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Speaker recalls early Japanese community at 40 Third Avenue and Indian School
Summary
A meeting participant described how discrimination in the early 1900s prompted Phoenix’s Japanese residents to form a separate neighborhood at 40 Third Avenue and Indian School, creating a 10-acre community center and a school.
A meeting participant described how discrimination in the early 1900s prompted Phoenix’s Japanese residents to relocate and form a separate neighborhood at 40 Third Avenue and Indian School, building community institutions including a 10-acre community center and a school.
The commenter said the community established its own recreation, businesses and a school that at one point enrolled 230 students with eight teachers. "They set up a community center on 10 acres," the commenter said, and later "set up a school soon after with 230 students and 8 teachers." The speaker said the Japanese Free Methodist Church was built on the northeast corner of 40 Third Avenue and Indian School and that in 1935 some community members built a Buddhist church on the southeast corner.
The remarks were presented as historical recollection and did not propose or record any formal action by the meeting body. The speaker framed these developments as a response to widespread prejudice: "They were treated very poorly with lots of discrimination and prejudice," the commenter said, adding that the separate neighborhood provided space for religious life, commerce and schooling.
The speaker also noted that the Japanese community is no longer separate from the rest of Phoenix and "has played a key role in the ongoing development of our city," characterizing the relationship as changed from the early 1900s to the present.
No statutes, ordinances or formal agenda actions were cited during the remarks, and no motions or votes followed this historical account.
