Garfield & North Garfield Historic Districts

The Garfield Historic District is ripe for the picking if you are looking for historic homes at a bargain. The proliferation of Downtown Phoenix and the building boom that is occurring within it has driven renewed interest into the restoration and purchase of homes in the Garfield Historic District. The district is one of Phoenix’s largest. When you combine Garfield and North Garfield, you will find over 1,000 homes within the area. Just east of Downtown, residents of the Garfield Historic District will have access to the best of downtown restaurants, arts, culture, and nightlife in addition to owning their piece of history in Arizona. The homes here a modest but no less amazing than neighboring districts, and it won’t be long before prices meet that of the districts that have been in the limelight longer.

Here in Garfield and North Garfield, you will find many bungalows and classic revivals. Because the district is one of the oldest, made up of several subdivisions developed over 7 decades, you may find homes that were built in the late 1800’s and the turn of the century. The largest concentration of Pyramid Cottages found in Phoenix are located in the Garfield Historic District. Developed between 1883 and 1955, there is also a large amount of ranch style homes that became popular after World War II.

The Garfield Historic District, originally know as the Dennis Addition, was one of the first extensions to the original Phoenix townsite. It was one of the original “streetcar subdivisions,” one that was built as a direct result of the expanding streetcar lines in Phoenix. As a result, there is a lot of history here, an area that was once a large tract of agricultural land owned by John T. Dennis. The city’s first well and pumping station were built here near 9^th St and Van Buren St. You can still see a structure remaining from this time at 9^th St and Polk St near the northwest corner of Verde Park. The streetcar brought much interest to the area, and it was not long before the area underwent rapid development of residential neighborhoods, businesses, churches, and other services.

In North Garfield, you can find a larger concentration of Bungalows and Period Revivals as well, but also many Prairie style homes. This area, unlike Garfield, was originally part of the Brill Addition, which was developed by Frederick L. Brill, an early investor in the streetcar, who the streetcar line through this area was named for. The streetcar was also responsible for the massive development that took place here at the turn of the century well into the 1920s. The east side of the neighborhood developed later on after the Great Depression, and many of the homes you find on Diamond St were built between 1938 and 1948 with funds from the Federal Housing Authority, an output of The New Deal introduced by President Roosevelt.

It is great to see such renewed interest in the preservation and restoration of this district. It won’t be long before every street looks as amazing as streets in Willo and Coronado with similar price tags, as you can imagine.