swimming, Vaudeville and later silent movies. The original Carrillo Gardens had started up in 1908, so over when resorts started investing in the Western experience, dude ranches and desert get-aways. In its prime in the 1940-50’s, El Rancho Diablo was known for swimming parties, proms and church picnics. A part of the pool had three diving boards including, a 10 footer. There was a cocktail lounge, restaurant and kitchen, and fifty dressing rooms surrounding the pool, along with gracious rooms for vacationers visiting the real West. Tucson built Old Tucson to film the original “Arizona” in 1938 for the big screen, big-name-people started showing up in restaurants, the Arizona Inn frequently entertained movie stars filming in Tucson, this remarkable oasis was tucked into the desert southwest of Ryan Field off the Old Ajo Highway has for decades has suffered from vandals who disrespect even the Saguaros growing on the property. Some dynamite was said to have been used once, so say, mob connections once found this tucked away place to be of their liking. For many years the forgotten property was tied up in litigation, today the desert has reclaimed this piece of Tucson’s past...
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