Sahuaro Ranch

About this property

Sahuaro Ranch was founded in 1886, by William Henry Bartlett, a native of Illinois. The ranch, located north of what eventually became the city of Glendale, Arizona, was rich in figs and other fruit orchards, vineyards, and fields of alfalfa. The ranch has all of its historical structures restored, and the "Sahuaro Ranch Park" is administered by the Parks and Recreation Department of Glendale. On March 7, 1980, Sahuaro Ranch was listed in the National Register of Historical Places. William Henry Bartlett and his brother were wealthy businessmen from Peoria, Illinois who homesteaded lands in what was to become the future the City of Glendale founded by William John Murphy. What made an investment attractive was the completion of the Arizona Canal in 1885. The canal allowed 100,000 acres (40468.564 hec or 40468 hec (hectare) and 5642.2 m2) of desert land to be opened up to homesteading and irrigation farming. The Homestead Act was a United States federal law that gave an applicant ownership at no cost of farmland called a "homestead." The Bartletts' felt this was a great opportunity to invest in fruit ranching and farming. The brothers were owners of a grain brokerage business, and were amongst the largest traders in the Midwestern farm belt. By 1891, William Bartlett had under his control 2,000 acres (809.371 hectares or 809 hec and 3712.8 m2) of farmland near Glendale. He established a 640-acre farm (25932.255 hec or 25932 hec and 2559.5 m2) and named it named Sahuaro Ranch. There he planted large citrus and pecan orchards. Even though he never lived permanently at Sahuaro Ranch, Bartlett took an active role in its development and had various buildings and residences built for the people who worked there and for his family. He hired superintendents to manage his ranch operations. In 1881, the first structure in what was to become the ranch was built. It was an adobe house which served as the residence and office of Stephen H. Campbell, the first superintendent to manage the ranch. In 1895, the superintendent's residence was moved to the main house of the ranch and the adobe house was used to house the ranch employees. Bartlett had his hired hands plant figs and other fruit orchards, vineyards and alfalfa. Other structures which were built on the ranch in the 1890s were the Foreman's House, the blacksmith shop and the horse barn. The Fruit Packing House, the largest packing house in the Salt River Valley, was built in 1891. The farm animals raised in the ranch included cows, bulls and hogs. Between 500 and 1,000 hogs were raised in the ranch in the 1890s. Horses and mules were used to pull orchard wagons, mowers, rakes and other farming equipment.

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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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