Colonia Solana in Tucson in Pima County, Arizona — The American Mountains (Southwest)

Epes Randolph

August 16, 1856 – August 22, 1921

Photographed by Bill Kirchner, December 10, 2010

1. Epes Randolph Marker

Inscription. [ Four markers are mounted on the four sides around the base of the monument. ]

Side A:
Southern Pacific Railroad Map Epes commanded the "Randolph Lines" that connected Phoenix and southern Arizona's outlying communities with Tucson. He also headed the Southern Pacific railroad's push through the rough barranca country south of Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico toward Guadalajara. Randolph envisioned a great agricultural and mineral bonanza along Mexico's western coast, but Revolution (1910-1917) destroyed his dream. At his death, all the wheels on the two railroads he controlled, the Arizona Eastern and Ferrocarril Sud-Pacifico de Mexico, stopped for one minute in tribute. Randolph's caring and generous spirit spurred his employees to honor the faith and love he built in the hearts of his fellow men for more than a quarter-century after he died, August 22, 1921.

Side B:
Closing the Colorado River Breach Thundering Colorado River floodwaters swamped California's Imperial Valley in 1905, and southern Pacific head E. H. Harriman summoned Epes Randolph. Deemed a "desperate situation and one without engineering parallel,"

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

the flood endangered 2,500 settlers and one-hundred thousand cultivated acres. When none of the almost fifty celebrated engineers he consulted could agree upon a solution, Randolph ordered dumping thousands of tons of rock into the river's half-mile breach. From the sick-bed of his private car, the Pocahontas, he directed work crews of four hundred Pima, Yuma, Maricopa, Cocopa, Diegueno, and Tohono O'odham men, who finally closed the gash in the Colorado's bank on February 10, 1907.

Side C:
Santa Rita Hotel "Forty-five years I have labored. The laboring man, whoever he may be and however he may labor, with head or hands, has my sincerest sympathies and utmost goodwill." – Epes Randolph, August 1921.

Epes Randolph financed Tucson's premier hostelry, the Santa Rita Hotel (above) with Levi H. Manning in 1903. He also invested in banks, railroads, and mines across Arizona and Mexico, including the rich King of Arizona (KofA) gold mine near Yuma. A member of the state Board of Regents from 1919 to 1921, Randolph rose to honorary 33rd degree Mason and presided over Tucson's Old Pueblo Club.

Side D:
Epes Randolph –
Photographed by Bill Kirchner, December 10, 2010

2. Epes Randolph Monument - Side A
Bridge Builder A whirlwind of power and energy, Epes Randolph completed construction of C & O Bridge (above) between Cincinnati, Ohio and Covington , Kentucky in 1888. It proved a crowning glory of his career in the East. Born in Lunenburg County, Virginia in 1856, the dynamic railroad leader and civil engineer built several other bridges in the region and earned professional acclaim.

Epes and his wife, Eleanor, moved to Tucson in 1895, when lung damage forced him to adopt a dry climate. Local superintendent of the Southern Pacific Railroad, Randolph gathered around him a host of bright, influential friends and soon dominated industry,, mining, and politics in Arizona. The couple grew to love Tucson and called it home for the rest of their lives.

Erected by City of Tucson.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Bridges & Viaducts • Industry & Commerce • Railroads & Streetcars • Waterways & Vessels. A significant historical date for this entry is February 10, 1907.

Location. 32° 12.867′ N, 110° 55.106′ W. Marker is in Tucson, Arizona, in Pima County. It is in Colonia Solana. It is at the intersection

Closing the Colorado River Breach - Side B image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Bill Kirchner, December 10, 2010

3. Closing the Colorado River Breach - Side B

of South Randolph Way and East Camino Campestre, on the right when traveling south on South Randolph Way. Marker is on the northwest corner,. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 8646 E Camino Campestre, Tucson AZ 85716, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Arizona’s Sky Islands,

in the Sonoran Desert,

and in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area.

It is also in the American Southwest.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain

and also the Gadsden Purchase.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: El Conquistador Water Tower (approx. 0.4 miles away); Villa Catalina (approx. 1.1 miles away); Bicentennial Moon Tree (approx. 2.1 miles away); USS Arizona Mall Memorial (approx. 2.3 miles away); U.S.S. Arizona 1916 - Wilber L. "Bill" Bower U of A Outstanding Achievement Awards (approx. 2.3 miles away); Old Main (approx. 2.4 miles away); Cattle Tank (approx. 2.4 miles away); Does This Garden

Santa Rita Hotel - Side C image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Bill Kirchner, December 10, 2010

4. Santa Rita Hotel - Side C

Seem Lush and Cool? (approx. 2.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Tucson.

Regarding Epes Randolph. Epes Randolph originally came to Tucson to seek relief from respiratory problems, allegedly to have developed from having worked in high pressure diving gear while building a bridge across the Licking River at Covington, Kentucky.
Except for living for a short interval in Los Angeles - 1901-1904, and his times on the job near Yuma in 1906-1907 trying to get the Colorado River back where everyone wanted it to be, he spent the rest of his life in Tucson and he became active in many civic activities, including Freemasonry and the Elk's Club, and four times he was elected president of the Old Pueblo Club. Epes Randolph also served on the Board of Regents for the University of Arizona, and was "Chancellor" of the Board of Regents at the time of his death.
Willis Barnum and his wife deeded a 480-acre parcel of land to create a city park in Tucson. Bounded by Country Club Road, Alvernon Way, Broadway and 22nd Street, the park was named in honor of Epes Randolph.

Epes Randolph – Bridge Builder - Side D image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Bill Kirchner, December 10, 2010

5. Epes Randolph – Bridge Builder - Side D

Epes Randolph Markers image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Bill Kirchner, December 10, 2010

6. Epes Randolph Markers

Epes Randolph Monument image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Bill Kirchner, December 10, 2010

7. Epes Randolph Monument

Photographed by Bill Kirchner, December 10, 2010

8. Epes Randolph Monument

Epes Randolph image. Click for full size.

Arizona Historical Society

9. Epes Randolph

Credits. This page was last revised on November 2, 2019. It was originally submitted on December 12, 2010, by Bill Kirchner of Tucson, Arizona. This page has been viewed 2,410 times since then and 44 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. submitted on December 12, 2010, by Bill Kirchner of Tucson, Arizona. • Syd Whittle was the editor who published this page.