East Alvarado Historic District Highlights & History

The East Alvarado Historic District may be small in comparison to most of Phoenix's historic districts, but its significance to the city's development isn't. A quiet neighborhood on a quarter-mile of Alvarado Road between 3rd and 7th Street, the district includes just 30 homes that were built from 1929-1942. The neighborhood was designated as historic in May of 1992.

With the success of the Alvarado Place development, East Alvarado was born in 1929 when East Alvarado Road was extended out of Alvarado Place from 3rd Street to within 100 feet of 7th Street. This new neighborhood began with a single "spec" home built in the Spanish Colonial Revival Style that had become the new craze in the southwest during the 1920s.

With its arched arcade and red tiles, this Spanish Colonial Revival home sat
alone for the next 7 years as the Great Depression took its toll on Phoenix.

Building stopped in East Alvarado until 1937 when the neighborhood ushered in a new architectural era....the Ranch Style. The remaining 29 homes in East Alvarado were built in only five years thanks to the newly created Federal Housing Administration (FHA) which was established under the National Housing Act of 1934.

As you drive along East Alvarado Road today, you will notice the 'streetscape concept' that was promoted by FHA to create uniformity and continuity of design from its uniform lots, setbacks and scale of structures. East Alvarado neighborhood was developed during an important transitional period for Phoenix's residential architecture. The homes built included the Transitional/Early Ranch Style along with a handful of simplified Period Revival Styles, for those who weren't quite ready to give-up the old.

Once considered a suburban neighborhood of Phoenix, East Alvarado now sits in the midst of the heart of Phoenix. A short walk east to 7th Street provides residents a number of choices for shopping and restaurants including Coronado Cafe, Trente Cinq, and That's a Wrap. Soon, the METRO light-rail on Central Ave. will be just a few blocks to the west.

Homes in East Alvarado range in size from around 1100 square feet to 1900 square feet and in price from the low $300's to the upper $300's (although one of the larger homes that has been completely remodeled sold in the mid-$400's in 2006). Homes in East Alvarado have been very well maintained, yet there are still quite a few that have not been renovated.

To search for a historic home in EastAlvarado Historic District or any one of the 36 Historical Districts in Phoenix, AZ, click on www.HistoricCentralPhoenix.com.