Phoenix Homesteads

The Subsistence Homestead Program, described as a “back-to-the-farm” movement, helped shape an area that is now known as the Phoenix Homesteads historic district. The original goal of the program was to create settlements on subdivided farmland where families could offset the cost of living by producing their own food. The homeowners included in this program had to be fit to work in industrial employment as well. Fifty-eight projects were planned throughout the country under the Subsistence Homestead Act, while only forty-three were actually constructed. Of those, only four were located in the western United States, with two in California, one in Washington State and one here in Phoenix.

The Phoenix Homesteads neighborhood was developed in two phases between 1935 and 1937. The first, located on Pinchot Avenue was constructed in the Pueblo Revival style, with simple adobe homes on large lots. Also included in the plan for this area was the planting of street trees, most notably Washington Palms and Aleppo Pines that still line Pinchot Avenue today. The second phase borders Flower Street, and was designed by engineers at the Federal Resettlement Administration. Hence, the homes (while still constructed of adobe) reflect a uniform architectural style more often seen in public housing. Of the original sixty homes, forty-five still remain today.

The Phoenix Homesteads Association, the oldest continually operating homeowners association in the Valley, keeps a close watch over this district. With its towering Aleppo Pines giving it a decidedly rural character, it is certainly one of Phoenix’s most unique neighborhoods.

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Historic Status - January 1990

Location: Two irregular shaped areas North of Thomas, South of Osborn, 26th to 28th Streets.