Welcome to the Cowboy Cradle of the Southwest. Founded in 1866, Florence is an Arizona "Main Street" town. An original Old West mining town, Florence is centrally located at the Junction of U.S. Highway 79 and Arizona 287 just 61 miles from downtown Phoenix and 70 miles from Tucson.

There was even a jail and office added a sort time later for the county sheriff. The Park is named after Ernest W. McFarland who was the U.S. Senator, Governor of Arizona and an Arizona Supreme Court Justice. At close to WWII he wrote key portions of the G.I Bill, and founded the Arizona State park System in 1957. Mr. McFarland bought the building in 1974 and donated it back to the Park System with his personal library for which houses other archives of his life as well. The park is open 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Thursday thru Monday and is closed Christmas Day. The second courthouse built in 1891 is no longer open to the public, but the outside is still popular with photographers who appreciate historic buildings. The clock tower a top the courthouse adorns the time of 11:44, no the clock isn’t broken; the hands are actually painted on the face. It is believed that while building the jail funding ran out and the funds for the clock were redistributed to finish the jail.

So whether you are a winter visitor or an Arizona resident, Florence is well worth the short drive and is sure to tickle your fancy.