Early
Influences
Several
factors in the early history of Phoenix
account for the development of the area
now known as the Roosevelt
Neighborhood. From its founding in
1867, Phoenix experienced slow, but
steady outward growth. The completion of
a connection to the transcontinental
railroad in 1884 brought hundreds of new
residents and visitors to the Valley.
Construction materials such as wood,
glass, stone and prefabricated
components became available to local
builders who soon began to discard the
use of adobe and other native materials
in an effort to create a city that
resembled the rest of the country.
Initially, many prominent residents
constructed houses in the southern and
eastern portions of the original Phoenix
town site. However, severe flooding of
the Salt River in 1890 and 1891 caused
the more wealthy residents to move north
to higher ground along Center Street
(now Central Avenue), west along
Washington Street and adjacent to the
Grand Avenue diagonal. This northward
movement altered the growth pattern of
Phoenix and accounts for the development
of the Roosevelt Neighborhood.
Expansion
of the city into the Roosevelt
District spans the years 1893 to
1930. The neighborhood developed through
the construction of nine distinct
additions. Kenilworth and Bennett Place
each contained well over 200 lots;
Planks Addition had just ten; McDowell
Place, fourteen; and the other five
(Simms Addition, Bennett and Plank's
Addition, Chester Place, Chelsea Place
and the Blount Addition to Chelsea
Place) ranged from 26 to 134 lots. Many
of the city's elite, the pioneers who
helped shape Phoenix during its infancy,
made their homes in this neighborhood.
Simms
Addition
Colonel J.T.
Simms came to Arizona in 1881 as a
contractor with the Atlantic and Pacific
Railroad Company. After building the
Arizona Canal with W.J. Murphy between
1883 and 1884, Simms retired to run his
ranch and manage his real estate
interests. Several years later, some
land Simms owned was surveyed and on
June 26, 1893, a plat was filed for the
area bounded by Central Avenue,
Roosevelt, Third Avenue, and Moreland.
Simms himself later lived in the area at
1008 North Central. He left Phoenix in
1896 after a sordid divorce and died in
Chicago in 1898. Despite the rampant
land speculation in Phoenix at the
turn-of-the-century, building in the
Simms Addition progressed slowly.
Central
Avenue, then known as Center Street, was
the primary thoroughfare to the business
district, and lots along this street
were deemed prime residential locations.
By 1901, residences fronting Central
Avenue had been constructed on all but
two lots. Here, in addition to Simms and
Melczer, resided the upper crust of
Phoenix' early citizens: Charles H.
Akers, Secretary of the Territory of
Arizona; C.M. Frazier, a prominent
attorney who would go on to become
Attorney General; Frank R. Cleary,
Chairman of the Arizona Water Company;
Lloyd B. Christy, Chairman of the Valley
Bank of Phoenix; and Ezra W. Thayer,
owner of Thayer's Hardware Store.
Despite
annexation and the elite status of the
area, growth in the balance of the Simms
Addition averaged only one home per year
until 1920. Then, during the booming
twenties, all remaining lots but one
were developed. The number of prominent
businessmen, lawyers, doctors and city
officials making their homes in the
addition continued to increase. Among
them was Richard E. Sloan, Governor of
the Territory of Arizona from 1909 to
1912.
Bennett Place
Guy Bennett
was a cattle dealer and real estate
speculator who moved to Phoenix from
Missouri in about 1884. The area known
as Bennett Place, bounded roughly by
West Roosevelt and West Fillmore on the
north and south, and by Central and
Fifth Avenues on the east and west, was
platted by Guy and Sadie Bennett in
December 1894.
While not
geographically the largest of the
Roosevelt Neighborhood's nine additions,
Bennett Place had the greatest number of
lots, 276. Development in Bennett Place
was slow, but steady. During the 1890s,
the city council embarked on a campaign
to annex the area's increasingly
populated northern additions. The
residents of Bennett Place were
resistant. They felt that additional
city taxes would be put to use in other
areas of the city, rather than
benefiting their neighborhood.
The city
council was forced to take a series of
court actions against the neighborhood.
