The Hayden Flour Mill Project
The Project
As revitalization and development efforts began moving forward, the City of Tempe recognized that important first steps in the process must include
informed historic preservation planning to retain those historic qualities that lend Tempe its sense of place and history. Toward those goals, the City of Tempe made it a priority to recover important historic information, preserve significant cultural resources, and develop historic and prehistoric resourc
es for purposes of public interpretation and heritage tourism. Phase 1 (data testing) and Phase 2 (data recovery) efforts conducted by ACS at the Hayden Flour Mill property constitute a crucial stage in that process. ACS designed a research program revolving around three major themes, landscape, economy, and community histories that guides that research.
The Hayden Flour Mill project involves several key components, including archaeological testing and data recovery, archival research, oral history interviews, historic context development, historic architecture assessments, architectural history research, public outreach and education, and the development of a historic preservation plan. The investigation results are being summarized for the preservation plan and strong, guiding recommendations are being crafted to guide the City and developers, Avenue Communities, in their upcoming efforts to preserve the character-defining elements of the Mill Building and Silos and develop and interpretive plan for the property.
Oral History
A companion oral history program was developed to complement the other investigative components of the project. This
program identified surviving individuals with personal, business, or family ties to the Hayden Flour Mill and the Hayden family. The widow and son of Hayden C. Hayden (nephew of Charles T. Hayden), the last Hayden to own the mill, were interviewed and their recollections provided some of the most important, previously undocumented information gathered to date about the mill’s history after Charles T. Hayden died in 1900. Hayden C. Hayden’s brother and previous sales manager at the mill, Larry Hayden, also provided key information about the business of the mill. Previous Hayden Flour Mill millers and supervisors, Jack Plumb and Bill Mitchell, provided invaluable information about the functioning of the mill, history of improvements and alterations, and specifics regarding the milling process and equipment. Several individuals whose families worked for generations at the mill gave interviews and shared old photographs, providing an insightful view of the long-held mutual loyalty and affection between the Mexican-American community of Barrio San Pablo and the Hayden family. Together these interviews provided a cross section of the individuals, families, and business people that were associated with this property in the Historic period that would not have been possible without the previously unrecorded memories, photographs, and lively stories they shared with us. Photographs provided by Mr. Mitchell gave ACS the information that the arch was still in tact, as well as its precise location and depth. ACS archaeological investigations, therefore, were able to target the location and excavate down 24 feet to reveal the feature. The arch was the exit of the Hayden Canal tail race as it left the Mill Building . The canal water, directed beneath the Mill and down a Penstock, once turned a horizontal turbine that powered the Mill’s machinery prior to electricity.
Archaeology
The archaeology of the Hayden Flour Mill project is complex due to overlapping prehistoric and historic occupations of the property. One prehistoric and three historic archaeological sites fall within or intersect with the Hayden Flour Mill project boundaries. These include 1) the
Terraced Butte site (AZ U:9:115[ASM])–a multicomponent prehistoric Hohokam and Protohistoric period Native American site; 2) Tempe/Hayden Canal (AZ U:9:189[ASM])–a historic canal that brought water to the east side of the early flour mill and provided the hydrological power to run the mill; 3) Phoenix and Eastern Railroad (AZ U:16:299[ASM])–this railroad serviced the mill beginning in the early 1900s; and 4) Hayden Flour Mill Complex (AZ U:9:278[ASM])– all historical standing or demolished features associated with the mill.
During the summer of 2006, ACS conducted archaeological testing to determine whether significant intact cultural deposits were located at the Hayden Flour Mill property. These excavations identified a total of 49 features and 14 prehistoric and historic earthen canal exposures. Based on the results of testing, a data recovery work plan was developed and fieldwork was conducted by ACS during the fall of 2006. Nineteen previously identified features and two previously identified canals (one prehistoric and one historic) were revisited during data recovery and twenty new features were discovered. The original adobe mill foundations were uncovered on the north and east sides of the current Mill Building , as was the historic calaboose (jail) and the deeply buried Hayden Canal stone arch where the canal exits from the Mill Building.
