Tempe (Hayden) Butte

222 E 5th Street
Tempe, AZ 85281

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SIGNIFICANCE  
There are two essential qualities that a property must possess to be eligible for listing in the Tempe Historic Property Register – significance and integrity. These two characteristics are dependent upon each other. Eligibility criteria provided in the Tempe Historic Preservation Ordinance states that a building or place is significant if it maintains integrity and is associated with our community history or culture. In the case of the butte, the inverse is particularly true – this place has integrity because people still consider it to be significant. Today, the butte as a place has cultural significance to three communities: the people of Tempe, Arizona State University, and the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. This place accommodates many uses and features while still maintaining its historic character and identity much as it has through many cultural periods. By this measure, its significance is extraordinary. People have lived at its base for nearly 2,000 years and all of them have considered it to be a very special place. Indeed, it is rare to find a place with such long-established and continuing cultural meanings and associations. Accordingly, this report concludes that Tempe (Hayden) Butte clearly meets Ordinance criteria for listing in the Tempe Historic Property Register.