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Peg Price | all galleries >> Galleries >> Historic Tucson > In the Barrio: El Tiradito
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13 November 2003 Peg Price

In the Barrio: El Tiradito

221 S. Main Ave.

The "Wishing Shrine" has been here since ca. 1894. It is one of the genuine folk shrines in the nation and the only one known to be dedicated to a sinner. Legend has it that a young man was killed in a lovers' triangle and was buried at this spot in unconsecrated ground. It's believed that lighting a candle and having it burn to the ground will grant you your wish.

Listed in National Register of Historic Places.
(Footnote: This shrine's location actually prevented the proposed Butterfield Freeway's construction which would have demolished the last remaining homes of Tucson's original Barrio.)


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Guest 24-Oct-2006 22:29
I heard that he wasn't buried there. The husband of the woman in the triangle cut El Tradito (the woman's lover) to pieces and scattered him along the railroad tracks. Hence the name El Tradito, "the little castaway".
Guest 09-Oct-2006 03:25
wow - I remember seeing this shrine a long time ago, but never really knew the story to it, except to light a candle for a blessing, as a candle usually is a good thing; to put lights on the way to betterment of anything, as "It's better to light a candle than to the curse the darkness." See good, instead of bad (evil).