Phoenix's Roaring Twenties

If this photo shows a busy little city from the Roaring Twenties, that's exactly what you found in Phoenix during this transformative decade. Town to city, horses to cars, less Wild West and more sophistication — Phoenix had been moving this way for years. But in the 1920s, they became solidly entrenched — even Town Ditch was covered. The first "skyscraper," the seven-story Heard Building, right, opened in 1920. By the end of the decade, it had several taller and more impressive siblings that remain some of the city's most treasured and beautiful buildings. Central Methodist Church (ME South) on the near right would move to a handsome new structure at Central and Pierce.

The nation entered the decade with Woodrow Wilson as president. But he was incapacitated by a stroke and his wife, Edith, was protecting him from most visitors and essentially carrying out most of his executive duties. America was disillusioned by the outcome of the Great War, the Palmer Raids and the "Red Scare," what was seen as Wilson's overreaching, and two decades of the Progressive Era. Voters (including women, for the first time) eagerly embraced Ohio's Warren G. Harding as the next president. He promised a "return to normalcy," forever wrecking the correct word "normality." Harding freed the Socialist Eugene Debs, who Wilson had imprisoned for opposing American involvement in the war.

The Great War had brought changes to the Salt River Valley, especially with the booming demand for cotton. By 1920, it had turned into a bust and Phoenix was suffering through the national recession. Things would soon turn around as the economy expanded and America embarked on, as F. Scott Fitzgerald put it, "the greatest, gaudiest spree in history." It was the Jazz Age, with the experiment of Prohibition sidestepped with speakeasies. Prohibition was hardly observed at all in the non-Mormon towns of the West. In Phoenix, bars, borthels, and gambling dens operated in the open, sometimes making payoffs to the city. This wide-open environment soon attracted the Mafia, including Al Capone.

The Phoenix of the 1920s was expanding out of the half-mile footprint of the original township. In the previous decade, the city had surpassed Tucson to become the most populous place in Arizona. With more than 29,000 people in 1920, Phoenix would grow nearly 66 percent over the next 10 years. Residential neighborhoods expanded a half mile north of McDowell, west of the Santa Fe tracks at 19th Avenue, and east as far as 16th Street. These were gradually incorporated into the city limits, which expanded from five square miles in 1920 to 6.5 square miles a decade later.

The mansions of "Millionaire's Row" still graced Monroe Street, but the central business district was moving north. Elegant bungalows lined the streets north of Van Buren into the fancy new Kenilworth District north of Roosevelt Street and eventually the Period Revival neighborhoods just beyond McDowell, including Palmcroft. Many of these were reachable by the streetcars.

Phoenix remained dependent on the vast, verdant agricultural empire made possible by Theodore Roosevelt Dam. Others followed: Mormon Flat in 1925, Horse Mesa in 1927, and Stewart Mountain Dam in 1930. Around 360,000 acres were under cultivation. The canals and laterals that laced the Valley were lined with shady trees and provided swimming for residents who lacked air conditioning. Thanks in no small part to the federal subsidies for water, Valley farmers avoided the stealth agricultural recession that stalked much of the nation during the decade. But 1920 marked the first time the Census had more people living in cities and towns than on farms. Business expanded as Phoenix became the center for the state's retail, wholesale, distribution, banking, insurance and small manufacturing sectors.

Beyond these boosts, the most significant event of the decade was the 1926 completion of the Southern Pacific Railroad's northern main line through Phoenix. Before this, the city was only reached by branch lines from the south and north. Awaiting it was the impressive Mission-style Union Station, completed three years earlier. The SP routed all but one of its transcontinental passenger trains to the northern line and Phoenix's isolation was wiped away. The promotion of tourism became a top priority for local boosters. But the main line, in addition to two rail links to the north on the Santa Fe, were essential for Salt River Valley farmers to send their products to the nation.

