At the Tucson Train Station are three murals painted by the 20th century landscape painter Maynard Dixon. Dixon was commissioned by the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1907 to paint four depictions of life in the Western United States. In early 1940 Southern Pacific employees removed the paintings to redesign the depot. The murals were sent to San Fransisco for restoration and safe keeping. During removal from Tucson, workers badly damaged a painting entitled "Irrigation." In 1942 San Fransisco donated the paintings to the Temple of Music and Art in Tucson for public display. Visitors never saw the paintings because they remained in storage collecting dust for 27 years. In 1969 Ernest Hoffman found the paintings and sold them to a local art dealer. The paintings hung in the Catalina Savings and Loan Office for four years. In 1973 they were donated to the Arizona Historical Society. (Information from depot display).
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