Have You Been to the “Valley of the Moon”?
TUCSON — The majority of Arizona’s humans are residents of Phoenix, a sprawling megalopolis known as “the Valley of the Sun.” But most of the state’s hobbits and trolls live in Tucson, in a small oasis known as “the Valley of the Moon.”
Back in the 1970s, George Phar Legler, a mailman with a big imagination, placed the hobbits, trolls, fairies and even a few gnomes in a peaceful spot in the desert on the city’s outskirts. He used rocks and stones to build towers, castles and little houses for his little people, then he’d put on a hobbit costume and lead children through his garden while telling them gnome stories.
After Legler’s death, his project was designated an Arizona Historic Place and the George Phar Legler Society took it over. The group maintains the property and volunteers dressed as wizards and elves still lead the tours that pass waterfalls, secret passages, and hidden rooms en route to the Tower of Zogog. Some of Legler’s edifices are beginning to show wear and tear, but the Valley of the Moon is still worth a visit.
It’s located at 2544 East Allen Road. For additional information and pictures, visit The George Phar Legler Society.
Your link does not work. Try http://www.tucsonvalleyofthemoon.com/ or join The Valley of the Moon’s Facebook group page. Not only are they open the first Saturday of every month but they are putting on a production of The Princess Bride June 19-21st and 26th-28th.
The link has been fixed. Thanks for catching that!
The Valley of the Moon was built in the 1920s by George Phar Legler who gave tours of the property until 1967 at which time illness forced him into something akin to a retirement from his Mountain Gnome persona. In the 1970s the Valley of the Moon was reopened by a group of Catalina High School students and their parents who formed the Valley of the Moon Restoration Association. You can read the whole story at the Valley of the Moon website:
http://tucsonvalleyofthemoon.com/index.cfm?p=complete_history.htm
That’s amazing that there are still articles on the Valley of the Moon even now to this day!
I had my 12th birthday party there and he led the tour; my party was the BEST. What a wonderful man.