JUNE 2004
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Vital SignsMenlo Park: Downtown’s West-side Neighborhoodby John Jarchow [This is the fourth in our occasional series on Downtown neighborhoods. The following is a series of excerpts from John Jarchow’s historical work-in-progress on the Menlo Park Neighborhood. Jarchow is the current president of Menlo Park Neighborhood Association.]
Tucson’s history goes back thousands of years, and modern-day Menlo Park is at the center of that history. Permanent European settlement of Tucson took root with the development of the Mission San Agustín complex on the west side of the Santa Cruz, while the presidio established the Old Pueblo on the east side. In addition to the chapel, convento, a granary, gardens, cemeteries and assorted other buildings were constructed at the Mission site. Solomon Warner returned to Tucson in 1856 with a burro train of American goods and established a small store inside the presidio. Warner was one of Tucson’s first anglo merchants, and an entrepreneur who later purchased “an old mill site with mill stones, acequias, and improvements situated near an old mission in the town of Tucson”. He filed a water claim, and built a water-powered mill capable of grinding grain or ore. He also built a storehouse and residence. This 1877 home is one of the oldest remaining homes in our neighborhood. Warner operated the mill, diverted the river, and helped to contribute to the depletion of the Santa Cruz. The mill was in operation until the 1890s. In the 1930s, owing to its deterioration and the fear of imminent collapse, the second floor was dynamited. The remaining portion still stands on the west side of Mission Road, immediately north of Sentinel Peak. He also built a dam and created a lake known as Warner’s Lake, with a millrace extending nearly a mile upstream to ensure a steady flow of water to his mill.
At that time, the neighborhood was agricultural with a few homes and many cultivated fields. The cultivation of the flood plain actually goes back to ancient times, over four thousand years ago, when the first irrigation-based community developed. The system was expanded during the colonial period to become a vast network of acequias, providing irrigation to the fields. Two other enterprises were established in the neighborhood at about this same time. First, the quarry began operations at the base of Sentinel Peak. Vesicular basalt was mined for use in foundations and walls throughout the city. The large pockmark of the quarry is visible on the north slope of Sentinel Peak. The second enterprise was a series of brickyards. Recognizing the value of the high clay content of the Santa Cruz flood plain, a number of brickyards were established to mine the clay and produce bricks for construction of the university, many major buildings, and countless residences in the city. Regrettably the site of the clay mining undoubtedly destroyed a whole host of important sites from antiquity. And the brickyards had another long-term negative impact, from which we have still not recovered: in 1950 the city chose to use the remaining pits as landfill sites. A major change in the Westside occurred when St. Mary’s Hospital opened in 1880 as a twelve-bed facility. The path leading to the hospital’s opening is really quite remarkable, as seven Sisters of the Order of St. Joseph of Carondelet traveled from Missouri, spending thirty-six days en route. Initially by train to San Francisco, then steamer to San Diego, and finally by covered wagon to Tucson, this journey was not only time-consuming but also harrowing, including an encounter with a group of miners in the remote desert. Much to the Sisters’ relief, they arrived in Tucson in May of 1870 to an enthusiastic celebration of three thousand townspeople and assorted fireworks. There is no mention in the Sisters’ diaries of “A” Mountain burning during this celebration. Since its humble beginnings, St. Mary’s has received much acclaim. Once a prominent site for treatment of tubercular patients, due to Tucson’s warm climate and abundant sunshine, it has also been a teaching facility, a burn center of note, and recently was recognized as one of the top 100 hospitals in the United States. St. Mary’s today is a nearly 400-bed facility that is truly an anchor for the Westside. There doesn’t seem to be a soul in our neighborhood who wasn’t either born or treated at St. Mary’s. The hospital brought jobs and increasing population to the Westside. The construction of the railroad brought Chinese laborers, about thirty of whom stayed and initially became farmers, settling in the fields on the west side of the Santa Cruz. The 1890s saw a dramatic change in the Santa Cruz River. Prior to that time the river had flowed as a shallow stream with most of the flow diverted through irrigation canals from the southern side of Sentinel Peak northward. But a series of factors—the 1887 earthquake, a long drought, overgrazing by cattle, and an attempt to procure more water by cutting a new canal at the