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 Phoenix history and memorials. This month, she tells us about the Avery House, a distinct bungalow that has its origins in citrus.
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.
On 44th Street just north of Indian School Road stands a Craftsman Bungalow amidst much younger mid-century modern homes. Newcomers might think that it’s a new build in the style of; but while it looks rather spiffy with its new paint and landscaping, the house will actually be 100 years old next year!
How that house came to be at that location is a bit of early Phoenix history with citrus overtones.
Back in January of 1910, Frank and Emma Avery arrived in Phoenix. They came in part to visit friends from Spearfish, North Dakota, and in part to determine if this would be a good environment for Emma and her respiratory issues. Frank had been ranching in Wyoming, but his interested was peaked by the acres and acres of citrus growing in the east Phoenix Orange Belt especially near the Arizona Canal.
Avery’s good friend Henry Leppla must have sold Frank on trying his hand at raising citrus since the Averys quickly became the proud owners of 10 acres complete with a small wood-frame house. Frank and Emma headed back to Wyoming in June and it did not take them long to decide that a permanent move to Phoenix was going to happen by October 1st.
Citrus can have its ups and downs depending on the weather and rain, but this property was ideal. Avery even discovered a “new” orange variety on his property and propagated it. That orange ripened early and was quite sweet. Thus, it became called the Early Avery.
But Avery was not merely content with raising citrus. No, he became involved with the Arizona Citrus Growers Association and eventually served as president of the association for 9 years. During that time, this co-operative rapidly expanded as the amount of citrus grown in the greater Phoenix area increased and the demand for Arizona “sweets” in other parts of the country exponentially grew.
Curious about the house? His first home on the property burned and the Averys rebuilt. Avery had the current house built in 1920. One story, it has a full basement with a fireplace connecting to the living room fireplace and a cistern. It was a comfortable place for the Averys who had no children, but did have live-in help.
Today when you drive by you will not see any citrus. What happened? By 1949, the 10 acres were bare. By 1963, the house was surrounded by subdivisions of new homes. An office now, the Avery House stands as a testament to times gone by.