In 1901, the District Court ruled that
Bennett Place would be annexed, but
would be exempt from city taxes for a
period of two years. In turn, however,
the city was relieved of any obligation
to extend municipal services to the area
during that period.
As with
Simms Addition, the lots along Central
and First Avenues attracted the elite of
the city, including Carl Hayden,
Arizona's first U.S. Congressman; and
Baron M. Goldwater, Manager of
Goldwater's Mercantile and father of
future Senator Barry Goldwater.
By 1913,
growth within the Addition slowed
considerably. During the 1920s,
developers constructed a number of
duplexes and apartments in the area
hoping to attract a portion of Phoenix'
large number of winter visitors and
booming tourist trade. Instead, seizing
their chance to live in a more affluent
area, an increasing number of
blue-collar and middle-class workers
made their homes in these new rental
properties.
Plank's Addition
First platted
by Levi L. Plank in 190 1, this small
addition consisted of only ten lots
along West McKinley between Fifth and
Sixth Avenues. No development occurred
in Plank's Addition until the 19 10
extension of the streetcar line along
Fifth Avenue. Still, it wasn't until
1929 that all ten lots were finally
developed. The residents were entirely
blue-collar workers who lived in
bungalows or duplexes.
Bennett and Plank's Addition
McKinley and
Fillmore Streets bound this plat,
originally part of the two earlier
additions, on the north and south, and
by Sixth and Seventh Avenues on the east
and west. This land was purchased by
four families (the Bennetts the Shoffs
the Peters, and Margaret B. Barringer)
who jointly had the area replatted and
recorded in November 1910. As late as
1930, less than half of the 34 lots were
developed. Most residents of Bennett and
Plank's Addition were blue-collar
workers who rented, rather than owned,
their homes.
Kenilworth Addition
The 80-acre
area bounded by West McDowell, Third
Avenue, West Roosevelt and Seventh
Avenue, was known as the Hubbard Tract
until February 1910, when A.G. Hubbard
sold the land to developer H.I. Latham.
Two weeks later, Latham sold the
property to the Hartranft-Tweed Real
Estate Company, which filed the plat for
the Addition in December. In February
1911, Kenilworth was annexed into the
City of Phoenix.
Kenilworth developed into an exclusive
residential area due to three major
influences: the extension of the Phoenix
Railway streetcar line north along Fifth
Avenue through the Addition; a vigorous
advertising campaign, which went so far
as to state that "the air is better in
Kenilworth"; and the construction of
Kenilworth School in 1920. The streetcar
made the area very accessible and
initial development in Kenilworth was
concentrated along the Fifth Avenue
streetcar extension. Palm trees were
planted along the streets, which were
graded, lined with caliche and featured
cement sidewalks. Many prominent
residents, such as Supreme Court Justice
Donald L. Cunningham, Phoenix National
Bank President M.C. McDougall, and J.A.R.
Irvine, member of the first State
Legislature, made their homes in the
area.
Building
restrictions during WWI slowed growth in
the addition between 1916 and 1920.
During the decade that followed, the
opening of Kenilworth School and a new
concept of low down payments and low
monthly installments offered by Home
Builders, the primary developer,
attracted young families to the area.
Rapid growth ensued and the Addition's
228 lots were completely built up by
1938.
McDowell Place
T.M. Burroughs
filed the plat for the area encompassing
the south side of West McDowell between
Central and Third Avenues on January 31,
1910. Despite the small size of the area
(which contained just fourteen lots), it
was not completely developed until 1930.
Its most spectacular residence was an
English Cottage Revival built for Helen
Anderson, widow of insurance company
organizer Carl H. Anderson, at 149 West
McDowell Road. In 1923, the Arizona
Republican described the house as one of
the city's most beautiful homes.
Fortunately, this house remains intact
at its original address, while most of
the other original buildings in McDowell
Place have been altered as they have
been converted for commercial purposes.
Chester Place
Platted in
1909 by the Elliot Evans Company,
Chester Place consists of 52 lots on two
blocks bounded by West Roosevelt and
West McKinley on the north and south,
and by Fifth and Seventh Avenues on the
east and west. Development of this
Addition proceeded somewhat more rapidly
than the others in the Roosevelt
Neighborhood, being completed by 1930.