3D Scanning (LIDAR)
3DI, Inc. was contracted by ACS to provide 3D scanning services for the project. They also are the 3D scanning team for Avenue Communities and their architects, Subsistence Design Consortium, which has allowed for more freedom of data sharing and integration, as well as a more tightly knit team. The goal for the 3D scanning component of the project is to augment the documentation of the Hayden Flour Mill Building and equipment. Ryden Architects determined that the milling equipment remaining inside is a character-defining element of the building—the building is essentially an industrial shell to hold the equipment itself. Given the need of the developers to remove equipment to accommodate proposed retail, restaurant, and office uses of the building, detailed recording of the equipment to mitigate its removal was needed. The 3D scanning mapped the precise equipment locations and their spatial relationships (horizontal and vertical) to one another and between each of the floors.
ACS produced a detailed inventory of the entire equipment assemblage, conducting research into the dates of manufacture, companies of manufacture, equipment function, alterations or updates, changed locations through time, etc. Dietrich Evans and his 3DI team then scanned all of the equipment floors in detail, producing a permanent, relational, spatial database that will be attributed with the inventory and photo-documentation ACS produced. In addition, 3DI scanned the archaeologically exposed Hayden Canal stone walls and the original stone arch, which are features hoped to be integrated into the new redevelopment plans.
The 2D images provided are preliminary exhibits, but illustrate the utility and variety of applications for historic architecture documentation and historic preservation planning at many scales. Future uses of the 3D dataset produced for this project include adaptation to produce an animated loop showing the progression of a piece of wheat through the entire milling process for interpretive purposes, as well as providing a permanent, live, three-dimensional dataset that will serve as a permanent record for use by future researchers and preservationists.
ACS produced a detailed inventory of the entire equipment assemblage, conducting research into the dates of manufacture, companies of manufacture, equipment function, alterations or updates, changed locations through time, etc. Dietrich Evans and his 3DI team then scanned all of the equipment floors in detail, producing a permanent, relational, spatial database that will be attributed with the inventory and photo-documentation ACS produced. In addition, 3DI scanned the archaeologically exposed Hayden Canal stone walls and the original stone arch, which are features hoped to be integrated into the new redevelopment plans.
The 2D images provided are preliminary exhibits, but illustrate the utility and variety of applications for historic architecture documentation and historic preservation planning at many scales. Future uses of the 3D dataset produced for this project include adaptation to produce an animated loop showing the progression of a piece of wheat through the entire milling process for interpretive purposes, as well as providing a permanent, live, three-dimensional dataset that will serve as a permanent record for use by future researchers and preservationists.
The scanning methodology: 3D Laser Imaging (3DI) utilizes Terrestrial LIDAR (Light Imaging Detect And Range). 3DI digitized the whole area of Tempe Flour Mill with 61 scan positions in 11 total days of fieldwork. Over 500 million individual geo- referenced coordinates were recorded. In the interior sector higher-density scan positions were needed to document each piece of equipment and its precise location. In the eastern part of the site, additional scan positions were needed to populate the area of the archaeologically excavated Hayden Canal and historic arch. Parallel to the laser scanner measurements, 3DI determined the positions of the control points for the laser and image data were equally distributed over the site. For identification the control points were equipped with retro-reflecting targets, mounted on survey rods with bipods. Finally, the control points were surveyed with RTK-GPS. This methodology produces a virtual cone of reality with millimeter accuracy.
Historic Architecture
Don Ryden, of Ryden Architects, Inc., is contracted to ACS as the Historic Architect for the project. His tasks include evaluation of
the Hayden Flour Mill Building and Grain Elevator and Silos for National Register eligibility, documentation of the structures, identification of character-defining elements, and development of preservation priorities for the property. ACS provided support by conducting the architectural history and archival research.
ACS was able to locate the original plans for the Mill Building , which was an unexpected and exciting discovery. They were long believed to have been lost or destroyed. The newly discovered plans revealed yet another important surprise—Royal W. Lescher and John R. Kibbey were the architects. It turns out that the Hayden Flour Mill design was an early project of the firm that evolved into Lescher & Mahoney who designed some of the most important architecture in the state of Arizona , much of which is listed on the National Register.
