State Route 79

Arizona State Route 79

Arizona 79 travels between Oracle Junction, north of Tucson, and Florence Junction, east of Phoenix. The road is also known as the Pinal Pioneer Parkway between Oracle Junction and Florence.

Arizona 79 is former US 80 and US 89, renumbered to Arizona 79 in 1992. This routing of US 80 and US 89 dates back to 1926, with some cleanup work performed when the road was paved during the 1940s. This section of old US 80 and 89 was one of the last sections of US 80 to be paved in the country, and not completed until 1945. In 1977, US 80 was removed from this road, and in 1992, US 89 was removed from this road.

Originally, the route number (79) was assigned to Arizona 89A between Prescott and Flagstaff. This route was designated as Arizona 79 between 1927 and 1941, when it was renumbered as U.S. 89A. The second use of this number was between 1954 and 1973 for what is now Interstate 17 between Cordes Junction and Flagstaff.

Arizona 79 was designated as the Pinal Pioneer Parkway on January 10, 1961, to commemorate this being one of the oldest roads in Arizona - dating back to use as an Indian trail, as well as use by the Spanish and as a stagecoach road. This was also part of the early 1900s north-south and east-west territorial road.

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Page Updated Saturday December 08, 2007.