Desert Homes

That low mound of earth is what remains of a homestead. In the early 1930s Safford Freeman and his family filed a claim under the Homestead Act, proved up 640 acres, and built a three-room adobe with a well and outbuildings here in the desert east of Tucson. They were among the last of the homesteaders. In the early 1950s the National Park Service bought out Freeman and his neighbors to fold their land into Saguaro National Park, trading private dreams of a desert farm for public ground and standing saguaros.

What the plaque says

Safford Freeman and his family settled in this area in the early 1930s after applying for a patent under the Homestead Act. They were granted 640 acres to farm, graze, or mine. Here Mr. Freeman constructed a three room adobe home, along with several outbuildings and a well. The mound of dirt before you is what's left of their home. In the early 1950s, the Freeman Homestead, along with many other home sites, was purchased by the National Park Service to protect all the lands within Saguaro National Park.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Saguaro National Park — 6.5 mi
  The giant cactus, and the O'odham who count it as kin
• Tucson — 15 mi
  The Old Pueblo — four thousand years of farming under the sky islands
• Mission San Xavier del Bac — 17 mi
  The White Dove of the Desert — the finest Spanish Baroque church in the country

More markers nearby

• Agua Caliente Ranch and Hot Springs — 8.3 mi
• Airmen Memorial Bridge — 8.5 mi
• Colossal Cave Mountain Park — 8.8 mi
• Fort Lowell — 11 mi