The decade is remembered for its building boom. America was a net creditor to the world and capital was abundant. This was combined with the zenith of great architecture and civic planning. The Luhrs family began a new level of ambition with the Luhrs Building in 1924, which housed the exclusive Arizona Club. It was originally planned to be a much larger structure. Four years later, the Security Building, Hotel San Carlos, and Hotel Westward Ho ("way out" on Central Avenue and Fillmore Street) opened. The Art Deco masterpieces of the Professional Building and Luhrs Tower came in 1929 and 1932, respectively (the Professional Building was conceived in the '20s).

Phoenix City Hall was an aging structure on Block 23 of the original townsite, a block reserved for a public park. Meanwhile, the 1884 Maricopa County Courthouse on west Washington was hardly capable of keeping up with a growing county and a fire hazard to boot. The city commissioners and county supervisors, backed by the Chamber of Commerce, pushed a bond issue for a new joint building. It was passed overwhelmingly. The result was the majestic new city-county building at First Avenue and Washington. It occupied a full city block and was surrounded by a shady, grass-covered park (Encanto Park wouldn't come until the 1930s). Designed by Edward Neild and the firms of Lescher & Mahoney and Edwards, Wildey and Dixon, the six-story building remains iconic inside and out (it's where my fictional detective David Mapstone has his office). Lescher & Mahoney are responsible for the Phoenix City Hall side of the building, including the striking Phoenix birds rising up on either side of the entrance. When it opened in 1929, the ceremony included John Philip Sousa conducting the Marine Corps Band.

Block 23 never reverted to its purpose as a park. Commercial buildings went up instead, most spectacularly the air-conditioned Fox Theater, which finally opened in 1931. The Orpheum Theater, another Lescher & Mahoney gem, opened in 1927. The '20s were the first decade that saw the revolution of air conditioning, although only in the newest and most expensive buildings.

Yet another architectural stunner opened in Mesa in 1927: the Arizona Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Mesa's population was about 3,000.

The city's Southern roots remained strong, even with Dwight Heard of Chicago as the richest and most influential man in town. A soft (compared to the Deep South) segregation kept many stores and restaurants off limits, or with limited access, to minorities. They were not allowed to buy property north of Van Buren. Segregation also extended to schools, especially for African-Americans. For example, the Phoenix Union Colored High School (later Carver High) opened in 1926.

Blacks, Mexicans, and Chinese founded their own small businesses, benevolent associations, newspapers and churches. Hispanics consecrated the beautiful Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in 1929. Minority realtors and developers, such as African-American Marshall Shelton, operated, too. Phoenix's small Chinatown was on east Second Street downtown, but many minority neighborhoods and barrios were outside the city limits (for example, Hispanics made up only 8 percent of the city population in 1920, but many more lived in county areas). Japanese farmers began to trickle in from California, successfully farming some of the toughest spots in the Valley and incurring special hostility from some Anglos. Some progress was made: the first "colored" police officers were on the job at the Phoenix Police Department. The geographic boundaries also started to give way as a small number of well-off Latino families purchased homes in the Garfield district/

Beyond the new city-county building, major civic projects were limited. Phoenix Junior College opened on Sept. 13th, 1920. The first classes were held in three small cottages near the Phoenix Union High School. The future Phoenix College's first football team was formed in 1922, the same year as its inaugural graduating class. Tempe Normal School (it would become Arizona State Teachers College by the end of the decade) was far away for Phoenix students. As Phoenix grew, and unlike every other big city, it failed to attract a major university or liberal arts colleges.

That, and much else, might have been different if Phoenix could have continued its trajectory without breaking stride. But it was not to be. In 1929, both Heard and department store owner Baron Goldwater died. In October the stock market crashed and it didn't take long for very hard times to hit the city.

Gallery — Phoenix in the 1920s (click on the image to see a larger version):

Phoenix City Hall in 1922, at First Street and Washington. Note the streetcar tracks in front. This is block 23 of the original townsite, set aside for civic purposes. Later it was the location of the Fox Theater and JC Penney. As of 2017, after sitting as a parking lot for years, it is going to be a new development with a Fry's supermarket.

A representative view of the oasis that was Phoenix.

At the beginning of the decade Swilling's Ditch, or the Town Ditch, was still uncovered. That wouldn't last as this spot at First Avenue and Van Buren would soon become a hotspot of development.

