Who is buried under the white pyramid at Papago Park? Arizona’s first Governor, George W.P. Hunt .
It takes a politician with cojones to bury his wife and himself on an open hilltop, in a pyramid, in the most populous city in his state. Arizona Governor George W.P. Hunt was that kind of guy.
Dubbed “King George VII,” he was a friend of the common man and a foe (sometimes) of the railroad and mining trusts, which he called “coyotes” and “skunks.” Plaques on his pyramid declare that he was a descendant of an unnamed “Revolutionary War patriot,” that he allowed women to vote in his state eight years before the rest of the country, and that he was elected governor seven times, which “set a national record.”
When Hunt’s wife died in 1931 he had her buried here, in a 20-foot-tall pyramid faced with white bathroom tile. When he died three years later he joined her, and was later joined in turn by his in-laws, his wife’s sister, and his daughter. The hilltop later became part of Papago Park and the open-air pyramid was enclosed within a tall, ugly iron fence. It is supposedly to keep the people away, which is something that populist Governor Hunt would most likely not like.
Governor Hunt’s Pyramid Tomb
Papago Park
- Address:
- 625 N Galvin Pkwy, Phoenix, AZ
- Directions:
- Papago Park. East edge of the city, between Tempe and Scottsdale. I-10 exit 153. North on Hwy 143/Hohokam Expy for two miles, then take exit 4 onto Washington St. East one mile, turn left onto 56th St., turn right onto Van Buren St., turn left onto Galvin Pkwy. the entrance to Papago Park will be on your right.
- Hours:
- Daily, sunrise to sunset. (Call to verify)
- Phone:
- 602-261-8318
- Admission:
- Free.
