Tour Phoenix's Hispanic Heritage

Cover image: Hispanic Historic Property Survey, 2006. Athenaeum Public History Group. City of Phoenix.

Click and scroll your way through this ArcGIS Story Map as an interactive virtual tour of the unique Hispanic heritage present in Phoenix! Map points are clickable and provide a short summary of each site presented. Zoom in and out to explore the maps, then click the home button to return the map to its original extent. Map legends are accessible by hovering your mouse over the white circle in the bottom left corner. Most photos and maps can be expanded to full screen by clicking the arrows in the top right corner of the image or the image itself. This will also hide any overlapping text boxes. Simply click the arrow button again to snap back to the Story Map. Some portions move laterally -- click the arrows on the sides to go between slides. The City of Phoenix Historic Preservation Office will be updating content periodically, so be sure to check back!

The area that includes present-day Arizona existed as the northern frontier of New Spain and later Mexico, until the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848. Through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the United States obtained the portion of Arizona north of the Gila River, leaving Tucson and other southern Arizona settlements as part of Mexico. Five years later, the Gadsden Purchase negotiated acquisition of land south of the Gila River to the present-day Mexican border, which completed the American expansion into its present continental borders. Suddenly, recent Mexican citizens found themselves to be strangers in their own land. The area that is now Arizona began to change over time as more and more Americans arrived to try their fortunes in the West. 

The history of Phoenix’s Mexican American community dates to the founding of the city. From the beginning, Phoenicians of Mexican descent participated actively in its development. Although the Anglo population increased rapidly by 1900 and quickly overshadowed the Mexican community, Hispanics fiercely held their own and created thriving barrios, businesses, and churches. This community included individuals from different social classes and experiences. During the twentieth century, social and political organizations arose to create a voice for an underrepresented population who did not see an elected city official from their community from 1886, when Henry Garfias worked his last year as city marshal, until 1954, when Adam Díaz stepped into a city council seat. The Mexican American population grew and expanded in several sections of the city, most of them remaining in the central city area until after World War II. Although the city’s built environment has radically changed since 1870, the history of Phoenix’s Mexican American community still is deeply connected to its buildings, neighborhoods, and sites.

Between 1900 and 1920, over 47,000 Hispanics settled in Arizona. As in earlier years, this migration to Phoenix included not just those who came from Mexico during the revolution. Mexican Americans arrived from other states, many following the seasonal agricultural labor path. Others came from areas throughout Arizona, especially the mining towns, in search of work. Most of the members of the Mexican American community during the 1920s belonged to the working class, with a small number attaining middle class status.

Other residents settled in these neighborhoods to operate small businesses. The growth of the tourist industry during the 1920s and 1930s also provided working-class residents with service industry jobs in downtown Phoenix. Those who worked in the industrial sections of Phoenix, in agriculture, or in service industries, tended to live in the affordable neighborhoods closest to their occupations. While Hispanic families tended to group together forming neighborhoods, within city limits, these neighborhoods also included Chinese American families. Chinese Americans also located their grocery stores in Mexican neighborhoods and provided important retail services, such as allowing purchases to be made on credit.

By the 1910s and 1920s, the Mexican American community became very active in building their churches. The highest percentage of Mexican Americans held to the Catholic faith, although a few Protestant churches began establishing Mexican missions in an effort to convert the primarily Catholic community. Each of the churches that emerged held a deep significance to the residents, who felt a great sense of ownership to their places of worship. Like African Americans, race issues played into their religious experience, but Mexican Americans were part of a larger church structure dominated by a religious hierarchy of mainly non-Hispanic leaders, rather than worshiping in churches run by members of their own ethnic group. So while African Americans often found a strong sense of community and control in their churches, Mexican American Catholics often struggled with the religious hierarchy for a place of their own, especially in relation to language and church locations. On the margins, Mexican Protestant Churches quickened the Americanization process of their converts, and members became involved with Anglo congregations (who remained separate) over time through various programs or church practices.

