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A Brief History of
Hispanic Tempe
About 300 years
ago, Spanish settlers began moving north from central Mexico into the
region that is now Arizona. In 1752, Spanish soldiers built a fort known
as the Presidio of Tubac. In 1775, they moved north and established the
Presidio of Tucson. When this area became part of the United States in
1853, the Mexican residents of Tucson and Tubac became United States
citizens. These farmers and ranchers were members of the old families
that had lived here for generations. Many of their children went on to
become the pioneer settlers of Yuma, Florence, and Tempe.
After the Civil
War, the U.S. Army established Fort McDowell on the Verde River. John
Y.T. Smith was contracted to provide feed for the soldiers' horses. He
hired Mexican laborers to cut wild hay on the banks of the Salt River.
These workers established a camp near where the town of Tempe would be
soon founded. Other Hispanic families from southern Arizona and Sonora
joined them and homesteaded farms nearby.
Between 1870 and
1900, about half of the Tempe area was Hispanic. These first settlers
lived in several small communities that together were known as Tempe:
Hayden's Ferry, San Pablo, the Sotelo Ranch, and West Tempe. Many
Hispanic families in the area worked for Charles T. Hayden at Hayden's
Ferry. About fifty employees worked at his flour mill, store,
warehouses, and blacksmith's shops. These workers lived in several adobe
apartments along the river.
William H. Kirkland
encouraged the Mexican laborers who had worked on the Kirkland-McKinney
Canal to build a community on the southeast side of the Tempe Butte. He
donated eighty acres of land for the townsite, and the sale of lots
raised money to build an adobe church. To the White community, San Pablo
became known as East Tempe or Mexican Town. The buildings of the
neighborhood were all Sonoran-style adobe houses with flat roofs. By
1888, several businesses served San Pablo.
The Sotelo Ranch
was located at the southeast corner of Rural and University Drive. In
the 1870s, Manuela Sotelo divided her family's land among her daughters.
Other relatives came from Tucson and settled there. In 1890, the family
subdivided part of the ranch as the Sotelo Addition. Most of these lots
were sold to family members. Hispanic families also started farms in
West Tempe, following the completion of the San Francisco Canal in 1871.
Many of these families later lost this land to repay farming debts,
however.
Tempe's Hispanic
residents held a variety of jobs. In addition to those who worked for
Charles Hayden, the largest employer on the south side of the Salt
River, some were independent freighters or merchants. A few Hispanic
families owned farmland, but many more worked as laborers, building
canals and clearing land for farming and ranching.
The Hispanic
community provided its own social activities, including music and
entertainment. Mexican organizations sponsored dances, concerts, and
Cinco de Mayo celebrations each year. Popular orchestras played
traditional Mexican music as well as more contemporary jazz and dance
tunes. Weekly dances were also held at an outdoor dance platform in the
Sotelo Addition.
During the Mexican
Revolution of 1910, thousands of Mexican citizens came to seek refuge in
the United States. Local farm owners welcomed these newcomers. Between
1910-1930, one-tenth of the population of Mexico came to the United
States, and many of those settled in the Salt River Valley.
As more Mexican
immigrants came after 1910, tensions arose between the White and
Hispanic segments of Tempe. Tempe's Hispanic pioneer families began
referring to themselves as Latin-Americans or Spanish Americans to
distinguish them from the new immigrants. Yet when the new Tenth Street
School opened in 1912, Hispanic children were not admitted. Nor were
Hispanic families allowed to swim in the Tempe Beach Swimming Pool when
it opened in 1923. The old town of San Pablo became "the barrio," a
segregated community.
Tempe's Hispanic
residents resisted discrimination, however. They joined mutualistas,
like the Alianza Hispano-Americana, which provided life insurance,
burials, and a political voice. Residents also joined the La Liga
Protectora Latina (Latin Protection League). Some residents were more
direct. In 1923, Adolfo "Babe" Romo challenged school segregation in
court. A judge ruled that the 10th Street School must admit
Hispanic children.
During World War
II, many Mexican-Americans from Tempe served in the armed forces. After
the war, returning veterans demanded changes in the segregated community
they lived in. Their first success was in 1946, when Hispanic families
were allowed to swim at the Tempe Beach pool. In 1964, voters elected
Gil Montanez to the Tempe City Council.
After the war,
enrollment at Arizona State College increased quickly. To build new
dormitories, the college started buying all of the land north of
University Drive in the mid-1950s. This area had been the largest and
oldest of the Tempe barrios. Many displaced families moved to Victory
Acres, a new subdivision near the Tempe-Mesa border which opened in
1945. In 1971, the Escalante Center was constructed to provide social
and recreational services for the predominantly Hispanic community.
Though most of the
barrios are now gone, an organization called Los Amigos de Tempe works
to preserve a sense of community among former residents. Many people
have moved to different cities or states, but they occasionally come
together for a reunion.
Adapted from The
Barrios, a Tempe Historical Museum exhibit. May 2000.
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