The area of Midtown Phoenix from Hance Park to Indian School Road, between 3rd Avenue and 3rd Street, is home to some of the most historic developments in the city's history.
• At one time, Central Avenue (originally called "Center Street") was home to dozens of stately mansions, similar to the still-existing Ellis-Shackelford House.
• Dwight and Maie Heard began what would become an internati
onally renowned heritage center.
• Park Central Mall signaled the beginning of a new kind of shopping.
• Phoenix Towers brought high-rise living to the Valley.
• The public library morphed into the world-class Phoenix Art Museum. At the same time, residential communities such as the Alvarado, Ashland Place and Willo neighborhoods spread farther north, heralding the suburban lifestyle that would eventually define Greater Phoenix. As significant as it is in the development of Phoenix, Midtown gets less attention in the history books, perhaps because it represents an "in between" phase between the city's original settlement and the tremendous outward growth that would follow. If you have a connection to Midtown - perhaps you or your ancestors lived there, perhaps you often visited, perhaps you have a vivid memory of an event - we'd like to hear from you.
