Tempe Historic Property Survey

Constructed in 1889, this house is significant as the oldest brick homestead remaining in the Tempe Multiple Resource Area. Ownership records indicate the property was homesteaded in 1887 by Mary Green, a widow, and Moses Green, possible her son. The Greens are the only known Black family to homestead the agricultural lands of the Tempe District during the Settlement period.

The Green Homestead, which had most of its original architectural integrity intact in the 1980s, typified the modest dwellings newly arriving homesteaders built during Tempe's Development Period. The use of fired brick, available locally after 1868, replaced the earlier adobe as the preferred construction material. Historically, successful homesteaders replaced these earlier dwellings with more substantial and architecturally refined homes, as was the case with the Neils Petersen House (HPS- 242) and the Thomas Morrow House (HPS-102). The Green Homestead, used as a rental farm after it was purchased in 1896 by James Kasson, did not follow that evolutionary pattern, thus providing a rare local example of an early rural settlement dwelling.

This small single-story rectangular house was constructed of brick and had a medium-pitched roof covered with metal sheeting. Doors and windows had segmented arches. The single entry is at the east gable end and a brick chimney was at the ridgeline of the west end of the house. Windows were discretely placed.

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