Historic Places in the Valley of the Sun and Old Maricopa area
I though it would be interesting to list some of the most relevant and historic places in the Valley of the Sun here on the SierraEstrella site. Bad idea! The problem is that after I thought about it for a while, I could'nt really think of many historic places left standing. There were a few in Tempe, Florence and even Sacaton that came to mind, but not many. As with other aspects of this site, I would kind of like to limit myself to pre-20th century events and places. The sad fact is that there are very few locations and buildings built before 1900 left in the valley and the worst offender is Phoenix.
Probably no place in modern America has been as careless of its historic past as the communities in the Phoenix area. With some minor exceptions the homes and buildings constructed in the first quarter century of its existence (~1874-1899) have been torn down, often replaced with petty, ugly structures of little commercial value, and no cultural or historic significance. Shame! Well, I decided to get help from the library nearby (I work near downtown Phoenix) and I found two books on historic buildings. The first had nothing at all for Phoenix, but the second had a list of 20-30 structures that might qualify. So I picked out about 10 to check out, went out to take a look at the nearest one, the Trustim Connell House just a few blocks away at 602 N. 7th street, just down the street. It was a very nice, plowed over, empty lot.
Anyway, here my list of the 10 most historic places (or historically significant sites) in the Phoenix area. Out of desperation I have to thrown in a couple of structures built after 1900.
1. Monti's La casa Vieja
The owner stands next to the 4' thick adobe walls
2. The Duppa Homestead (1870-1885) at 116 W. Sherman
3. The Montgomery Homestead (1876) at 1700 South 7th Ave and the Jones Homestead (1880s) at 1008 E. Buckeye
4. The Arizona Capitol building (1901)
5. The Westward Ho Hotel (1928) and The Orpheum Theatre (1929)
6. Heritage Square - Phoenix
7. Pueblo Grande ruins
8. The Fresnal Grocery Store at 318 E. Buchanan
9. This is a work in progress 4-18-03
Other Old Structures and Interesting places
And here is a list of several other places of interest.
a. A good portion of the pre-1900 old houses in the valley, in a variety of conditions
b. Other historical places in the Phoenix area.
c. Other "fun" interesting places in the Phoenix area.
d. One of the most interesting neighborhoods in Phoenix. Ilylwilde has its own hidden park.
Speaking of neighborhoods, here is a page about my favorite one:
Click on this image to go to the Papago Park / Sherwood Heights page
The owner stands next to the 4' thick adobe walls
2. The Duppa Homestead (1870-1885) at 116 W. Sherman
3. The Montgomery Homestead (1876) at 1700 South 7th Ave and the Jones Homestead (1880s) at 1008 E. Buckeye
4. The Arizona Capitol building (1901)
5. The Westward Ho Hotel (1928) and The Orpheum Theatre (1929)
6. Heritage Square - Phoenix
8. The Fresnal Grocery Store at 318 E. Buchanan
9. 
b. Other historical places in the Phoenix area.
c. Other "fun" interesting places in the Phoenix area.
d. One of the most interesting neighborhoods in Phoenix. Ilylwilde has its own hidden park.
Speaking of neighborhoods, here is a page about my favorite one: