Mesa Invites Residents to Share Stories about Heritage Neighborhoods

Mesa Invites Residents to Share Stories about Heritage Neighborhoods

The City of Mesa Historic Preservation Office wants to hear residents stories about their memories and experiences at the Citys two Heritage Neighborhoods: Lehi and Washington-Escobedo. Mesa will host two community meetings to gather resident testimony, which will be used to help create digital story maps that bring history to life. These story maps will combine an interactive map with images, video, oral histories and narrative text to guide audiences through a compelling visual journey of each neighborhoods remarkable past.

The Washington-Escobedo story map community meeting will be on Wednesday, May 8, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Escobedo at Verde Vista Apartments Heritage Room, 435 N. Hibbert.

The Lehi story map community meeting will be on Thursday, May 9, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Mesa Historical Museum, 2345 N. Horne.

Historic Preservation staff encourages residents from both neighborhoods to bring historic photos or personal stories with them. City staff will scan photos and record oral histories from those who wish to share their stories.

The neighborhood of Lehi was the original settlement in the east Salt River Valley and is now included in the northern boundary of present-day Mesa. Mesas founding families resided in the neighborhood which includes a mix of contemporary housing, 19th century and early and mid-20th century buildings, agriculture, horseback riding, open spaces and dark skies.

The Washington-Escobedo neighborhood, just north of downtown, had its roots during a time of segregation in the early 1900s that drove the residents of the area to create a close-knit community. It had its own school, Booker T. Washington; its own community center, Washington Activity Center; five churches and its own stores. Washington-Escobedo was the home and office of Dr. Lucius Alston, the first black doctor in Mesa.

More information about Mesas Heritage Neighborhoods is available on the Citys Historic Preservation Office webpage.