north end of the river—led to down-cutting of the river. A series of floods in the 1890s further down-cut the river bed, eventually lowering it below the heads of the acequias. To compensate for the loss of irrigation water, groundwater pumping was initiated. The costs associated with pumping drove many of the Mexican farmers out of business, and property ownership gradually began to pass to Euro-Americans. This down-cutting was the beginning of the channelization of the river, which has led to the deep, dry sand bed we see today. In 1902 the Carnegie Institute established the Desert Laboratory on Tumamoc Hill. The creation of the laboratory and later Sentinel Peak Park ensured that the west end of Menlo Park would remain a natural preserve. Today Menlo Park is about a mile and a half north-to-south and the same distance east-to-west, with a population of over 5,100 residents. It is also an eclectic mix of new and old, prime and rundown residential properties, a few former travel courts, and even a rustic stable just north of “A” Mountain. And even today when the sun rises each morning, you still hear the roosters crow, and the smell of the mesquite fires burning still permeates our neighborhood. ------ So how did Menlo Park get its name? In 1904 Henry E. Schwalen arrived in Tucson by train. He entered St. Mary’s Hospital for treatment of tuberculosis. While there Schwalen purchased a twenty-one acre piece of land nearby, where he settled upon his recovery. Mrs. Schwalen and the remainder of the family arrived and took up farming of alfalfa, barley, corn, and raising chickens. In 1905 the Schwalens purchased a “Mexican hacienda, composed of a 2-room adobe house, a 2-story adobe barn, 5 or 6 acres of cultivated land, and 20-plus acres covered with mesquite and greasewood”, in what would become Menlo Park. By 1910 Schwalen had moved from poultry and eggs to real estate. By 1912 he and some partners formed Pima Realty and subdivided and began selling lots. His subdivision included water, sidewalks, gas, electric, and Arizona Ash trees planted along those sidewalks. Conditions, covenants and restrictions included a minimum construction cost of two thousand dollars per home, and a minimum thirty-foot front yard setback. The lots are deep so there was often a separate garage built in the back yard, off the alley. Schwalen had read about a beautiful model city, Menlo Park in California. He had never been there, but he liked the name and felt this was the kind of city he wanted to promote, so he called his subdivision Menlo Park. (Menlo Park, California was NOT named after Menlo Park, New Jersey, the home of Thomas Edison. The California city actually traces its naming to Menlough, in County Galway, Ireland.) The Schwalen home, the former Mexican hacienda, is still standing on Melwood Avenue, and is one of the recognized historic structures in Menlo Park. The current home is actually constructed around the original 2-room mud adobe core that may be the oldest structure still in use in Menlo Park. Original efforts to subdivide what is now the neighborhood took place before statehood. However, construction really didn’t start rolling until after World War I, when the first substantial wave of home-building occurred. During this time numerous bungalows and a few other architecturally-significant homes were built. Schwalen recognized that his real estate enterprise’s success was contingent upon the provision of other convenient amenities, so he donated land for a school, and the Menlo Park Elementary School was constructed in 1918 as a two-room facility with between thirty and fifty students. Congress Street forms the southern boundary of the actual Menlo Park subdivision. This subdivision was unfortunately established with deed restrictions that limited ownership only to whites, prohibiting residence by Mexicans, Blacks, and Asians. Servants had to be out of the district by dark. These deed restrictions lasted until the 1940s. The people in Menlo Park stay for generations. Most of America is transient, but not Menlo Park, where homes are occupied by the same families for four or more generations. In many ways I still feel like a newcomer, even after twenty-three years in the same home and neighborhood. After World War II, Menlo Park experienced another flurry of building activity, primarily masonry ranch-style homes, frequently encircled by a chain-link fence. Long-time Menlo Park resident Lillian Lopez-Grant likes to point out that “happiness in Menlo Park is a brick home with a chain-link fence”. Other subdivisions were added through the 1980s. The city’s original “Rio Nuevo” project was a venture led in part by the Downtown Development Corporation. The DDC was responsible for commercial development along the river between Congress and St. Mary’s, and the Inner City Parade of Homes, five cul-de-sacs immediately south of St. Mary’s Road. The architectural styles in the Parade of Homes varied from traditional tract forms to attempts at contemporary, modern, and historically respectful styles.
