In 1908 Dwight B. Heard, president of the Suburban Real Estate Company, petitioned to subdivide a section of property bounded by 7th Street, 12th Street, McDowell Road and the Crosscut Canal. This area would later be known as the Coronado neighborhood. The original intent was to build a prestigious city suburb, such as Roosevelt or Encanto-Palmcroft. But, with land values based on the development's proximity to Central Avenue (and Coronado's comparable distance from Central Avenue), a more modest plan was adopted. At that time, restrictions that regulated the minimum cost of houses built on a particular lot were the common means of determining the range of house size in a development. As a result, the Coronado area evolved into a more modest working-class neighborhood than the original investors had envisioned.

 The Growth Years

The prosperity in Phoenix after World War I brought hundreds of the Valley's new residents; mostly middle class, white and blue collar workers, into the subdivisions in the Coronado area. In 1920 alone, over 800 building permits were issued by the City of Phoenix, with contractors purchasing whole blocks and building several "spec" houses at a time. Building homes on speculation, without any financial commitment from a buyer, was a relatively progressive idea for its day. As residential construction in central Phoenix boomed, Coronado emerged as a desirable and affordable area. The average price of a residence was $1,973 in 1920. Lots were provided with city water and sewer connections, electricity and graveled streets.

Other facilities in and around the Coronado area influenced its growth. The Brill Street trolley car line was extended north of McDowell Road to 10th Street and Sheridan in 1914. A small commercial node developed at that corner; the New Deal Grocery (ca. 1934), still stands to reflect the commercial activity. Good Samaritan Hospital, originally called Deaconess Hospital, was built in 1917.

Coronado Neighborhood

One of the first subdivisions in the Coronado neighborhood, "Ranchitos Bonitos." (literally translated in English as "pretty little ranches") describes the charm of this architecturally diverse neighborhood built from the early 1900's to the 1930s. Because of its relative proximity to Central Avenue, Coronado was not one of the "streetcar neighborhoods," but provided modest working-class homes for Phoenicians.

The construction of Emerson School in 1921 and the location of Coronado Park encouraged young families to move into the area. Most residents were hard working, service industry workers. Workingwomen were salesclerks or clerical office workers. Men's occupations covered the spectrum of employment available in the early part of the century: firemen, policemen, bank tellers, railroad engineers, and other types of service sector employees.

Decline and Recovery of Coronado

As in the rest of the community, the Great Depression significantly slowed development in Coronado. Many homeowners were forced to sell, while others converted their backyard garages into living quarters and rented out the main house. Although done out of necessity, this practice turned out to be a very positive economic strategy. Many residents were able to move back into their homes and retain the converted living quarters as rental property. The first city zoning code enacted in 1930 reflected the widespread application of this practice and it is still evident in Coronado today.

As the economy began to turn itself around, Coronado became the site of the first planned, mass-produced subdivision in Phoenix. Andy Womack, who would become a prominent developer in Phoenix, built the Womack Subdivision in 1939 in the area bordered by Monte Vista, 14th Street, Palm Lane and 13th Street. Womack took the idea of 46 spec" homes one step further, by building homes on the lots, constructing what would become a tract home development. With the success of the Womack Subdivision, various developers quickly subdivided the remaining tracts in the portions of the Coronado Neighborhood east of 12th Street.

Coronado's Significance in Phoenix

The Coronado Neighborhood is both typical of the early sub-urbanization of Phoenix and reflective of trends that shaped the city's neighborhoods as they developed between the two World Wars. A large portion of the Coronado district still retains much of the character of a modest streetcar suburb of the 1920s and remains as a viable middle-class neighborhood.

Coronado's architectural significance comes from its diverse collection of residential styles, predominantly Bungalow, Spanish Colonial Revival, and Tudor Revival that dominated Phoenix neighborhoods from the 1910s through 1930s.

"Coronado began as a working-class outpost. Following the First World War, it was populated by the city's meat cutters, bank tellers, police officers, firemen and sales clerks."

"The Old Neighborhoods"
by Melissa Morrison,
Phoenix Magazine, May 2000, page 61.