South Tucson is a whole city of its own, about a square mile, with Tucson wrapped all the way around it. This map of South Tucson prints Galería Mitotera, Mi Nidito Restaurant, the El Paso and Southwestern Greenway, Mission View Elementary School, El Casino Ballroom and Carmelin Castro Ítom Usím Children’s Park, with Greyhound Wash giving shape to the land.
South Tucson is a city in Pima County, an enclave entirely surrounded by the city of Tucson.
KNOWOL made this map in 2026 and gave modern data the look of a vintage atlas. The shaded relief of the landscape comes from United States Geological Survey elevation data, and the streets were drawn from Census Bureau files. The 2020 census counted 4,613 people in the city.
Twice incorporated
South Tucson’s story began on South Sixth Avenue. In 1936 Tucson moved to annex the unincorporated land along south Sixth Avenue from 25th Street down to the Veterans Hospital, and the auto court owners and other property owners there objected, since they didn’t want to pay Tucson’s higher business taxes or follow its building codes. They petitioned the Pima County Board of Supervisors for an incorporation election, and on August 10, 1936, residents voted 52 to 35 to become a town. What followed was a fight over water: Tucson kept requiring its water customers in South Tucson to get building permits from Tucson, the new council put a $500 annual franchise fee on Tucson Water, and Tucson answered that it would cut off service within 120 days. On January 18, 1938, residents turned in 258 petition signatures and the county dissolved South Tucson, but another drive started right away, and on March 27, 1939, the town was reincorporated by a vote of 70 to 63.
In 1956 Tucson’s mayor called on South Tucson to join the larger city. When the invitation went unanswered, the Tucson City Council held a surprise meeting and annexed the land all around it. In the 1990s Tucson transferred a 25-acre slice of land between South Tucson and Interstate 10, which brought the city to its present size.
Click to explore a larger preview. The digital watermark does not appear on printed maps.
Names on this map
These names are printed on this map.
Streets and roads: W Pla Estrella Azul, W Starr Pass Blvd, S Verdugo Ave, S Freeway Rd, E 22nd St, W 24th St, S Convent Ave, S Second Ave, Barraza Aviation Hwy, E Warehouse Ave, Mountain Ave, W Silverlake Rd.
More street names, A to Z
E 32nd St, E Benson Hwy, Euclid Ave, Old Vail Rd, Silverlake Rd, S Santa Cruz Ln, W 37th St, W Veterans Blvd.
Fourth Avenue and around the map
South Tucson is known for its Mexican culture, with restaurants and shops selling traditional Mexican food and goods throughout the city, colorful buildings and outdoor murals. The Mexican restaurants on South Fourth Avenue have long been a draw, and Mi Nidito is the one where President Bill Clinton had lunch in 1999; “the President’s Plate” is still on its menu. The city is drawing artists and musicians too. The El Paso and Southwestern Greenway shares its name with the railroad that made Tucson its western end: the last spike on the line from Fairbank was driven on October 31, 1912, and when the first scheduled train pulled in on November 20, 1912, a crowd of 3,000 people was there to meet it. Mission View Elementary School is one of the Tucson Unified schools South Tucson children attend. Galería Mitotera, El Casino Ballroom, Carmelin Castro Ítom Usím Children’s Park and Greyhound Wash have their places on the sheet as well.
This South Tucson map makes a good addition to an office, library or den, and it can help teach children the geography and history of the area. It’s made for anyone who calls South Tucson home, inside the city that surrounds it, and KNOWOL created it in 2026 to show the city as it looks today. Zoom in on the preview above to explore the details, then click here to get your copy of the South Tucson map.
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