One look at the “Sahuaro Ski Club” on the cover – their skis dwarfed by saguaros – and you know you’ve struck historical gold in a new book about Pima County.

To celebrate the 2012 Arizona State Centennial, the book “Pima County” will be released Monday, Sept. 24, by Arcadia Publishing as part of its “Images of America” series.

The book was prepared at the suggestion of the Pima County Board of Supervisors and is a joint effort by Pima County and the Arizona Historical Society – both established in 1863 – as a lasting tribute to Pima County people and places that created and shaped our state’s history.

Pima County Office of Conservation and Sustainability’s director, Linda Mayro, and program coordinator, Simon Herbert; and Jill McCleary, working for the Arizona Historical Society, collected 200 archival photographs from the Historical Society dating back to the 1800s. The 128-page book showcases Pima County’s heritage as a cultural crossroads and borderland; its mosaic of people and cultures; its cities, towns and rural places; its attractions; and how tourism continues to draw people to the region today.

The book concludes with how Pima County has worked to celebrate its natural and cultural landscape and define a vision for the future based on conservation.

For more information or to order the book, please visit http://www.arcadiapublishing.com/9780738595313/Pima-County.