Donna Reiner, a local historian and a good friend of Get Your PHX, has written many articles over the years for the Arizona Republic and others about what came before us. We use her services when we list properties of historic significance to help us tell the stories behind the homes.
We are happy that Donna is allowing us to re-publish some of her articles on a monthly basis. If you or your business ever needs a historian, let Donna know at laydeescholar “at” hotmail.com.
What can be as interesting as the architecture of a house? The people who lived there. This is one such story.
The Phoenix Country Club dates its early beginnings from late1899. After formational meetings, one member, Col. William Christy, offered the use of his property, Central Place, on the northeast corner of Central and Roosevelt for a course site. Work started immediately on the nine-hole course (dirt fairways) once considered “the best golf links west of the Mississippi River.”
An immediate success both socially and athletically, the original membership of the Phoenix Country Club grew from 75 to nearly 100 by the time of the first tournament held February 22, 1900 and forced the club to seek larger quarters.
Less than 10 years later, the Phoenix Country Club once again had outgrown its facility and purchased 80 acres along Center (Central) with forty acres north of the Arizona Canal and forty acres south for another nine-hole course.
Financial constraints related to that canal property prohibited the expansion to 18-holes. Thus, the club decided to purchase the 160 acre Williams Ranch on the northeast corner of 7th Street and Thomas Road in early 1920.
The large residential lots in Country Club Place surrounding the new golf course went quickly with Dwight Heard Investment Company as the sales agent. The Ainsworth-McKesson House on East Country Club Drive was built circa 1928 (the value of the home had to be a minimum of $7500 according to the deed restrictions). They had a large two-story adobe erected which sits well back from the front property line to allow for a grand circular entry.
Charles and Eliza Ainsworth were long standing members of the community and country club (Charles was the first president). Their previous home is now the site of the Post Office on Central and Fillmore. Interestingly, Mrs. Ainsworth referred to her new home as Casa de Contenta.
In 1941, Mrs. Ainsworth sold the home to Theodore and Ruth McKesson who moved in with their two daughters. Nancy mentioned that she and her sister found the large upstairs room an ideal fun room for themselves and the neighbors’ kids. Both girls were married at home and held their receptions there too: Mary Ann in 1947, and Nancy in 1957.
Along with ownership of the same house, the Ainsworths and the McKessons had other connections. All three McKesson women were members of the Maricopa Daughters of the American Revolution Chapter, the one founded by Eliza Ainsworth in 1901. Like Eliza Ainsworth, Ruth McKesson also served as Arizona State Regent of the DAR. Finally, Charles Ainsworth and Theodore McKesson were long time attorneys in Phoenix. What interesting history goes with your house?
