Woodland Historic District of Phoenix
Woodland Historic District
Period of Significance 1910 – 1935
In 1880, the first addition west of the original Phoenix Town site was surveyed by Herbert R. Patrick and recorded by David Neahr. This quarter section of property between 7th Avenue and 15th Avenue, became known as Neahr’s addition. The area now designated as the Woodland Historic District was developed in the early 1900’s through a replatting of three blocks in the northern section of Neahr’s Addition. Today the Woodland District is significant because it is a representative of Phoenix’ residential planning and expansion in the early 20th Century.
The original area contained 48 lots. Little building took place in the area until a housing boom in 1913 – 1914, almost filled the subdivision with Bungalow style houses. Also recorded in 1893 was Gray’s subdivision with 24 lots facing 10th Avenue between Woodland and Adams. This subdivision took longer to develop and it was not fully built until the mid-1930’s. Gray’s subdivision is the eastern portion of Woodland Historic District. Three other subdivisions make up the remainder of the district. Walker’s subdivision, Athena Place and El Fresnal were recorded in 1906, 1910 and 1913 with 24, 20 and 10 lots respectively.
The original developers of the Woodland neighborhood were influenced by the Beaux Arts concept of City planning which included formally designed suburbs with extensive parks and boulevards. This planning philosophy, popular between 1885 – 1930 was responsible for the 1913 development of Woodland Park, one of Phoenix’ earliest city parks. Designed to separate the residential areas along Woodland from the commercially oriented Van Buren Street, Woodland Park continues to be a significant element of character of the Woodland Historic District.
Bungalow is the dominant architectural style of the Woodland Historic District. Bungalows have simple functional one-story floor plans with broad front porches and broadly pitched overhanging roof gables. Bungalows in Woodland are characteristic of the style and contain many good examples of craftsmanship. Typical of many of Phoenix’ Historic districts, homes in Woodland date from as far back as 1885 to the mid 1930’s.
As the first development outside of the original townsite, Woodland is historically important for its representation of the forces that shaped Phoenix at the turn of the century. The district’s location and layout provide physical expression of the concept and practices that transformed the early settlement into a regional center. Although limited in number and modest in scale, the houses of the Woodland Historic District are important for the range of building periods they represent and the examples of historic construction methods, materials and craftsmanship. Of particular note is the Eyrich House, located at 1015 W. Woodland. Built in 1885, it is one of the oldest buildings in Phoenix today.
Information and history provided by the City of Phoenix Historic Preservation office.
