Black History in Phoenix: 10 iconic landmarks and the stories behind them

It's not unusual these days to find African American residents, businesses and cultural institutions in most areas of metro Phoenix, but that wasn't always the case.

Early African American residents of Phoenix were segregated to certain neighborhoods south of the city's downtown into the 1970s in most instances.

Though small in number — African Americans made up 3% of Phoenix's population in 1900 — the city's Black residents built a thriving community with schools, churches and other organizations that produced some of the city's most prominent citizens.

Eastlake Park, east of downtown, has long been a hub of activity in the Black community. It was the site of Juneteenth celebrations as far back as 1921 and remains the location for those celebrations of the end of slavery.

According to Phoenix's African American Historic Property Survey, a document created in 2004 that chronicled much of the history of the community, that 1921 celebration included a baseball game featuring some Buffalo Soldiers, African American troops stationed at Fort Huachuca.

Eastlake Park is still a locus for the Black community in Phoenix today. Here's more about the park and other significant sites around Phoenix that represent Black history and culture.

More: Your guide to Black-owned restaurants, bakeries and food businesses in metro Phoenix

Eastlake Park

This park at the corner of 16th and Jefferson streets near downtown has long been important to African Americans in Phoenix. The city’s Martin Luther King Jr. celebrations used to be held there. In recent years, some of the city’s more prominent Juneteenth events have been held at Eastlake Park.

Eastlake Park was the site of a historic speech by Booker T. Washington in 1911, one of many notable events that took place at the park. In the civil rights era, marches that led to the Arizona Capitol often began in the park.

Since 1997 the park has been home to Phoenix’s Civil Rights Monument, which chronicles occasions such as the Washington speech and the election of Calvin Goode to the Phoenix City Council in 1971.

Goode, who died on Dec. 23, 2020, was the second Black person elected to the Phoenix City Council. He was the longest serving member of the council with a tenure of 22 years.

Goode lived near the park since the 1950s. He said it was an important part of the city’s history in a February 2019 interview with The Arizona Republic.

"People would gather here ... to push the envelope," Goode said. "As an American citizen, we are entitled to all of the rights and privileges and we were denied. We had segregation in Arizona ... and I think that was wrong."

The park is included on the Phoenix Historic Property Register as a landmark of  exceptional significance.

More: Stories of Eastlake Park help a community regain past, look to future

Calvin C. Goode Municipal Building

Goode was a prominent figure in Arizona politics. He was the second African American elected to the Phoenix City Council when he took office in 1971. He served on the council for 22 years.

Goode’s service to the community didn’t start with his time on city council, however. He and his wife, Georgia Mae Goode (who died in 2015), were stalwarts in the civil rights community. Goode also served on the Phoenix Elementary and Phoenix Union High School District boards while running his accounting business.

Among the many honors bestowed on Goode was the Calvin C. Goode Lifetime Achievement Award given annually at the city’s Martin Luther King Jr. Awards Program. Goode was the first recipient of the award in 1994.

More: Remembering Phoenix civil rights icon Calvin Goode

George Washington Carver High School

Now a museum, the school at 415 E. Grant St. was the only high school for Black students in Arizona when it opened in 1926. The school was originally known as Phoenix Union Colored High School before being renamed for Carver, a noted scientist and educator, in 1943. The school continued to serve the Black community until 1954 when schools were integrated.

In 1996, a group of the school’s alumni purchased the building and began transforming it into a museum and cultural center.

Exclusive: What was once Arizona's only high school for Black students now tells their stories

Dunbar and Washington schools

Paul Laurence Dunbar Elementary School, named for the acclaimed poet, and the Booker T. Washington School were built during segregation. As was often the case with gathering places such as schools and churches, these structures served as important hubs for life in Phoenix's African American community.

The Dunbar School (701 S. Ninth Ave.), built in 1925, used to host the annual Juneteenth celebration starting in the late 1960s before that event moved to Eastlake Park. The Washington School (1201 E. Jefferson St.) was built in 1928 and it educated students up to the eighth grade. The former school is now home to the Phoenix New Times newspaper.

William H. Patterson Elks Lodge

The lodge, which started in 1922, was named after a former Buffalo Soldier stationed at Fort Huachuca. The organization moved to its location at 1007 S. Seventh Ave., the former Chinaberry Garden Inn, in 1936. Many of the city’s prominent African American residents were members of the lodge.

Another important social organization, the Desert Mashie Golf Club, also got its start at the lodge. The group was formed in 1947 to teach Black people to play golf and organize tournaments.

Progressive Builders Association

This group formed in 1945 after initial meetings at First Institutional Baptist Church to help African American solders returning home from World War II who were facing difficulties buying homes. The association was formed to build Black subdivisions in south Phoenix.

The building at 2019 E. Broadway Road was also home to several other Black-owned businesses in the following years.

Lincoln J. Ragsdale Executive Terminal

This terminal at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is named for Ragsdale, a civil rights activist, businessman and pilot. Ragsdale, along with his wife, Eleanor, was instrumental in many causes including voting rights and the desegregation of schools, neighborhoods and public housing.

A former Tuskegee Airman, Ragsdale first came to the Phoenix area for combat training at what is now Luke Air Force Base.

The Lincoln Ragsdale home in Phoenix is listed as part of the North Encanto Historic District.

More: From schools to cemeteries, meet the Arizona Civil Rights pioneer who helped integrate Phoenix

Swindall Tourist Home

This house at 1021 E. Washington St. was built in 1913 as a private residence, but by 1920, the original owners began to take in African American tourists at a time when hotels and other accommodations were not available. The inn acquired the name it was best known by in 1940 when Golden and Elvira Swindall purchased the home.

The inn is the last standing inn of its kind in Phoenix. It was recently featured on azcentral.com's Valley 101 podcast series.

Tanner Chapel AME Church

Churches such as Tanner Chapel, First Institutional Baptist and other congregations have been hubs in the Black community for decades. During the civil rights era, churches served as places to meet, strategize and raise funds for causes. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at Tanner Chapel in 1964 and President Lyndon B. Johnson campaigned there that same year.

The church is believed to be the oldest African American church in Arizona. It was founded in 1887 and built on its current location, at 20 S. Eighth St., in 1929.

The church is designated on the Phoenix Historic Property Register as a landmark for exceptional significance.

Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Black history in Phoenix: 10 important historical, cultural buildings