Immaculate Conception Catholic Church

The Immaculate Conception Catholic Church is the work of George Washington Smith, a leading proponent of the Spanish Colonial Revival style. In 1924, mine supervisor and Ajo town developer John C. Greenway married the widowed Isabella Ferguson, who would later become Arizona’s first U.S. Congresswoman and the founder of the Arizona Inn in Tucson. First, however, she made her mark in Ajo by bringing Smith from California to design the town’s first church. The building is a blend of the Mission Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival styles, with a facade that exhibits whimsy and exuberance in its scrolled parapet. The Latin-cross plan rises in buttressed, white-stuccoed walls to a flat roof capped by a graceful dome with lantern. Facing the central plaza, the church has long been a town landmark.