Bankhead Highway - Tempe, Arizona - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

The Bankhead Highway, reaching from Washington D.C. to San Diego was one of the earliest trans-continental highways. It travelled a southern route, Senator Bankhead was a Confederate hero, entering Arizona in Douglas. It passed through Tucson to Florence, Superior to Apache Junction then east through Mesa and into Tempe and on to Phoenix. Eighth Street in Tempe, between McClintock Drive to the East and Rural Road to the west is the last identifiable section in Tempe. To the west the road has been consumed by the expansion of Arizona State University. To the east housing developments have obliterated any trace. Before the Bankhead Highway designation, before cars, this roadway was followed by a rail line and was a dirt road passing east to Mesa. The rail line is still in place as is the Creamery spur which extends into a former ice and creamery processing plant. The spur still shapes the layout of some of the apartment complexes that are developing in the area and Creamery Park is on the eastern end of the road. The Borden Milk Co. Creamery and Ice Factory was built in 1892 as an ice manufacturer and began processing milk products shortly thereafter. It is now listed on the NHRP and has been waymarked. The center of this portion of the highway is Dorsey Lane. On the southwest corner of the intersection is a decrepit building that has a significant association with the highway. Marlatt’s Garage was a two pump gas station and garage which was built in 1922 and was on the far east end of town, at the time. To the west end of Eighth Street lies the Elias-Rodriguez House. The house was owned by a farm worker who first constructed it as one adobe room with a dirt covered vigas roof. Additional rooms were built around the house and a hipped roof was finally added over the original dirt. The house is listed on the NRHP and has been waymarked. Eighth street ends on the west at Rural Road. West of Rural, the original right of way now, fittingly, carries the tracks of the Phoenix Metro light rail.

Street address: Eighth Street from McClintock Dr. to Rural Road Tempe, ARIZONA United States 85281 County / Borough / Parish: City of Tempe, Maricopa County Year listed: 1989 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Transportation Periods of significance: 1900-1924 Historic function: Transportation Current function: Transportation Privately owned?: no Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Secondary Website 2: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   02/24/2017 DKempton visited it