Qualla: Catlin Court Historic District

Catlin Court Historic District: Introduction

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Tony the Marine (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0. Otto R. Hansen was a Wisconsin businessman who knew something about romantic gestures. When he subdivided land in Glendale, Arizona in 1914, he named it for his wife's maiden name: Catlin. That sentimental choice created the first organized building expansion and development program in the city, a neighborhood of craftsman bungalows that still stands as Glendale's first historic district. Among those modest homes, one at 5804 W. Myrtle Avenue would later house Marty Robbins, the future Country Music Hall of Fame inductee who balanced careers in music and NASCAR racing.

Image: Tony the Marine (talk) | CC BY-SA 3.0

Catlin Court Historic District: From Beet Sugar to Bungalows

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Tony the Marine, CC BY-SA 3.0. Glendale's story begins with William John Murphy, who founded the town in 1892. For a decade, it remained a small agricultural community, its economy tied to the farms spreading across the irrigated desert. Everything changed in 1902 when the Beet Sugar Factory arrived, transform...

Image: Tony the Marine | CC BY-SA 3.0

Catlin Court Historic District: The People Who Built Glendale

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Tony the Marine (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0. Walk the streets of Catlin Court today and the names on the historic markers read like a roster of early Glendale's who's who. Victor Messinger, the town's first city clerk and founder of its first library, built his home at 7141 N. 59th Avenue in 1897. The Appleby/McRuer House a...

Image: Tony the Marine (talk) | CC BY-SA 3.0

Catlin Court Historic District: Arizona's Only Bungalow Church

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Tony the Marine (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0. Among Catlin Court's forty-plus historic structures, one stands alone in Arizona history. The Christian Church Bungalow at 7154 N. 58th Drive, built in 1917 and now known as Manor at Catlin Court, holds the distinction of being the only bungalow church in the state. The structure...

Image: Tony the Marine (talk) | CC BY-SA 3.0

Catlin Court Historic District: From Marty Robbins to Historic Preservation

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Tony the Marine (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0. The F.M. Staggs House at 5804 W. Myrtle Avenue began as the home of Frank M. Staggs, a local carpenter and contractor who built it in 1919. Decades later, it became the residence of Marty Robbins, the El Paso native who would become a country music legend. Robbins recorded hits l...

Image: Tony the Marine (talk) | CC BY-SA 3.0