Most of the Mexican community lived south of the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks from the 1920s until at least the 1960s. At the time of settlement, most of this area was outside of the city limits. During the 1920s, new barrios developed here, extending from 7th Avenue to 24th Street. These barrios began as small pockets of settlements but eventually grew larger. A few older barrios eventually split into smaller neighborhoods, each with a separate identity and with a great sense of loyalty from their residents. Many of the families who settled in rural areas leased their land from property owners. They improved the land to make it suitable for farming, planted crops, and hired other Mexicans as farmhands.

For example, the American Legion Post 41 was formed and provided many services that enhanced life and incorporated use of community space such as neighborhood parks.

These churches also functioned as social and philanthropic spaces, similar to the neighborhood parks.

By the late 1960s, a new voice of protest arose with the Chicano Movement. This political and cultural renaissance, initiated in California, swept into Phoenix and energized young activists. These young people took on a new name, "Chicano," a term of self-identification that invoked both pride and defiance. It is important to note that this new group of activists did not emerge in a vacuum; rather, they were building on the foundation created by earlier social and political activism in Phoenix, like the 1898 Alianza Hispano Americana Chapter, the 1915 Liga Protectora Latina, the 1932 Latin American Club, the 1941 Phoenix LULAC Council, the 1946 Thunderbird Post 41, and many other examples throughout the history of the Mexican American community.

Another social movement focusing on the plight of farm workers and headed by Yuma native César Estrada Chávez, emerged in California amid the chaotic times of the 1960s. As the United Farm Workers union (UFW) engaged in organizing struggles in the grape fields of Delano, the Migrant Opportunities Program (MOP) formed to better the lives of agricultural workers in Arizona. Headed by Reverend Jim Lundgren and funded through President Johnson's War on Poverty program, MOP provided education and job training for migrant workers in El Mirage and Guadalupe. Led by Arizonans such as Gustavo Gutierrez and Carolina Rosales, MOP became involved in community organizing.

The period of the late 1960s, marked by social struggles for racial equality, protest against American military involvement in Vietnam, and an opening cultural divide between younger and older generations of Americans, influenced local Mexican Americans, or “Chicanos,” to become involved in the farm worker movement, community organizing, and social welfare issues. This movement was fueled by prior trailblazers, many associated with the Phoenix media and entertainment scene.

Phoenix's development shows a strong Hispanic influence which has remained throughout the city's growth to become the 5th largest city in the United States. Today, over 46 percent of the city's population identify as partly or entirely Hispanic. In addition to the many sites featured in this story map, Phoenix's historic Hispanic heritage is seen today through food, businesses, and art. There are several annual festivals, including Fiestas Patrias and Día de los Muertos. The latter, known as "Day of the Dead" in English, inspired a themed mural competition throughout metro Phoenix in 2018. Numerous Mexican and other Latin American restaurants and businesses are seen throughout the greater Phoenix area. While Phoenix continues to grow and change over time, Hispanic heritage remains a rich and important part of our community.

This ArcGIS Story Map is an extension of the City of Phoenix Hispanic Historic Property Survey (2006).

Dean, PhD., David R. and Jean A. Reynolds, M.A. 2006. Hispanic Historic Property Survey. Athenaeum Public History Group.

Articles sourced from The Arizona Republic © Gannett-Community Publishing. All rights reserved. Used under license.  https://www.azcentral.com/ .

Other sources:

"César Chávez Special Resource Study and Environmental Assessment." March 2012. National Park Service. U.S. Department of the Interior.

Illich, Fara. 2019. "Former Phoenix Suns Star Kevin Johnson Partners With California Developer JMA On Battery Apartments." dtphx. October 3, 2019.

"Mexican-American leader's career puts her close to White House," Arizona Republic, March 27, 1977, p. 27.

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona. Sanborn Map Company, - Oct 1946; Reprinted 1947, 1947. Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/sanborn00169_007/.

Jones, Thomas E. 2010. "Assessment of the San Francisco Canal, Salt River Project": Photos. Tempe, Arizona: Archaeological Consulting Services, Ltd. ( tDAR id: 393981) ; doi:10.6067/XCV8H70H0P.

For more information on these historic properties, please contact the City of Phoenix Historic Preservation Office or visit our webpage at  https://www.phoenix.gov/pdd/historic-preservation .