No east-west street was more important to early Phoenix than the one named after our first president. It carried streetcars, was the heart of the business district, held important buildings, and was movie-theater row. Washington remains the north-south dividing line for street addresses (Central is east-west). Let's take a tour through time.
1901: A dusty road with horses and mule-drawn streetcars.
1904: The Indian and Cowboy Carnival Parade.
1905: At First Street looking west.
1915: A modern brick-and-masonry Korrick's building at First Street. Both streets are paved.
1915: Washington looking east from the Ford Hotel at Second Avenue.
Circa 1920s: Maricopa Indians near Washington and the future 44th Street (McCulloch Bros. Collection/ASU Archives).
1928: Looking west from the Korrick's building, right. Washington becomes recognizable — the six-story building at Central would stand for decades (McCulloch Bros. Collection/ASU Archives).
1929: The south side of Washington at First Avenue is graced by the new Maricopa County Courthouse/Phoenix City Hall.
Circa 1930: The state capitol building at Washington Street and 17th Avenue (McCulloch Bros. Collection/ASU Archives).
1930s: Washington as it crosses Central. Lerner Shops is followed by dense blocks of shops (McCulloch Bros. Collection/ASU Archives).
1940s: From First Avenue the impressive Newberry's and Kress buildings transformed the block (McCulloch Bros. Collection/ASU Archives).
Another scene from the same spot, also in the '40s. The famous Saratoga Cafe is at right (Brad Hall collection).
1945: A bus outside the Fleming Building at First Avenue and Washington. By the end of the decade the streetcar tracks will be gone.
1952: Driving east on Washington at First Street with the Fox Theater and Diamond's. JC Penney is under construction between the two (Brad Hall collection).
1958: The heart of Phoenix's central business district heading west.
1965: Downtown is still bustling. The Fox Theater is at left and the new Municipal Building in the distance (Brad Hall collection).
Circa 1965: Beyond the Busy Bee Cafe and greenery of the City-County building (out of sight left) is the edge of the new Municipal Building.
1960s: On the Phoenix-Tempe border was the city's only (ever) amusement park, Legend City.
Circa 1975: Dramatic changes are visible on this west-looking view: The Civic Plaza with convention center and brutalist Symphony Hall, along with the First National Bank that replaced the Fleming Building. Major retailing is nearly gone.
2015: Downtown's comeback visible from Second Street, CityScape to the left, Marjele's sports bar in a preserved territorial building, the Korrick's building without a department store, and the Renaissance Towers and new City Hall in the distance.
2018: The "red for ed" march advocating better school funding passes the Sandra Day O'Connor United States Courthouse, heading for the capitol.
Now: A beautiful rain falls on Washington looking east from Third Street.
The backside of the new downtown Fry's, which faces Washington Street.
Washington looking west from Seventh Street with the convention center, science museum and light rail (WBIYB).
———————————————————————————
My book, A Brief History of Phoenix, is available to buy or order at your local independent bookstore, or from Amazon.
Read more Phoenix history in Rogue's Phoenix 101 archive.
Great pics, Jon. Thanks
Vaguely remember Jaycees having a national convention parade in June and several attendees had to be recusitated because of the heat 😁
Ps Great pix Jon.
In June 1974, my family moved to Arizona when the HVAC/sheet metal business my Dad worked for in Illinois opened a location in Phoenix that he managed. They were located on the 1700 block of E Washington. Me and my brother had a summer job of helping our Dad get the office and manufacturing buildings ready for business. Remember scraping up an old linoleum floor in the large manufacturing building, which had been a dance hall in the 1930s. That was one hot summer, the day we arrived was the first of 18 straight days of 110+, which was a record for over 40 years.