Manistee Ranch was founded in 1897 by Herbert W. Hamilton, a native of

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. The ranch, located in the town of

Glendale, Arizona Glendale () is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. Located about nine miles northwest of the state capital Phoenix, Glendale is known for State Farm Stadium, which is the home of the Arizona Cardinals football team. The city al ...

, was rich in citrus fruits and dates. The ranch has all of its historical structures restored. It is administered by the Parks and Recreation Department of Glendale. On April 9, 1998, Manistee Ranch was listed in the National Register of Historical Places.National Register of Historical Places
/ref>

Ranch history

Hamilton era (1897 - 1907)

Herbert W. Hamilton was a wealthy lumber baron from Wisconsin 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.Phoenix Magazine
/ref> The canal allowed 100,000

acres The acre ( ) is a unit of land area used in the British imperial and the United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, ...

(40468.564 hec or 40468 hec (

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

) and 5642.2 m²) of desert land to be opened up to homesteading and irrigation farming.Sahuaro Ranch Park Historic Area
The

Homestead Act The Homestead Acts were several laws in the United States by which an applicant could acquire ownership of Federal lands, government land or the American frontier, public domain, typically called a Homestead (buildings), homestead. In all, mo ...

was a

United States federal law The law of the United States comprises many levels of Codification (law), codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the supreme law is the nation's Constitution of the United States, Constitution, which prescribes the foundation of the ...

that gave an applicant ownership at no cost of farmland called a "homestead." By 1897, Hamilton had under his control 320 (129.499 hectares or 129 hec and 4994.0 m²) of farmland in Glendale. He established a farm where he planted large

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. ''Citrus'' is nativ ...

orchards and dates.Glendale, AZ
/ref> Hamilton built a home for his family, unlike any of the typical Arizona farm houses of the time. It was a Queen Anne Victorian style house with a "Sky Parlor," a square windowed tower rising above the building's center.Marker
/ref>Manistee Ranch Historic Park

Sands era (1907 - 1996)

In 1907, Hamilton sold the farm to Louis M. Sands, a native of

Manistee, Michigan Manistee ( ') is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located in southwestern Manistee County, it is part of the northwestern Lower Peninsula. Manistee is the county seat of Manistee County, and its population was 6,259 at the 2020 census. ...

. Sands, a prominent Arizona businessman and rancher, named the farm "Manistee Ranch" after his hometown. Sands developed techniques in his ranch for rotating cattle pastures to work within the limits of the land. Besides harvesting feed for the livestock, which included cattle, sheep, horses, ducks and chickens, the farm workers also harvested dates which at the time were sold for 25¢ a pound. Over 11 different species of palm trees were planted. Currently there are some palm trees on the property which are over 100 years old.

National Register of Historic Places

Eventually most of the farm land, with the exception of four acres (1.61874 hectares or 1 hec and 6187.4 m²), was sold to land developers. The four acres of the farm land continued under the ownership of the Sands family until 1996, when the family decided to sell the land to the Glendale Historical Society. The Glendale Historical Society restored the historical buildings in the property which consists of a garage, office, barn and the main house. The basement of the main house has a collection of photographs and Glendale grammar school items. On the main grounds there is an exhibit of old farm equipment that was used on the ranch. The ranch, which is located at 5127 W. Northern Ave., was listed in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on April 9, 1998,.

Gallery of historical Manistee Ranch

References

External links

Glendale Parks and Recreation.gov: Manistee Ranch Park
{{NRHP in Arizona by county Buildings and structures in Glendale, Arizona Museums in Glendale, Arizona Farm museums in the United States Houses in Maricopa County, Arizona Open-air museums in Arizona Parks in Maricopa County, Arizona National Register of Historic Places in Maricopa County, Arizona Ranches on the National Register of Historic Places in Arizona