The Team: Planning & Coordination
What sets this project apart from most is the close coordination and teamwork throughout the project between all the involved parties: ACS, the City of Tempe (Community Development Department planners and Historic Preservation Officer, Marketing Department, Tempe Historic Preservation Commission, Tempe Historical Museum , and the City Council), SHPO, and the developer (Avenue Communities) and their architects (Substance and MS&R). Typically, cultural resource investigation results, along with recommendations for preservation or further work, are presented in a final report with little or no interaction between the cultural resource team and the actual planning and design teams. Too often cultural resource work becomes more of an academic enterprise or simple salvage documentation with the final report sitting on a
dusty shelf. However, in this case, ACS has had the unique opportunity to be integrated with the planning and design stages of the redevelopment project.
The recognition of a common goal—integrating good historic preservation practices with an economically viable adaptive reuse development for the Hayden Flour Mill—laid the ground work for a successful and integrated project. Open lines of communication and information sharing among the different parties have provided everyone involved a sense of being on the same team, instead of competing factions, each with differing objectives and agendas from the others. Everyone wins in this situation, the City, the developers, the historic preservation community, and the public. Most importantly, instead of being torn down, this important historic landmark was saved from demolition and will once again be a sustainable economic and social cornerstone of downtown Tempe.
Public Outreach and Education
As part of the Hayden Flour Mill project, a range of programs oriented toward informing the public about the significance of the prehistoric and historic resources in the project area were planned and implemented. These initiatives targeted a variety of audiences and supported the City’s interest in promoting awareness about the mill as well as the City’s commitment to preserving and incorporating it into an exciting new development. Efforts in support of the City’s goals to keep the public informed about the project have been accomplished through collaboration with both the Tempe Historical Museum and the City’ s Community Development Department.
-
‣the design of banners at the property announcing the archaeology fieldwork
-
‣City of Tempe website content updates about the project;
-
‣professional photography of the site for the City’s use;
-
‣public lectures and presentations at the Tempe Historical Museum, professional conferences, and the Arizona Archaeological Exposition;
-
‣two hosted “Media Days at the Mill” for television, radio, magazine, and news reporters;
-
‣development of materials for the Tempe History Detective Program program at the Tempe Historical Museum;
-
‣site tours during fieldwork;
-
‣development of three sequenced exhibits explaining the project and
-
‣reporting preliminary results as the project progressed. The exhibits ran concurrently at the Tempe Historical Museum and at Monti’s La Casa Vieja (a restaurant that originally was Charles T. Hayden’s adobe home); and design of activities and participation in the Tempe Historical
Museum ’s -
‣Awesome Autumn Adventure for children.
The Hayden Flour Mill Project Team:
-
‣Victoria D. Vargas: Lead Principal Investigator (P.I.), Architectural Historian, P.I. of Historical Research.
-
‣Teresa L. Pinter: P.I. of Historic Preservation Plan
-
‣Robert J. Stokes: P.I. of Archaeology
-
‣Kristin Fangmeier: Senior Project Manager
-
‣Thomas E. Jones: Historical Archaeologist, Historian, Historic Artifacts Analyst
-
‣Scott Solliday: Historian
-
‣Joanne Tactikos: Field Director, Lithics Analyst
-
‣Paige Florie: Crew Chief, Spatial Analyst
-
‣Glenn Stuart: Environmental Archaeologist, Palynologist
-
‣Michael Droz: Geomorphologist
-
‣Deborah Ferguson: Ceramics Analyst, Lab Manager
-
‣Andrea Gregory: Faunal Analyst
-
‣Elise Pare: Spatial Analyst
-
‣Christopher Thompson: G.I.S. Manager
-
‣Brad Dilli: I.S. Director
-
‣Margerie Green: In-house peer reviewer
-
‣M. John "Jack" Matirko: Report Production Assistant
-
‣Susan Shaffer Nahmias: P.I. of Public Outreach and Education
-
‣Don Ryden, (Ryden Architects): Historic Architect
-
‣Dietrich Evans, (3D Laser Imaging): Lead, 3D Laser Scanning Team