Located in the west part of Fort Lowell Park and west of the Fort Lowell Historical Museum building is an interpretive display that represents some significant history during the days when Fort Lowell was an active military fort. This particular display reads:
OFFICERS' QUARTERS
The officers of Fort Lowell and their families lived in 7 adobe homes-officers' row. During peak periods of military activity, up to three families lived in each building. After 1889, two smaller houses for married non-commissioned officers were added to the east end of the row.
Each 42-by-42-foot structure held a dirt floor, adobe walls, and, after the mid-1880s, redwood floors, plastered interiors, shutters, and porches with ocotillo fences. An 18-by-35-foot kitchen lay to the rear, with a pantry, kitchen, dining room, and servant's room. A walled yard enclosed each individual compound, along with a garden for food.
The army officially considered women and children mere camp followers and made little provision for them. Nonetheless, the families provided warmth and stability, and they endured the hardships of frontier military life along with their husbands and fathers.