Cannon-Douglass House

Cannon-Douglass house, c. 2008

Cannon-Douglass house, date unknown

This house at 1189 E. Speedway Boulevard, along with the adjacent Smith house, were the first two personal homes built in Tucson north of Speedway Boulevard and are the only two remaining early professors' houses adjacent to the University.

Dr. William A Cannon came to Tucson in 1902 after receiving his Ph.D. from Columbia University. He became the first resident botanist at the new Desert Botanical Laboratory on Tumamoc Hill, a project of the Carnegie Institution. The laboratory was the first center for the study of North American desert ecology and, through its research, established the basis for further ecological analysis of desert areas throughout the world. Dr. Cannon constructed the stucco-brick bungalow in 1906.

Professor Andrew Ellicott Douglass established and operated the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff before coming to the UA in 1906 as Professor of Physics. In 1907, he became the first Professor of Astronomy. His first major accomplishment was to build Steward Observatory on campus in 1923. He also began work on the measurement of tree rings and initiated the science of dendrochronology. He was appointed Professor of Dendrochronology and, in the ensuing years, brought worldwide attention to the UA and the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research. Professor Douglass purchased the house from Dr. Cannon in 1913 and lived there until 1924.

The house is currently assigned to the College of Architecture and a major renovation is being planned.