ARIZONA STATE HISTORIC PROPERTY INVENTORY

For those seeking more background on a historic home, here is another source. The Arizona State Historic Property Inventory is the survey report which was written in 1974 as part of the application for National Historic Residential status. The entry for each property includes a description of the house, information regarding the owner at that time drawings of the house footprint and pictures. Like any history resource, not all information may be accurate. For example, my house is listed as constructed in 1905. The Sanborn insurance map shows the house in 1901. The 1901 Tucson directory lists two men living at the address. Nevertheless, The description and period photos give me an idea of what changes have been made to the house since 1974. Additional work was done in 1993 so some information is from that year.

If you are doing a project requiring historic review, The information will tell you how the property was at the time the historic district was formed. The board will want to retain the details of the house during the period of significance (1860s to 1945). The 1974 survey is the earliest reliable information available.

Aerial Photos

There has been some  interest in aerial photos of the neighborhood. Here is a link that was recommended:  https://www.abovetucson.com/. 

For copyright reasons, I can't put those images here but you can take a look. 

2019

This is Armory Park in 2019 from Google Maps. It is essentially what you see today including Armory Park del Sol. 

History Feedback - Wow!

I'm greatly impressed by all the feedback and historic vignettes about people and places in our neighborhood history. Two preserve all of this as a basis for future articles, I'm posting the essence of the emails responding to the request I made for feedback and historic tips. I am seeking collaborators and history leads to discover more of our history. If anyone is good at recording oral histories (I'm not), that would be especially useful. 

Southwestern Architecture

 As you can see, Southwest architecture begins with the land and the sky. It is made of materials from the earth and baked by the sun. Layered over these inherent qualities are the cultures of the region, especially the extraordinary principles of Hispanic town making. The Spanish brought the plaza, the arcade, the well defined street and the interior courtyard or patio. These are all ancient features dating back beyond the Romans, but effectively re-utilized by Spanish architects in the Americas. As other cultures have made this region their home, permutations to the architecture have occurred. The Anglo-Saxon settlers brought the brick, the pitched roof, and the front porch - the building being detached and set back from the street. 

Controversial Use of Public Spaces

We may think debates about the use of public spaces is only a current concern (think Children's Museum). History tells us that this has been a long term concern that surfaces from time to time. The Arizona Daily Star of January 7, 1926 (ten pages, 5 cents a copy) contained the following: 

Contention that the proposed creation of a recreation park out of Armory park will result in irreparable damage to the park by the destruction of large trees and palms and the erection of unsightly structures in the park is set forth In a suit filed at 2 o'clock yesterday afternoon against the city of Tucson and Mayor John IL White by Francis M. Hartman and Mae B. Hartman in which they seek an order from the superior court restraining the city from carrying out the proposed plan. 

Four Named Streets

Most Armory Park streets are designated with numbers but there are four with names that have a connection to early residents of Tucson. I was unable to find the namesakes of Bean and Russell Avenues. If you come across something about them, please let me know. 

Tucson's Historic Neighborhoods (and styles)

 The City has been involved in historic preservation since the middle 1970 so there are resources available from the City's web pages. One such resource is a PDF titled Tucson's Historic Neighborhoods. Armory Park is but one of the many such neighborhoods. You might find it interesting to learn more about the others. For me, the descriptions and drawings of the various styles of residential architecture is more interesting. You can find information on both subjects at this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1I6ukZWMIctpYXwkcmZCNDkuEpYoioYU_/view?usp=sharing.