National Park Service

Mission San Xavier del Bac south of Tucson.

A historic site in Southern Arizona known as the "White Dove of the Desert" is included in a new book of 50 great American places.

Mission San Xavier del Bac, south of Tucson, gets the distinction in a new book by Brent Glass.

He’s director emeritus of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and author of the book "50 Great American Places: Essential Historic Sites Across the U.S."

Glass will be at the Heard Museum in Phoenix on Thursday evening to talk about it.

The Show caught up with Glass and asked him what criteria he used to determine what makes a great American place.