La Ciudad (Hohokam La Ciudad Ruin)
Va Suku (O'odham 'Big House') · La Ciudad · La Ciudad Hohokam · Pueblo de la Ciudad
Hohokam Colonial to Classic (600–1450 CE)·Hohokam (Salt River)·🇺🇸 Arizona, Maricopa County – Phoenix, Encanto district, Indian School Road, United States
About
About La Ciudad (Hohokam La Ciudad Ruin)
Salt River Hohokam platform-mound barrio town (c.600–1450 CE, Colonial to Classic) now buried under central Phoenix Encanto — sister to Pueblo Grande 5 km east, controlling La Ciudad Canal (HoHo Canal 20 km) irrigating Phoenix north side. Via Arizona Museum surveys 1927– Midvale/E. Fry: platform mound 130×40 m, 5 m high, 700+ pit-house compounds, ballcourt (900 CE), and canal 11 m wide hand-dug 4 m deep. Almost completely overbuilt by 1920s–60s Phoenix suburb — type-site of urban archaeology loss; remnant park slab at St. Luke's hospital grounds.
Why it mattersPhoenix urban archaeology icon — platform town obliterated; Grand Canal inspiration still waters Phoenix 2020s from Hohokam alignment.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01How many platform mounds under Phoenix grid — 20 estimated lost
- 02Canal 0.2% grade survey without instruments — how?
Theories
- 01Midvale canal-cooperation model — La Ciudad– Pueblo Grande dual chiefdoms
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.600 CE Pioneer hamlet; ballcourt 900 CE; platform mound 1200–1300 CE
- Period
- Hohokam Colonial to Classic (600–1450 CE)
- Culture
- Hohokam (Salt River)
- Builders
- Central Phoenix Hohokam
- Purpose
- North-bank canal capital with platform residence and ballcourt centre
- Abandoned
- c.1450 with Hohokam collapse; overbuilt Phoenix 1910–60
- Rediscovered
- 1867 Jack Swilling rebuilds Hohokam HoHo Canal as Grand Canal; 1927 Midvale maps La Ciudad
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
1927
Midvale Phoenix Basin Hohokam canal mapping
c.900
Ballcourt and canal 20 km built
1960
Overbuilt by St Luke's / Encanto suburb — salvage only
On the ground
Structures & features
33.4980° N · 112.0480° W · 340 m · 3 mapped features
La Ciudad platform mound footprint (under St Luke's)
mound130×40 m buried mound under hospital
33.4981° N · 112.0481° WBallcourt trace (Indian School Rd)
ballcourt900 CE ballcourt 50 m under grid
33.4979° N · 112.0479° WLa Ciudad Canal trace (Grand Canal parallels)
canal11 m canal 20 km — Phoenix Grand Canal follows
33.4980° N · 112.0480° W