The History of Phoenix in Ten City Blocks

Phoenix was founded in 1867 on the site of an ancient Hohokam agricultural civilization, a fact that the city's self-mythology of desert rebirth has always contained without fully reckoning with. The downtown core that developed over the following 150 years reflects the contradictions of a city that grew faster than it could think about what it was becoming. Heritage Square at Monroe and 6th Streets preserves the only remaining block of Victorian-era Phoenix: eight buildings from the 1890s through 1920s that survived the demolition wave that claimed most of the original downtown. The Rosson House, open for tours, provides the most direct access to the life and material culture of early Phoenix. The Arizona Capitol Museum at West Washington and 17th Avenue houses the original territorial and state capitol building, completed in 1901, which operated as the seat of Arizona government until 1974. The restored legislative chambers and governor's office provide context for the political history of the state. The Civic Space Park at Central and Fillmore illustrates the contested nature of public space in Phoenix in ways that have parallels across the city's history. The walk requires two hours and comfortable shoes.