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History Plus Light Rail Access
The
area's first plat, Suburban Acres, was recorded
in 1924, outside city limits but within a ten-
minute drive to downtown. A series of Pierson
Place plats followed as the city’s official
population continued to expand during the
1920's. In 1926 Pierson Place was platted,
followed by Pierson Place Amended and South
Pierson Place in 1927, and Stanley Place in
1928. Del Monte Park was the last area within
the district to be recorded, just after World
War II ended in 1946.
By
1956 the area was mostly built out with single
family homes and small scale multifamily
buildings that include duplexes, triplexes, and
four-plexes. Larger-scale multifamily complexes
began appearing as infill in the late 1950's.
Commercial development occurred outside the
edges of the district at 7th Avenue, Camelback
Road, and Central Avenue. In 1963, a multistory
residential tower was constructed in the
neighborhood on Central Avenue. The first plat
in the Pierson Place survey area was Suburban
Acres, recorded in 1924, west of Central Avenue,
and adjacent to the Grand Canal to the south.
Lots in the original plat ranged from two-thirds
of an acre to a full acre. The one-acre lots
were eventually subdivided into quarter acre
parcels and sold for single family homes and
small multifamily complexes. What remains of
these residential buildings were constructed
over a thirty year period, beginning in 1924.
In
1926 three couples, Eugene and Lena Pierson,
N.C. and Hazyl Pierce and J.P. and Ruth Matz,
began subdividing a series of Pierson Place
tracts. One of the roads in the new neighborhood
was named Pierson Street. The 40-acre tract was
initially split into one-acre lots, each
anticipated to have at least one house, in a
suburban area expected to be among the biggest
growing areas in Phoenix. The intent was to
allow the large lots to be divided to make the
purchase entirely profitable. Lots were deep,
with houses set well back from the road, to
ensure privacy and leave sufficient room for
planting gardens.
Matz
and Pierce also became involved in developing
part of the subdivision. They owned a forest,
from which some of their lumber for the project
was cut, and a sash and door mill, which came to
supply most of the window and door materials for
their development. Early Pierson Place ads boast
of "a distinctive class of homes at a moderate
cost." The "modern" subdivision had a number of
English and other period revival style homes,
constructed for sturdiness with brick and
Celotex ceiling insulation. "So confident [was]
he of its future", that Mr. Matz and his wife
built their home in the new neighborhood in
1926. E.M. Pierson and his wife lived at 300 W.
Mariposa (their home site is now a parking lot).
The
next year the three couples also recorded
Pierson Place Amended, subdividing the area from
their original plat. In the amended plat,
Mariposa Street split the 300 foot deep lots,
which created one third acre parcels. Two of
these larger single family residential parcels
still remain; the majority were later split into
8,500 square foot lots. Two of the
neighborhood’s adobe houses were built on these
larger parcels, including a distinctive Pueblo
Revival Style with exposed adobe block at 3rd
Avenue and Mariposa Street.
The
Southwestern Sash and Door Company, owned by
Matz and Pierce, also subdivided South Pierson
Place in 1927. Hazlewood Street was named after
Hazyl Pierce. Most of the one-half plus acre
lots were subsequently split again, though the
area was not developed with single family and
multifamily complexes until the 1930s and 1940s.
By
1928 a new builder was involved in homebuilding
in the northern portion of the neighborhood.
E.W. d'Allemand offered fifth acre lots in
addition to one acre and half-acre lots, which
sold from $395 and up, depending on the location
and depth. Streets came fully graded and capped
with caliche and gravel, which gave hard surface
streets without any paving assessments to pay.
Lots were supplied with water from a high
pressure, deep water well as well as telephone
and electrical service. Homes sold on both a
speculative and made-to-order basis, and by
October 1928 twenty homes were built and in the
amended Pierson Place tract. Restrictions called
for houses that cost at least $2,500, exclusive
of the lot, to ensure "a happy medium for good
development." Deed restrictions also limited
ownership only to Caucasians. The developers
specifically marketed to families whose children
would be attending Brophy College, a 1500
student college preparatory school just three
blocks west of the their neighborhood.
Harry Jones subdivided Stanley Place in 1928. He
carried the grid street pattern over from the
amended Pierson Place plat immediately west,
continuing Camelback Road, Mariposa and Pierson
Streets between 3rd to Central Avenues. However,
the onset of the Depression slowed development
until the late 1930s. A two story Spanish
Colonial Revival residence built with adobe was
among the first three homes constructed in the
new subdivision in 1930.
Development in the neighborhood picked up in the
late 1930s with the availability of FHA
mortgages. In 1936 the Gold Spot Investment
Company built two new homes in Stanley Place.
The company worked with designer and builder
David Rubenstein, who designed the houses
especially for Phoenix to be fire-proof and
termite-proof, using concrete joists in a flat
roof, with structural steel sashes.
Homes in the neighborhood were constructed with
a variety of materials. Brick was the most
common structural wall material used, though
block and wood frame houses also appeared. Seven
adobe homes were constructed in Mariposa and
Pierson Streets, further adding to the variety
of materials that helped characterize the
neighborhood.
Build out in the Pierson Place survey area
continued to occur over the first decade after
World War II. The Del Monte Park plat was
recorded in 1946, and completely built out the
following year with modest ranch style homes as
well as a small multifamily development of
four-plexes. Multifamily infill complexes were
built throughout Pierson Place. In the early
postwar years, these apartments ranged from
collections of one story, single family, duplex,
triplex, and four-plex buildings. Larger,
multi-unit, two story buildings are associated
with the late 1950's and early 1960's.
Additionally, The
original mix of single family homes with small
duplexes, triplexes, and quads gives Pierson
Place Historic District a unique personality
that feels more city-like than most of our
historic districts. To that original mix,
sprinkle in some multi-unit rentals built during
the 1950's and 1960's, and the very first
high-rise living in the city at the 17-story
Landmark Towers on Central. |