The newspaper ad shows one of the most popular attractions, Riverside Park at Central and the Salt River.

Dedication of the Arizona Temple in tiny Mesa was front-page news in Phoenix.

A view from the future Biltmore area of the Arizona Canal and Camelback Mountain.

Central Avenue looking south from the vantage point of the new Heard Building.

We're at Central and Washington, looking north. The flag is flying from the tower of the Security Building.

Central and Jefferson shows the growing density of the city that happened in the decade.

Not everything was fancy. Here's Convent Alley between Third and Fifth streets. Many of the old city's alleys retained their names.

Want to vote? Here's a map showing precincts and polling places in 1920.

The city adopted its first flag in 1921, a far cry from today's Joe Cool Phoenix Bird flag.

The Luhrs family breaking ground for the Luhrs Tower. Behind them, the Maricopa County Courthouse-Phoenix City Hall is under construction.

The offices of Standard Oil in the new Luhrs Building, 1924.

An even grander Luhrs Building was proposed, but never built.

The YMCA building. It was part of a block that included the federal building and Water Users Association building. Alas, all were demolished in the late 1950s.

Madison Square Garden on Seventh Avenue north of Washington was a boxing and wrestling arena that lasted into the 21st century (Brad Hall collection).

Here's a trolley running to the Kenilworth district. In addition to blocks of beautiful homes, it was centered on the elementary school of the same name.

The Strand Theater on Washington between First and Second avenues.

Window shopping in downtown Phoenix included automobiles. This is Overland Motors at 10 W. Van Buren. (McCulloch Brothers/ASU Archives)

Railroads were major employers and the region's economic lifeline. This freight train is hauling lettuce in refrigerator cars.

The Southern Pacific mainline opens in 1926.

A trackside view of a new Phoenix Union Station. (McCulloch Brothers/ASU Archives)

The Rialto Theater at 37 W. Washington, along with a streetcar.

Looking east on Jefferson. The mostly empty space is Block 23, with Fire Station No. One, soon to be joined on the Washington side by the Fox Theater. Today it's where the downtown Fry's mixed-used complex is being built.

The O'Neill Building at the northwest corner of First Avenue and Adams. Looking north in the top photo is the Gazette building and the Federal Building. (McCulloch  Brothers/ASU Archives)

The completed Luhrs Building and Luhrs Tower, photographed from the Hotel Luhrs at Central and Jefferson. (McCulloch  Brothers/ASU Archives)

Deco Glory: The Luhrs Tower at First Avenue and Jefferson Street. Both of these classics are still standing, as is Union Station. (McCulloch Brothers/ASU Archives).

This circa 1970 view of the Maricopa County Courthouse side of the city-county building shows its timeless architectural appeal. On the top floor was the jail. It's also a good view at some of the changes to the Phoenix skyline in the 1920s. The lovely cooling park around it has since been torn out for dirt, concrete, and skeleton trees. The Swilling Fountain remains.

Central and Monroe looking south in 1929 (Brad Hall collection).

Looking north from the balcony of Hotel del Rey Central and Monroe to a vast canopy of shade trees (Brad Hall collection).

A view on the northwest corner of Central and Monroe with the Hotel San Carlos and Donofrios candy and ice cream (Brad Hall collection).

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My book, A Brief History of Phoenix, is available to buy or order at your local independent bookstore, or from Amazon.

Read more Phoenix history in Rogue's Phoenix 101 archive.

 

 

Comments

[Ramjet]

How refreshing to return to the "normalcy" of Phoenix 101.

My father's family came to Phoenix in 1920 and lived at 7th st and Portland. This was basically on the outskirts. I can remember the city limits as only slighty larger than mentioned. 16th street was, however on the east not the west.
Thanks Jon

[Rogue Columnist]

Thanks for the typo catch.

[Rogue Columnist]

I hate to go OT, but here's the final certified tally of the 2016 presidential vote:

Clinton: 65,844,610 (48.2%)
Trump: 62,979,636 (46.1%)
Others: 7,804,213 (5.7%)

[Jerry McKenzie]

The flag is just awesome! Thanks for the history tour!

