By Jennifer Schaper
The Eisdendrath House, managed by the Tempe History Museum, is one of the best examples of Arizona's Pueblo Revival style of architecture. It was built in 1930 by a wealthy Chicago widow, Rose Eisendrath. At the time, many affluent…

By Jennifer Schaper
La Casa Vieja, also known as Hayden House, has long been a pillar of Tempe's history. Charles Hayden purchased a tract of land along the Salt River. He eventually built a general store, flour mill, and ferry, giving rise to the name…

By Derek Dunford
Sanctuary Resort on Camelback Mountain sits beneath The Praying Monk, a rock formation perched upon the proverbial camel’s head. This monk has been in pious meditation since long before humans resided in the Salt River Valley. If this monk, who has…

By Derek Dunford
  Forty-five years before The Sanctuary Resort on Camelback Mountain opened its doors as a luxurious paradisiacal resort, the property's story began in 1956 as the Paradise Valley Racquet Club. Created during the greatest boom in Arizona's tourist…

By Samantha Linssen
  When walking through downtown Mesa, the relatively small-scale streets and buildings have a quaint feeling that does not hint at Arizona's largest arts center sitting squarely downtown on Main and Center Street.  However, once you get within a…

By Killian Storie
At the conclusion of World War II, a couple by the names of Joe and Alice Woods would purchase the building from the Chandler Improvement Company and convert it into the Parkway Theater; one out of three theaters that the couple would own in their…

By Lauren Bruner
Completed in 1965 by architect E Logan Campbell, the Glass and Garden Drive-in Church redefined the traditional church- going experience. Designed to accommodate Arizonans inclined to stay in their vehicles, the creation of the church reflected the…

By Jake Lian
The first president of the Phoenix Parks and Recreation Board, William Hartranft, modeled the city's Encanto Park after San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. In so doing, Hartranft channeled the vision of Frederick Law Olmsted, an American landscape…

By Hitsati Hudson
The New Windsor Hotel is a survivor in downtown Phoenix. It was built in 1893 and had several remodels and name changes such as “The Windsor” and “The Sixth Avenue Hotel.” The hotel survived gentrification and was accepted in the National Register…

By Matthew Hoober
The Desert Botanical Garden emerged as an antidote to the agricultural and economic development of Phoenix. A dedicated group of Phoenix residents, concerned about the city’s sprawling expansion and the increasing destruction of the surrounding…

By Matthew Hoober
Founded in 1939, the Desert Botanical Garden has helped to change the way Phoenicians see the Sonoran Desert. As Phoenix began to grow in the 1920s, many residents saw the desert as a blighted landscape in need of improvement. Local politicians and…

By Trevor Perry
Sun City revolutionized housing and retirement in the United States. It became the nation's largest and most successful retirement development and contributed to a new formulation in how Americans thought about life during retirement. It provided…

By Hitsati Hudson
Built by an investment group led by prominent Phoenicians Marion Isbell and Del Webb, the Sahara Motor Inn opened in 1955. It became one of the signature hotels of the Ramada Inn motel chain during the 1960s. It served a generation of tourists to…

By Trevor Shackleton
In Arizona hotels and resorts emerged as a cornerstone for tourism early in the twentieth century; they became pivotal in “selling the desert”. Sprawling landscapes with luscious green golf courses, rows of palm and citrus trees, swimming pools,…

By Hitsati Hudson
From the 1930s to the 1960s, America had a rise in automobiles and a growing economy with travelers exploring out west. These travelers stopped in Phoenix for nights of rest, relaxation, and entertainment on Van Buren Street. Van Buren Street,…

By Max Beall
During the week of December 4, 1905, heavy rainstorms forced state officials to reschedule Arizona’s first territorial fair. Weeks later, on Christmas Day, the fair opened its doors. Governor Joseph H. Kibbey made a few opening remarks to more than…

By Max Beall
In the early morning hours of April 1, 1934, The Arizona Republic reported that 6,000 Arizonans gathered for a sunrise Eastertide service at the Papago Park Amphitheater. With seating for only about 5,000 people, an overflow crowd sat on the…

By Raymond Rivera
“The West’s Most Western Town” characterizes the city different than those around it. Embedded around this ideal, the Museum Western Spirit resides, selling the western ideal to visitors and residents. However, why was this name created? What…

By Meghan Mac Ilroy
Dia de las Muertos,  or Day of the Dead,  celebrates life and death; revelers remember people - family, friends, inspirations, or mentors - who have died,  yet whose impact on their lives remains eternal. Dia de las Muertos originated in…

By Meghan Mac Ilroy
In 1978, almost forty years after the Desert Botanical Garden (DBG) opened to the public, the Garden introduced its first Las Noches de las Luminaria. The celebration has evolved beyond candlelit desert paths; the annual event now includes bell…

By Jake Lian
William Hartranft founded Encanto Park in 1934, seeking to create a park for Phoenix that was like San Francisco's Golden Gate Park or San Diego's Balboa Park. William Hartranft emulated parks inspired by Frederick Law Olmsted, the founder of…

By Brendan Mullen
C.P. Stephens DeSoto Six Motor Building was one of the longest operating dealers on Phoenix’s automotive-row. Construction was finished on C.P. Stephens’ building in 1928, the same year that the DeSoto brand is created, and the same year Stephens…

By Brendan Mullen
The A.E. England Motorcar building, an automotive dealership constructed in 1926 along what will become to be known as auto-row which is along Central Avenue in downtown Phoenix. Ab England constructed the building to be his Phoenix dealership for…

By Trevor Shackleton
In 1916, World War I and the boll weevil created a crisis for the international rubber industry. Lower demand coupled with insect infestation crippled the southern United States and Egyptian cotton industries. The diminished cotton supply hit tire…

By Cody Smith
The Mexican-American War and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that ceded much of what would become the American Southwest to the United States set in motion a long process of transformation. Many “aspiring landowners” knew of the fresh land and acts…

By Austin Keating
Until 2012, the Alpha Drive fraternity community occupied this campus district, with thirteen houses (ten occupied) providing a unique gathering place for men affiliated with the University's fraternity community. For better or worse, Alpha…

By Hugo Villagrana
The area in Tempe between College Avenue and Veterans Way, on the northside of University Drive, is currently home to several Arizona State University (ASU) buildings such as the Fulton Center, Mona Plummer Aquatic Center, as well as several popular…

By Sophia Bonacorda
Fraternities at Arizona State University are currently housed in the Greek Leadership Village with sororities, but they once lived along Alpha Drive near the stadium. In the early 1960s, when the homes on Alpha Drive were constructed, according to…

By Brittney Sweet
It all began with two men. One, a master architect. The other, a university president leading a small school toward becoming a major university. Gammage Auditorium resulted from that collaboration--becoming a symbol for ASU and Tempe and emerging as…

By Nicole McCanless
In the fall of 1966 Professor Bob McConnell at Arizona State University (ASU) taught an eight-week class that would alter the Salt River bed forever. Class AC 429 tasked its students with one monumental chore: turn the then dry and troublesome salt…