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In 1939, Columbia Pictures based a film on Clarence Kelland's book Arizona, set during the Civil War in Arizona Territory. To accurately portray the novel's landscape, Columbia selected a spot about 10 miles from what is now downtown Tucson in the middle of a large Pima County park for the filming. In 1959, Bob Shelton, a Kansas City developer, purchased the lot, determined to build an active movie studio and tourist attraction. His vision was successful, and Old Tucson Studios has set the stage for over 200 movies and television shows. As Western movies regain their popularity in the box office, the future looks bright for Old Tucson Studios to become a premier filming site in Arizona.

In the late 1950s, philanthropist Robert Maytag, the grandson of the Maytag Company founder, had a dream that the growing city of Phoenix needed a world-class zoo. Under Maytag's formidable vision and leadership, the dream became a reality in 1962. Now the Phoenix Zoo is one of the biggest privately owned, nonprofit zoos in the United States and one of the most visited places in Arizona. The zoo maintains a year-round staff of over 300 employees and covers 125 acres housing 3,000 animals, including 30 threatened or endangered species. Without much room to expand, the zoo utilizes its current space to rebuild and renovate. Since opening, the Phoenix Zoo has welcomed more than 43 million visitors through its gates, fulfilling its mission of providing experiences that inspire and motivate people to care for the natural world.

From 1924 through 1981, Springlake was Oklahoma City's premier place for fun for everyone around the state. Park enthusiast Carla Williams Noffsinger mirrors the comments of so many of the park's patrons when she says, "I grew up in Moore. We spent many a happy hour at Springlake. We always heard bad stories about the Big Dipper, but that was the first ride we would hit. I remember my cousin wetting her pants once on the Tilt-A-Whirl; we laugh about that to this day. As far as my family was concerned, it was just good, clean old-fashioned fun. My cousins would come up in the summer from southeast Oklahoma, and Springlake was at the top of the list of places to go." For all its goodness, Springlake was flawed, remaining segregated longer than many other businesses during the tumultuous civil rights era. Forced to integrate by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Springlake adapted poorly--instead of opening its huge pool to all swimmers and sunbathers, the pool became an aquarium. Racial tensions culminated on Easter 1971 with a small but important racially based riot from which the park never fully recovered.

Aquarena Springs was the culmination of a dream shared by two men: Arthur Birch (A. B.) Rogers and his son Paul J. Rogers. The Spring Lake Park Hotel opened at the headwaters of the San Marcos River in 1929. Soon, Aquarena Springs would become one of the premier tourist destinations in the Southwest. Attractions such as glass bottom boats, a Swiss sky ride, Texana Village, and the world's only submarine theater delighted hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. From special events like the underwater wedding featured in Life magazine to the daily antics of nationally known Ralph the Swimming Pig, Aquarena provided entertainment and created lifelong memories for countless families. In recent years, under the auspices of the River Systems Institute at Texas State University, Aquarena has become an important center for environmental education and research.

Conceived and built in the early 1960s by local artist and advertising man Louis E. Crandall, Legend City was an ambitious and star-crossed mid-century attempt to bring a world-class theme park to the Phoenix metropolitan area. Despite daunting financial challenges and an unforgiving Arizona sun, the park managed to survive for two full decades, entertaining countless Arizonans and forging an enduring place for itself in the hearts and minds of local residents. A sad tale of broken dreams and economic failure on the surface, the story of Legend City is actually an exhilarating and fascinating chapter in the cultural history of Arizona.