Survey Number: HPS-253
Year Built: 1888
Architectural Style: N/A
SUMMARY
Tempe Double Butte cemetery is significant for being contemporaneous with the founding of Tempe and evidencing the diversity of community pioneers; and as the grave site of Charles T. Hayden and Carl Hayden, persons of transcendent importance in the history of the community; and as a good representation of the self-image of the historic Tempe community for its first century.
A: HISTORIC EVENTS
In accordance with National Park Service guidance, a cemetery can be eligible if it can be shown to be historically significant for its age relative to its surrounding geographic or cultural context. Double Butte Cemetery is contemporaneous with the founding of Tempe and contains graves and markers of Euro-American and Mexican-American pioneers of that period. The cemetery was started on September 13, 1887, when a group of citizens formed the Tempe Cemetery Association. Today this desert patch is easy to miss as a century of Tempe history is now overshadowed by a mountainside resort, a baseball stadium, and a major interstate freeway.
B: PERSONS
Tempe Resident and Arizona Governor Howard Pyle called Double Butte Cemetery "Tempe's Arlington" because of the many prominent early Tempe families buried there. These include Hayden, Miller, Gregg, Moeur, Laird and Gilliland, to name a few. Land owner Niels Petersen donated the property for the cemetery in 1888. Other prominent Tempe residents associated with the management of the cemetery include Joseph Birchett, who landscaped and organized the property in the 1920's, and E. P. Carr. Sr., who served on the cemetery board for many years. All but nine of Tempe's 91 early pioneers are buried there. Other residents include Governor Benjamin B. Moeur, Governor John H. Pyle, and seven rough riders.
C: ARCHITECTURE
Dating from 1888, Double Butte Cemetery is an excellent example of 19th century planning of cemeteries in the Salt River Valley. Much of the early landscaping remains in the form of tree-lined avenues. Carved Standing headstones are significant for their artistry and craftsmanship. The cemetery is significant as an important element of the physical development of Tempe as a community. The cemetery entrance is on the south side of Broadway, between 48th street on the west and I-10 on the east. The cemetery is a mixture of grass and trees on the west sections and desert plots to the east. The desert section is where the historical figures can be found among the interesting old headstones in blocks of plots separated by curbs.
SOURCES
Tempe Double Butte Cemetery National Register Nomination (2012)
Find A Grave - Tempe Double Butte Cemetery http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=640403
Graveside Arizona - Tempe Double Butte Cemetery http://www.doney.net/aroundaz/graves.htm
History of Tempe's Double Butte Cemetery by Cheryl L. Fox
How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation, National Park Service
http://www.nps.gov/nr/publications/bulletins/nrb15/nrb15_2.htm
Tempe Double-Butte Cemetery Master Plan, Logan-Simpson Design (Ryden) 2002
Tempe Historic Preservation Office Archive File No. 2006.0000.0012
Tempe History Museum Historic Property Survey HPS-253 Double Butte Cemetery
RESOURCES
Letter of Nomination : : Mayor Hallman to Tempe HPC
Preliminary Report to Cemetery Advisory Committee : : Meeting November 16, 2011
Research Report to Historic Preservation Commission : : Neighborhood Meeting at HPC
Staff Summary Report to Historic Preservation Commission : : Public Hearing at HPC
Staff Report to Development Review Commission : : Public Hearing at DRC
Staff Report to City Council : : Public Hearing at CC
Staff Report to City Council : : Public Hearing at CC
ORDINANCE NO. 2012.10