[teri dudas]

Since you went OT, John, I'll just add my 2-cents here; most of the 2.5M Clinton votes came from CA.

That explains the 'popular vote'.

And, now I'm going away for a week, so again, I wish you all a happy Christmas.

Hugs to you all, including Solieri who is underground.

[blaxabbath]

These PHX time capsule posts are a trip. I'm less than halfway through Concrete Desert and I feel like it's an alternate history novel sometimes -- it's hard to imagine McDowell on the north end of town.

That said, I visited Prescott yesterday and am still surprised to see how much growth that place experiences between each visit. The terrain, among other factors, will prevent it from reaching the growth rate that Phoenix saw (forecasts are for a 300% population increase over the next decade) but I'm sure my sense of awe (probably not the correct word) at the development is similar to what many old timey Phoenicians must have felt.

[Cal Lash]

"The unleashed power of the atom had changed everything save our method of thinking, and thus we drift toward unparalleled catastrophe".
Albert Einstein May 24 1946.

Come 20 January 2017 we RUSH toward unparalleled catastrophe.

[Ramjet]

Happy Holidays to all who contribute to this forum.
Enjoy them they may not be so happy in the future.

[phxSUNSfan]

Most of my family began moving west into Arizona in the 1920s. My grandmother was born in 1921 in Las Cruces, New Mexico before moving to Flagstaff where her younger siblings were born. Before that my great grandparents would travel to Phoenix and other towns, like Williams, for work and trade. They finally settled near the town of Buckeye in the mid 1920s and bought land outside of Tolleson. My first relatives did not move into the actual city limits of Phoenix until the 1970s. Our family still owns land in Flagstaff and New Mexico; however, most of the land our family owned oiutside of Phoenix was sold to developers or families like the Rousseaus who still farm the land.

From the stories I remember from older relatives, Phoenix was seen as a distant city. The idea that Buckeye is now considered part of metro Phoenix would be crazy. I don't recall any stories of segregation from older relatives, only that they weren't permitted to speak Spanish in classrooms but did so openly in public and often taught Whites to speak Spanish (or at least a few choice phrases and words). I envision that many of the more rural towns and communities felt more like Tucson where Hispanics and whites lived, worked, and learned together more so than in Phoenix at the time.

Although I was never raised in Arizona or Phoenix it had a special draw. I remember visiting nearly every summer and swimming in relatives deep diving pools. The small shallow pools that fewer and fewer residents install today are mere puddles in comparison. I loved the heat in Phoenix compared to the horrible humidity of the South and East Coast were my father happened to be stationed while in the Army. When he was finally given orders for Ft. Lewis south of Seattle I was the happiest teen. I still often traded nice Seattle summers for Phoenix heat and day trips throughout the state, including Slide Rock, Flagstaff, and Fossil Creek.

Old Phoenix brings back memories of my grandmother. I recently had drinks and dinner with friends at Hanny's and recalled stories of her being sent into stores in downtown Phoenix to buy fancier clothes for the family. My grandmother had the lightest skin out of all her siblings and never had an issue shopping for her father in Hanny's and Goldwater's. I wish I could find pictures of what those department stores looked like inside during the 1930s-1960s.

Now it seems I will have to makes new memories of Phoenix the same way I did as a kid, flying into Sky Harbor for the summer. I hope downtown Phoenix continues to improve so that when I return there is more to see. I will be moving to Boston for a few year to freeze my ass off and pay exorbitant rent. However, I look forward to a new adventure and a challenging promotion. I will be back if the opportunity in Phoenix presents itself a few years down the road. For now it's on to a new chapter.

I hope you keep writing these columns so that I can enjoy them from 3,000 miles away.

[Mark Raimo]

I would like to see pictures of this time frame of the location where the Talking Stick Resort Arena is now at first street and Jefferson.

[Gary Fox]

In regards to the photo "A busy Central Avenue in 1921" ... well not exactly. That vehicle clearly shows an Arizona 1930 license plate.