Historic Scottsdale–A Walking Photo Tour

I’ve had this copy of the “Historic Old Town Scottsdale: A 60-minute Self-Guided Walking Tour ” map on my desk for the past couple days, thinking I’d like to share it with you. Every time I looked at the 4-page paper, I wished that it some photos, so I got my camera out and headed downtown.

The tour has 15 stops, and I discovered that even though I was stopping to take photos, the walking tour took less than 45 minutes. I’ll share the photos here, and you can read the details here.

The “Little Red Schoolhouse”

Built in 1909. Home to the Scottsdale Historical Society.
Mexican Imports Shop
Built in 1923. Originally Johnny Rose’s Pool Hall, that doubled as a silent movie theater on Saturday nights.
Bischoff’s Shades of the West

Located at what used to be the entirety of downtown Scottsdale at Brown Avenue and Main Street. Site of Scottsdale’s first general store and post office.
Rusty Spur Saloon

Former site of Farmer’s State Bank. The old bank vault holds liquor now.
Saba’s Western Wear

Originally the site of a drug store built in 1921. The original brick pharmacy still stands behind the rustic façade.
Porter’s

Porter’s is the site of the first regular post office, built in 1928. The mail from Phoenix was delivered twice a day.
Sugar Bowl

A long-time favorite, the Sugar Bowl was built in 1950, first as a general store, and then converted to an ice cream parlor in 1958.
Pink Pony

The Pink Pony was constructed in 1954 by Charlie Briley, who played a major role in bringing the Cactus League to Scottsdale. Still a popular place for both fans and players.
Our Lady of Perpetual Help Mission Church

Built with volunteer labor and donated materials in 1933 by the resident of the Mexican settlement. Constructed of 14,000 adobe blocks, weighing 50 pounds each, that were made on site.
Cavalliere’s Blacksmith Shop

The blacksmith who wanted to put his shop on Main Street, was told by town father to put it “out on the edge of town”. At the time, that was Brown Avenue and Second Street.
Los Olivos Mexican Patio

Los Olivos was established more than 50 years ago by the Corral family, who still run the restaurant. Named for the olive trees on Second Street.
Old Olive Trees

These olive trees were planted in 1896 by Chaplain Winfield Scott, the founder of Scottsdale. Enclosing a 40-acre orange grove, the olive trees survived a drought in the late 1890’s, but orange trees did not.
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA)

The museum, designed by Will Bruder, was built incorporating new architecture, while incorporating the renovation of a movie theatre built in the 1970’s.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts

Designed by Benny Gonzales and built on the site of the Corral family’s former adobe pit, the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts is dedicated to fostering the cultural interests of the local community.
Scottsdale Public Library (Civic Center Branch)

The library houses a large reference collection of materials related the history, life and culture of Arizona and the Southwest.

Related Links:

A History of Scottsdale – This timeline include tidbits like:

The town was originally to be called Orangedale.
Several German prisoners of war escaped from the Prisoner of War Camp on 64th Street South of Thomas Road on Christmas Ever 1944.
In 1962, an ordinance is passed by the city council prohibiting the erection of new billboards.

Images of America: Scottsdale by Joan Fudala