Petersen, Niels, House

About this property

The Niels Petersen House is a local historic landmark in Tempe, Arizona, that is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. It is an example of Queen Anne Style brick architecture in the Salt River Valley. Niels Petersen was born on October 21, 1845, to Peder Mikkelsen and Gunder Marie Nisdatter in Vilslev, Denmark, a small farming village in the southwestern portion of that country. Petersen spent several years in the English Merchant Marines, beginning in 1863, allowing him to travel the world. He continued in this stead until 1870, when he immigrated to the United States. In 1871, Petersen arrived in the Salt River Valley of central Arizona, where he decided to stake a homestead claim and begin farming. He filed a declaratory statement on July 1, 1874, claiming 160 acres (0.65 km2) in section 29, southwest of Tempe (the original homestead is currently bordered by Priest, southern, Alameda and 52nd Streets). After submitting his claim, Petersen began work on the construction of a two-room adobe house. Four years later, in 1878, Petersen became a United States citizen and subsequently filed a homestead entry, the next step in permanently establishing himself in the valley. The final action in this process was the filing of a homestead proof, providing evidence that improvements to the land had been made by the claimant, which Petersen filed on May 12, 1883. By the time of his final homestead filing, Petersen had built two small adobe houses on the property and maintained 140 acres (0.57 km2) in cultivation. Among his various undertakings was the operation of Tempe founder Charles Hayden’s general store when he was away on business. Additionally, he worked for the Tempe Irrigating Canal Company, eventually earning shares in the company. In 1884, Peterson married Isabel Dumphy, a teacher at Tempe Grammar School; Isabel subsequently resigned from her teaching position and moved into the Petersen house. She died during child birth one year later, in 1885, and their infant son, John Petersen, is believed to have likewise died within months of his birth. Within a few years, Petersen began acquiring properties surrounding his homestead claim, thus expanding his interest in the area. His ranch grew to more than 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) and Petersen emerged as one of the area's leading producers of cattle and grain. As his financial interests grew, so too did his involvement in the Tempe community. Petersen served as a trustee for the Tempe School District and was a member of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, thus asserting his interest in local education. He played a role in the development of the Tempe Methodist Episcopal Church, the Bank of Tempe, and the Tempe Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, which was chartered on March 5, 1888. Other positions held by Petersen included treasurer of the Tempe Irrigating Canal Company, president of the Farmers and Merchants Bank, and a term on the Arizona's Eighteenth Territorial Legislature from 1895 to 1896.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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