Desert Harmony in Pictures

 

Desert Harmony in Pictures

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Desert Harmony changed drasctically over the years, but it really hasn't been that long ago that this area was mostly desert and vacant land.  Let's take a pictorial trip through time....

 

A Brief History

If you travelled east on Southern Avenue you will find that the area from 78th Street to 80th Street in East Mesa there is a community on the south side of the road, this is the area known as Desert Harmony. 

 

 

The northern part of the Desert Harmony community, which lies along the southern side of Southern Avenue, was once known as the Desert Sands Golf and Country Club #8 and it began development sometime in the mid-1970s.  In the 1990s the southern part of the community began construction and it became known as Harmony Estates.  In 2006 the two areas were combined and became known as Desert Harmony. 

 

Southern Avenue - The Early Years

 

Prior to 1981 Southern Avenue was not much more than a 2-lane gravel road that went west of Sossaman for about 1/2 mile, it was mostly an access road to the Desert Sands community at this time. By the time 1981 rolled around, Southern Avenue became a two lane blacktop road that went up to 80th Street.  During the rainy seasons, the residents quickly found that access to their homes could become difficult due to flooding. Things became better over the next couple of years and the road was extended to go further to the east past the new Brentwood Estates subdivision.  Since 1981 we find that Southern Avenue went through many changes.

 

Construction Equipment spent months widening and raising Southern Avenue, but the final look of Southern Avenue took years to achieve for it was done in phases.  

 

 

 

 

This picture was taken of Southern Avenue (looking east towards the Superstition Mountains) in April of 1981,  you can see the wall to the Fountain of the Sun (which is located on the north side of Southern Avenue).

 

 

Notice that the road stops up near the tree line beyond the yellow sign, I believe that is where 80th St. and Southern Avenue is located.  As you can see there is no sign of Brentwood Southern Mobile Home Park.  Thanks to the Brentwood Southern Mobile Home Park site I've found out that the trailer park was not built until 1983. 

This next picture was taken between the north side of Southern Avenue and the Fountain of the Sun wall in April of 1981.  The photographer's intent was to not only show the wide space between the paved road, but also to show the drainage channel. This ditch was about  3 or 4 feet deep and maybe several feet wider than it became in later years.

 

 

The next picture was taken around April or May of 1983, I believe.  When I came back from Europe in early 1983, I came to visit this area and some pictures were taken while we walked around the area on a sort of site-seeing tour given by the photographer.

 

 

The picture below was taken in late 1983 or early 1984, notice the snow on the Superstition Mountains.  It may have been taken around Christmas of 1983.  It is hard to see the channel, but the channel was "redesigned" since the 1981 picture and Southern Avenue was widened to a 4-lane road. You can also see water in the shallow drainage ditch on the southern side of Southern Avenue.  This indicates that it was raining at one time in the not too distant past prior to this picture being taken.

 

 

This next picture was taken in June of 1984 and it really shows how Southern Avenue changed in 3 short years.  Notice how the channel along side of Southern Avenue, near the wall to the Fountain of the Sun was altered and lined.  This channel had to be about 5 to 6 feet deep for I remember going down into it and then  wondering how I was going to get back out.  It wasn't as nearly easy as I thought it would be before going in. :)  Also, Southern Avenue was widened to 4 lanes, but it does not have the center lane that it does today. The sidewalks along Southern weren't even put in yet.

 

 

We now jump ahead to the next picture.  I believe this was taken in the spring of 2006 because I am sure I began walking the neighborhood for exercise in the fall of 2005 and that means I would have bought my camera in January of 2006.  I may have marked this a year later than it should be, but I don't think so at this point.  Notice that the drainage channel was 'covered over' by this time, but the street wasn't paved over the culvert yet.  The city came in after the channel began to collapse in the 90s, I believe, and put in a box culvert.  They back-filled the culvert with dirt.

 

 

This picture is mismarked, it should have been taken around the same time as the one above... or a few months later. One of the reasons for the discrepency in thought is that these two pics were not taken from roughly the same locations as the first ones shown... I took these from around 80th St. near the corner or near the wall to Brentwood.

 

 

There are no images left showing Southern Avenue looking west, I would have liked to have shown those too. As you can see, Southern Avenue underwent quite a few changes over the years and much of those changes happened on the Northern Boundary of the area known as "Desert Harmony".   Now let's look at some more images from another area of our neighborhood.

 

Gale St.

Gale Street is the first street south of Southern Avenue. This first image was taken about 400' east, plus or minus, of 78th Street.  The photographer was looking east, as you can tell by the Superstition Mountain reference.  As you can see the area on the north side of Gale Street wasn't developed yet and Brentwood was not built.

 

 

This picture was taken from the middle of Gale St.  The man in the picture was near the driveway to the last house on the north side of Gale St.  The date was April or 1981.

 

 

This next picture was taken in April, 1981 (at the same time as the picture above).  The photographer moved to a spot in front of the house where the man was standing and the picture shows that about 4 lots were still undeveloped at this time.

 

 

This picture was also taken at the same time as the two above, in April of 1981.  This time the Photographer moved a little west, somewhere near the west side of the house where the man was standing and shot a picture to the south-east (sort of).  You can see 2 homes on the south side of Gale, plus the houses being built over on Golf, I believe.  If you look at the above pics, you will see a dirt path through the vacant lots, in this picture you can see that road closer to the photographer.

 

In the summer of 1981, some houses were being built on the north side of Gale St.  The point of reference is that this picture was taken from a point near the driveway to the last house on Gale's north side in the April, 1981 photos.

 

 

This shot was taken in the summer of 1983.  It was taken from a point near the curb to the driveway of 'the last house 1981' on Gale St.  You can see (barely) the same house as in the third picture of this Gale Street series, and the four housed which they built since 1981.  You also can see that the house at the end of Gale Street, on 78th, was not built yet.

 

 

 

Misc. Pictures

This picture is from 1981 or 1982, I believe.  It was probably taken in the spring sometime or perhaps early winter.  It is unknown today where the picture was taken, but it is assumed that it was taken out towards Apache Junction.  I will try to track down the only person left who may know and find out.  I included this image because it is a hazy, but nice, picture of the Superstition Mountains.  Someone who is much better than I with an image editor might be able to bring the color out better.

 

 

 

Other Areas of Desert Harmony

Some of the photos of the area that became Desert Harmony were lost or destroyed over the years, however I may have one that shows Garnet and Glade Streets, plus the wooded area that became Harmony Estates.  I'll try to track that one down and post it, if I can find it. Another page could be added showing more pictures of our neighborhood as it developed, but you probably will agree that this page is long enough.

 

I hope you enjoyed this little trip through time with me, it was sort of fun showing the area as it once was.

 

The images on this page are privately owned, but feel free to download them for your own personal use.  The images are not to be used for any type of commercial gain with out prior permission of the owner.  You can contact me about your desires to use any of the photos here.  Thank you for your cooperation.