Map Makes Downtown Phoenix Historic Properties Interesting

By Ray Stern Want to know how to find the Ellis-Shackelford house (pictured above), the "only intact mansion along the downtown portion of Central Avenue?" This colorful map and accompanying key allows computer users to find many such historic sites in downtown Phoenix. It's somewhat addictive -- zooming in on...

By Ray Stern

August 13, 2008

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By Ray Stern Want to know how to find the Ellis-Shackelford house (pictured above), the "only intact mansion along the downtown portion of Central Avenue?"

This colorful map and accompanying key allows computer users to find many such historic sites in downtown Phoenix. It's somewhat addictive -- zooming in on different buildings and trying to figure out how they fit into the town's past and future. Well, addictive for a few fun-filled minutes, anyway.

Property owners may even be surprised to know their home or business falls under the historic category. The City of Phoenix offers this easy FAQ for those who wonder just what the heck a historic designation means.

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Ray Stern is the former news editor of Phoenix New Times. He worked as a newspaper reporter in Arizona for more than two decades. He's won numerous awards for his reporting, including the Arizona Press Club's Don Bolles Award for Investigative Journalism.