Chester Place was a very affluent area
whose residents included doctors,
lawyers and businessmen.
Chelsea Place
This
relatively small parcel, spanning West
Lynwood and West Willetta between
Central and Third Avenues, was annexed
to the city in 1913. H.F. Latham, a
Phoenix Promoter and owner of a real
estate firm, purchased the land from the
estate of William E. Thorne on May 20,
1907, and filed a plat the following
July. Eight lots known as Latham Place,
between Central and Third Avenues, sold
within two days without any
advertisement whatsoever. The remainder
of the tract was resurveyed into 84 lots
and development began in 1912.
Chelsea
Place was hailed by the Arizona
Republican as "the most expensive and
artistic development yet attempted in
Phoenix." To enhance its aura of
exclusiveness, elaborate street
entrances patterned after Los Angeles'
exclusive Lafayette Square were
constructed. Made of cast concrete to
simulate dressed sandstone, these
gateways unfortunately no longer exist.
Chelsea Place was promoted as a
showplace residential development and
attracted many affluent residents.
However, Home Builders, the primary
developer, sold homes on an installment
plan with a low down payment, bringing
home ownership within reach of the less
affluent as well.
Blount
Addition
Platted in
March 1919, by Frank J. Blount and W.C.
Ellis as the Blount Addition to Chelsea
Place, the Addition spans both sides of
West Culver Street between Central and
Third Avenues. Frank Blount was a
rancher who had lived on the property
facing Central Avenue since 1908.
William Ellis was a successful physician
and surgeon who founded Deaconess
Hospital (later to be renamed Good
Samaritan Hospital) and served one term
as City Commissioner from 1920-1921. His
house is at 1242 North Central.
Development in the Addition proceeded
slowly, with eight of the 40 lots still
unoccupied by 1930. Its residents were
mostly white-collar professionals,
although the area was not known for the
elitism of Chelsea Place or Kenilworth.
Neighborhood Architecture
As was typical
of a "streetcar' I suburb, most of
Roosevelt's lots are narrow and
deep, minimizing the distance residents
must walk to reach transportation. In
contrast to the monotony of modern tract
neighborhoods, the diversity of housing
styles in Phoenix' historic districts
gives each a distinctive flavor.
Architecturally, the Roosevelt
Neighborhood has some of the finest
examples of early twentieth century
residential architecture in Phoenix. The
most common building type in the area is
the California Bungalow, which dominates
most of the district's streetscape.
Among these relatively plain homes also
are found many finely detailed Craftsman
Bungalows and Period Revival houses. A
Bungalow is typically a one-story house
with a simple, functional floor plan and
one or more broadly pitched roof gables
with deep overhangs. Broad front porches
with massive square porch columns are an
essential feature. Bungalows are the
most common type of Craftsman influenced
architecture. The Craftsman movement, a
popular building philosophy of the early
twentieth century, used natural and
rustic materials. It stressed comfort,
utility and convenience as well as high
quality workmanship in design and
construction. So-called Craftsman
Bungalows were usually covered with
natural wood shingles and had
foundations, porch columns and chimneys
of stone, rough-faced brick or textured
concrete.
The
Roosevelt Neighborhood also includes
outstanding examples of public
buildings-the Trinity Cathedral,
Kenilworth School, and the Westward Ho
Hotel. To serve the winter visitors,
developers built the Gold Spot Marketing
Center, one of the first shopping
centers in Phoenix built for a specific
residential area. The construction
marked the beginning of a trend toward
small neighborhood centers away from the
original central Phoenix commercial
district.
Roosevelt Neighborhood's Significance to
Phoenix
As with the
other historic districts in the City,
the development of the Roosevelt
Neighborhood provides physical
expression of the early growth of
Phoenix. Within it are buildings, which
are both historically and
architecturally important because they
represent many important milestones in
the evolution of our present community.
From its rise as an affluent "streetcar
suburb," to its development associated
with early tourism, to its designation
as the first historic district in
Phoenix, the Roosevelt Neighborhood
continues to play a significant role in
the history of Phoenix. As an intact
collection of early twentieth century
architecture, it contributes to the
visual diversity and character of the
historic heart of our community.
Desert Showcase
