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Website lets you interact with Tempe's Mill Avenue history

Chris Coppola
The Republic |
The Valley Art theater, 505 S. Mill Ave., was built in 1940. It originally was known as the College Theater, operated by Dwight "Red'' Harkins. The building looks much the same as it did when it opened and it remains owned and operated by Harkins Theaters, which is headed by Dwight's son, Dan Harkins.

Take a stroll along Mill Avenue in downtown Tempe with John Southard and you're likely to hear a story or two about the buildings.

He recently told a yarn in front of Rula Bula, a popular Irish pub and restaurant near Third Street and Mill.

Southard, Tempe's historic preservation officer, explained how the structure — officially the Andre Building — was constructed in 1898, destroyed by a fire and then rebuilt one year later. It was a hardware store. An undertaker also resided there.

And then there is a legend that remains based on a newspaper account.

"We found an Arizona Republican article from 1898, I believe, that indicated a meteor struck the side of this building shortly after the fire. There's no backup corroboration for that, so I don't know if there's any truth to the story, but it was reported, it was printed in The Republican and it's one of those little tidbits you could get from researching properties and trying to determine exactly how they came about, what their story is," he said.

The Republican, first published on May 19, 1890, became The Republic in 1946.

Downtown visitors now can easily access many such stories. Tempe this month debuted a Web page that helps Mill Avenue visitors to take a self-guided tour of historic buildings along Mill and other nearby streets. The page is mobile friendly, allowing people to follow the history on their smartphones as they stroll the area.

Most of the buildings featured were constructed near the end of the 19th  century or early part of the 20th century. Many are in use today and plans are in place to revive a few that aren't. Though elements were refurbished and upgraded through the years, they largely retain architectural features and many original elements from the earlier era.

The idea came in part from the popularity of downtown walking tours conducted by volunteers from the Tempe Historic Preservation Foundation and Tempe History Museum, said Kris Baxter, a Tempe spokeswoman.

"It was always popular. It almost always was a sellout,'' she said. "Our tourism office said, 'You know, we need to be able to do this more than once every year or twice every year.'  People who come to our community — tourists, parents dropping off their students at ASU — they're interested in the stories of our past.''

The Web page is part of an effort to make the city's vast collection of historic photos and documents available to residents and visitors digitally, Southard said.

"It makes (history) more easily accessible and it gives relevance to the built environment as well,'' he said. "So as people walk around, it's not just something that is fascinating from an academic standpoint, but it's something that can actually convey something about life in the desert.''

What's on the tour

The C. T. Hayden House has evolved from a typical Sonoran row house, built as Charles Hayden's family home between 1871 and 1873. Hayden's son Carl, who grew up to be a United States senator, was born in the house in 1877. Over the years, additions and modifications were made to the adobe "hacienda," converting it to a boarding house and finally for use as a Monti's La Casa Vieja restaurant. The restaurant closed in November 2014. The area on the corner of Rio Salado Parkway and Mill Avenue will be redeveloped, but there are plans to preserve the Hayden House.

The tour features such well-known structures as the Charles Trumbull Hayden House, built between 1871-73 and later expanded. It's considered the oldest continuously occupied structure in the Valley, and plans are in place to incorporate the building into a new adjacent development.

The Hayden Flour Mill building and silos also are featured, as is the Valley Art Theater.

Others, perhaps not as well known to Valley residents, offer a peek into the past. The Dines & Laird Building at the southeast corner of Fifth Street and Mill — which once was Tempe's unofficial City Hall and civic gathering spot — now houses a restaurant and bar.

The Tempe National Bank Building, constructed in 1912 at Sixth Street and Mill, still has the bank name etched on its facade, though it is easily missed if one doesn't look up. World of Beers occupies the space.

Users see a map they can follow while walking along Mill and some side streets, with icons marking location. A click brings up historic and modern pictures of the building, along with text of its history.

Vic Linoff, president of the Tempe Historical Society, praised the project.

"Anything that helps convey the history of the community is very positive and we encourage it,'' said Linoff, who owns the Goodwin Building, one of the Mill Avenue structures featured. It was built in 1907 and expanded in 1909. Cactus Sports team shop and a bookstore are among the tenants today.

"This gives people a year-round opportunity to explore the area on their own,'' Linoff added. "With all the changes taking place in this community it gives people a perspective of the history.''

He noted that "every historic building that still stands is the result of a battle'' that took place in the 1970s and '80s to preserve historic buildings at a time when the city was open to newer developments taking their place.

The interactive page can be found at and then by clicking on Maps and Tours.