The Wilson Legacy and the Making of Tohono Chul

Written by Devon Sloan, April 2025

April 19, 1985, was such a special day in southern Arizona, as that’s the day that Tohono Chul
Park was formally dedicated as a desert preserve. Even though the corner of Oracle and Magee
was not as busy with traffic as it is now, residents of our area had to be delighted to have such a
peaceful respite at the edge of our community. Richard and Jean Wilson, the benefactors of
Tohono Chul, also undoubtedly finally felt some peace, as their journey to create the park we
visit and love had finally come to be after almost 20 years.

However, the story doesn’t start with Richard and Jean Wilson, but goes back to Richard
Wilson’s great-great-great grandfather who had founded a museum in Philadelphia’s
Independence Hall, housing paintings and Native American artifacts. Richard’s uncle founded
the Museum of Northern Arizona to display and preserve regional Native American crafts, and
his mother was a collector of contemporary Southwest Native American arts, some of which are
part of the permanent cultural collection at Tohono Chul now. Richard, himself, was a geologist
who taught at the University. You can see that it was an incredible foundation upon which this
legacy would continue.

In the 1920’s the land on which Tohono Chul sits was part of groves of citrus trees owned by the
father of Gene Reid for whom Tucson’s Reid Park and Zoo is named. This land was subsequently subdivided, and from 1937 until 1966, the land was sold to different families as an 80-acre parcel. In 1937, what is now the Exhibit House was built as a Santa Fe style home for the Wacks, the family who first purchased the citrus grove property. In 1948, a different family donated part of the property to the Catholic Diocese of Tucson for the site for St. Odilia’s Catholic Church.

Tohono Chul Sign

In 1963, the sixth family who lived on the land built what is now the Bistro as a hacienda-style
home with a central passageway leading to a courtyard (where we can enjoy a Chul Sunrise after
a stroll through the park or visit to the La Fuente Museum!)

The Wilsons purchased what is now the Bistro in 1966 and, lived there until 1974, eventually
owning 37 acres of the 80-acre parcel. The Lomaki House (now used for private events, classes,
and meetings) was built as a guest house by the Wilsons, and in 1968 they purchased the home
that is now the Exhibit House, donating the space to several non-profit organizations as a
halfway house or youth residence.

An avid reader, Jean Wilson opened The Haunted Bookshop on the property in 1979, where
local authors were featured not only with the sales of their publications but also readings,
classes, and events. The store was very popular, and once it was up and running, the adventure
began to make the park a reality as the Wilsons walked through the park making trails and
installing markers to denote various plants on the property.

It was during the 1970’s that developers first approached the Wilsons about making the land
commercial, and when Ina Road was to be widened, Richard Wilson demanded that Pima
County move every saguaro and replant it on their property. In 1995, development again tried
to encroach on the park with higher density rezoning. A member of Tohono Chul aided the
Wilsons in acquiring the property in 1996, and when the bookstore closed in 1997, the Wilsons
donated that land to what was now Tohono Chul Park, Inc., a non-profit foundation, bringing
the total acreage to its current 49 acres.

Other Resources:

A brief history of Tohono Chul (this is a link to their website)

Visit the gardens, galleries, and bistro at Tohono Chul!