[1] The Army chose a location just south of the confluence of the Tanque Verde and Pantano creeks, at the point where they form the Rillito River, due to the year-round supply of water during that period.

The Army claimed a military reservation that encompassed approximately eighty square miles and extended east toward the Rincon Mountains.

Far too large and well-manned to be attacked directly, Fort Lowell provided supplies and manpower for outlying military installations.

After the Army decommissioned the post in 1891, the civilian occupied military reservation land was sold and private farms were reestablished along the Rillito River.

Mexican families from Sonora soon moved north to take advantage of the "free" repurposed fort housing and framing jobs.

In the 1930s Nan, Pete and Charles Bolsius rebuilt the crumbling adobe ruin of the Post Traders Store making it their home and studio.

Significant artists and intellectuals built homes and lived in the area including: René Cheruy and Germaine Cheruy, Win Ellis, modernist painter Jack Maul, sculptor and designer Giorgio Belloli, Charles Bode, architectural designer Veronica Hughart, anthropologists Edward H. Spicer and Rosamond Spicer, photographer Hazel Larson Archer and weaver Ruth Brown.

The artist colony attracted writers and poets including beat generation Alan Harrington and Jack Kerouac whose visit is documented in his iconic book On the Road.

The two troops played a baseball game that year and are believed to have used the area fairly regularly for campouts, target practice etc.

The Adkins Parcel that Tucson purchased from Jim Campbell lies immediately west of Craycroft Road where the last of the original officers' quarters stand.

On the north end of the former Adkins parcel stands a pile of large stones that, according to local lore, formed a wall of the guardhouse in which Geronimo was kept prior to his removal from Arizona.

Fort Lowell is the historical setting of the 1957–1958 syndicated Western television series, Boots and Saddles, starring John Pickard, Patrick McVey, and Gardner McKay.

The zoning overlay provides protections for historically significant buildings, ruins, and landscapes, preventing inappropriate alterations and encouraging preservation efforts.

While these buildings are not currently protected by the same regulations as those within the official zones, many continue to play a key role in maintaining the neighborhood's historical ambiance and cultural significance.