A South Grande resident at the time stated, “It looks like a little fort with the walls around it. They’ve segregated them. Nobody here knows anybody who lives there.” The president of the Southern Arizona Home Builders Association, who had partnered with the DDC on this project, responded that the walled-off development was the only kind that would sell in that area because homebuyers today want privacy and security. Also through the late 1980s, as the result of state Industrial Development Authority bond funding, there were several additional large apartment complexes constructed along St. Mary’s Road. These complexes reduced the home ownership ratio in the neighborhood. There are also two notable areas that developed without a formal larger-scale subdivision process; Barrio Sin Nombre (the neighborhood without a name) and Kroeger Lane. Both are unique in the context of our larger neighborhood. Barrio Sin Nombre has a territorial feel with masonry homes and marginally paved narrow streets; the area is reminiscent of the numerous dusty border towns of the desert southwest on either side of the international border. What remains of Barrio Sin Nombre may be the single most historic enclave in our larger neighborhood. Kroeger Lane is the only part of Menlo Park on the east side of the river. It has an eclectic combination of mobile homes, small houses and horse property. In the mid-1980s an entrepreneur sought to turn the Sentinel Peak quarry site into a band-shell concert venue, a la the Hollywood Bowl. The plan was to string a light-weight structure over the quarry and use it primarily on weekends for a variety of events. But this proposal was short-lived as the neighborhood envisioned rock concerts blaring late into the night, with traffic, congestion, pollution, and a further disruption of our pastoral life style. ---- While Coronado decreed that it would rain every June 24th, that has seldom occurred. Since 1871, when the National Weather Service first started keeping records, we have only had measurable rain three times on June 24th. Yet the event is a historic celebration of the summer rains which bring life to our desert. Since St. John is such an important saint, and because water is central to his vocation, it was only natural that his life would have been celebrated in farming communities. His intercession was fervently sought to help ensure a favorable rainy season leading to bountiful harvests. Historically the day would begin with mass at Mission San Agustín. Then a procession would carry a statue of San Juan to the acequias (irrigation canals), where the statue was actually lowered into the water as a sign of hoped-for blessings through the intercession of San Juan. Westside neighbors, historic and cultural preservation organizations, and our “vecinos” (neighbors) come together at this celebration to pray for rain and celebrate life with friends and family. The original Tucson celebration occurred over 130 years ago, and it has evolved as a significant and colorful community event. The current celebration re-establishes ties with the past and preserves them for future generations. Día de San Juan celebrations are not unique to Tucson. Having been brought to this region by Spanish missionaries, similar events are annually celebrated in St. Johns, Arizona, in several New Mexico pueblos, and in farming communities throughout the state of Sonora in Mexico. The serious nature of the fiesta, the blessing, and a procession to the Santa Cruz culminating in children throwing flowers into the river, is offset by parades and recreational activities.
In addition to mariachis, dancing, piñatas, children’s games, food and refreshments, the Día de San Juan festival incorporates water into many of the activities. The idea of cleansing was broadened to include picnics at the acequias and at the Santa Cruz, where swimming, splashing and dunking were popular. A kind of ritual bath, not part of church liturgy, was frequently performed in one of the acequias or in the river. It usually took place early in the morning and was considered by many Tucsonans as a sincere form of repentance in the spirit of San Juan. Other traditions included bachelors bathing naked on the other side of the river, away from the families. They also bathed their horses. Other traditions include getting one’s hair cut on the day. This was believed to increase the growth, thickness, and health of one’s hair. Persons born on the day are thought to be especially blessed, some even possessing the powers to heal. Medicinal herbs gathered on this day are thought to have additional potency. |
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ome scholars believe that the Santa Cruz was the route for Coronado’s expedition through el gran despoblado (the great barren land). According to tradition, June 24th is the feast day of St. John the Baptist, the beginning of our summer monsoons. Legend has it that Francisco Vasquez Coronado himself stood on the parched banks of the Santa Cruz on June 24, 1540, prayed for rain, and when his prayers were answered, declared that from that day forward, the summer rains would begin on June 24th each year.
