12 Historic Places Tied to Black Heritage in Downtown Phoenix

At the turn of the 20th Century, Phoenix's first Black settlers established a small community just east of Downtown Phoenix along Jefferson Street—now known as the Eastlake Park neighborhood.

Over time, and as the population grew, more people moved into the Warehouse District and Central City South, areas southwest of Downtown near the Capitol, and rural parts of South Phoenix.

Here, members of the Black community bought homes and established churches, hotels, and businesses that became key cultural anchors. Despite comprising just three percent of the total population in 1900, they cultivated opportunity and created vibrant, close-knit communities during Downtown Phoenix's early years.

But the dominant culture of segregation and economic exclusion restricted movement to other parts of the city and inhibited upward mobility.

First introduced by the territorial government in 1909, school segregation was mandated by Arizona law until 1954. A series of informal property restrictions also prevented "non-whites" from purchasing or renting homes north of Van Buren Street. These restrictions existed well into the 1940s.

Realtors wouldn't sell to members of the Black community, banks refused loans, and by the late 1930s, the condition of homes and the lack of affordable housing south of Van Buren Street were serious issues.

Despite incredible hardships, the Black community established long-standing neighborhoods and institutions during early statehood and were instrumental in shaping social and political change throughout Phoenix's history.

Today, many of these places remain as essential touchstones of Black history in Phoenix.

Here are 12 historic properties in Downtown Phoenix tied to Black heritage that are still standing from 1900-1950:

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1910 | First Institutional Baptist Church

1141 E. Jefferson St.

Missionary John B. Bell established the First Institutional Baptist Church in 1910, making it the first African American church in Phoenix. Originally meeting in a tent, the church acquired several plots of land in 1951 and is located today at 1141 East Jefferson St. First Institutional Baptist Church has a rich history and has contributed greatly to civil rights movements throughout the decades since its establishment.

1913 | Swindall Tourist Inn

1021 E. Washington St.

During this era, it was common for families to take in boarders to supplement income, and this is the only remaining example of public hotel accommodations for members of the Black community during segregation in Phoenix. The Swindall Tourist Inn was one of three Phoenix tourist homes featured in the Green Book. Today, the historic bungalow-style building is used as office space, preserving a significant piece of Phoenix's Black history.

1917 | Eastlake Park

1549 E. Jefferson St.

The park and the surrounding neighborhood of the same name, developed into the epicenter of African American life in Phoenix. It’s the oldest park in the city, dating back to the 1890s, and was purchased by the City in 1914. Over the past 100 years, the park has offered everything from dances and baseball games to lectures and civil rights events. Booker T. Washington famously spoke here in 1911 at the Great Emancipation Jubilee.

1925 | Paul Laurence Dunbar School

707 W. Grant St.

Located in the Matthew Henson Historic District just southwest of Downtown Phoenix, the Dunbar School was built by the City of Phoenix in 1925 to segregate Black elementary students. The school used to host the annual Juneteenth celebration starting in the late 1960s before that event moved to Eastlake Park. It remains open in the Phoenix Elementary School District #1.

1926 | George Washington Carver High School (Site)

415 E. Grant St.

Located in the Warehouse District, the Phoenix Union Colored High School, later renamed the George Washington Carver High School in 1943, was built exclusively for Black students. Former Phoenix City Council member Calvin C. Goode (pictured) graduated from Carver High School in 1945. The school closed in 1954 — one year after a judge at the Maricopa County Superior Court ruled school segregation in Phoenix schools as unconstitutional. It is now a museum and cultural center.

1929 | Tanner Chapel A.M.E. Church

20 S. 8th St.

Located in the Eastlake Park neighborhood, the Tanner Chapel is the oldest African American congregation in Arizona, dating back to 1887. In the 1960s, it became a focal point for civil rights activities, and was famously visited by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1964. Today, Tanner Chapel remains committed to promoting Christian living, family values, economic development, responsible citizenship, civic action, and social welfare.

1930 | Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church

1401 E. Jefferson St.

In 1922, Reverend Jake Howard, Reverend R. Thomas, and Reverend M. Boyd organized Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church in Somerton, Arizona, which was a little place called “No Man’s Land.” After eight years in “No Man’s Land,” Moderator Boyd relocated Pilgrim Rest Missionary Baptist Church to Downtown Phoenix where they settled at 1417 East Madison St.

1935 | St. Pius X Catholic Church

809 S. 7th Ave.

Part of the local diocese Black Catholic ministries, St. Pius offers a Unity Mass once a month, and serves as a gathering space and community center in the Grant Park neighborhood. 

1946 | William H. Patterson Elks Lodge No. 477

1007 S. 7th Ave.

Located in the Grant Park neighborhood south of Downtown Phoenix, the Elks Lodge was the preeminent networking and philanthropic hub for the growing African American middle class during the first half of the 20th Century and still serves the community in many ways today.

1947 | Lucy Phillips Memorial C.M.E. Church

1401 E. Adams St.

Lucy Phillips Memorial C.M.E. Church became a significant African-American religious landmark in the city's Eastlake Park area, known as the "Little Red Brick Church". “C.M.E.” stands for Colored Methodist Church, which was organized in 1909. This small congregation was named for the wife of the first presiding bishop, Reverend Charles Henry Phillips. In 1947, the church constructed a new building, pictured above, at 1401 E. Adams St.

1947 | Mary McLeod Bethune School

1310 S. 15th Ave.

Built to provide for the rapidly expanding Black community on the west side of Downtown, the segregated Bethune School opened in 1947 with 10 classrooms. Adjacent to the Matthew Henson Public Housing Project, built between 1940 and 1960, the school remains open in the Phoenix Elementary School District #1.

1950 | Aldridge House

1326 E. Jefferson St.

Aubrey Aldridge was the daughter of the first African American doctor to arrive in Phoenix, Dr. Winston Hackett, who moved to the Phoenix area in 1916. Aldridge was a teacher at the Dunbar School and later taught at Booker T. Washington elementary. She married the Dunbar School principal, and they lived in this home in the Eastlake Park neighborhood.

Honorable Mentions

1921 | Booker T. Washington Memorial Hospital

1342 E. Jefferson St.

After moving to Phoenix in 1916, Arizona's first Black physician, Dr. Winston C. Hackett opened the private Booker T. Washington Memorial Hospital in 1921. The hospital was named for the African-American educator who founded Tuskegee University in Alabama, where Hackett attended college. 

Hackett continued running the hospital until it closed in 1943 because of financial troubles and his failing eyesight. He donated its medical equipment to Saint Monica’s Hospital, later renamed Phoenix Memorial Hospital.

The former hospital building reopened as the Winston Inn to accommodate Black servicemen during World War II, and was later demolished. Hackett died in 1949 at 67, having made a vital contribution to local health care.

1970 | The Helen K. Mason Performing Arts Center (Black Theatre Troupe)

1333 E. Washington St.

Founded in 1970 by Helen Katherine Mason, Black Theatre Troupe is one of the oldest continuously operating Black theaters in the United States. The company’s first permanent facility was located at 333 East Portland St., in what is now known as the Roosevelt Row–Churchill District. On the first day of Black History Month in 2013, Black Theatre Troupe celebrated the opening of their current home on the corner of Washington and 14th streets in Downtown Phoenix.

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Research courtesy of: City of Phoenix African American Historic Property Survey

Editors note: Calvin Goode passed away in December of 2020.