F.Q. Story Historic District.
1920s bungalows
between Roosevelt and McDowell.
F.Q. Story is a historic district west of downtown Phoenix, between Roosevelt Street and McDowell Road, named for Francis Quarles Story, who bought the land in 1887. It has been on the National Register of Historic Places since March 24, 1988, and on the Phoenix Historic Property Register since March 1988.
F.Q. Story on the map
Boundary from the City of Phoenix Historic Preservation Office map (listed on the Phoenix Register). Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Listed by the city in 1988
F.Q. Story is a residential historic district on the Phoenix Historic Property Register. The city describes it as generally bounded by McDowell Road, Roosevelt Street, and Seventh and 17th avenues. It was listed in March 1988, with boundary adjustments in March 2000 and January 2004, per the Phoenix Historic Property Register (October 2026). The exact lines are on the city district map.
The F. Q. Story Neighborhood Historic District is also on the National Register of Historic Places, listed on March 24, 1988, roughly bounded by Roosevelt Street, McDowell Road, and Seventh and 16th avenues. A boundary increase, roughly bounded by 17th Avenue, Culver Street, 15th Avenue and Lynwood Street plus lots on Roosevelt Street and McDowell Road, was listed on April 27, 1993, per the city's list of National Register properties in Phoenix.
The city register gives a period of significance of 1921 to 1942. A period of significance is the span of years whose buildings give a district its historic value.
Named for the man who built Grand Avenue
The district is named for Francis Quarles Story, a Boston wool merchant who moved to California for his health and planted orange groves there. The Story Preservation Association's history credits him with the national advertising campaign that made Sunkist oranges famous, and notes that he never lived in Phoenix. In 1887 he bought the acreage that is now the district and designed and built the 100-foot-wide Grand Avenue.
The city's subdivision study, Historic Residential Subdivisions and Architecture in Central Phoenix, 1912 to 1950, records that the Story Tract was offered for homesites in 1920, and that after Cave Creek Dam was finished, the Dwight B. Heard Investment Company took over the plat in 1924, paving streets and installing sewer, gas and electric service. A plat is the recorded map that divides land into lots.
Per the Story Preservation Association, only one house was built in 1921, the year a Cave Creek flood swept the western part of the city. Thirteen more homes followed after Cave Creek Dam was completed in 1923. North Story was opened in 1926 by Lane-Smith. New Story, 80 acres from 11th to 15th avenues between McDowell Road and Roosevelt Street, opened in 1927. West Story, also called the Franklin Addition, was developed in 1927 by the Cowly, Higgins and Delph Company. The peak year was 1930, with 133 new houses. By 1938 about 75 percent of the addition had been built.
1919 sale
Story announced plans to subdivide the 200-acre parcel in 1910 and sold all of it to the Phoenix firm Jordan, Grace and Phelps in 1919. Subdivision advertising began in March 1920, per the association.
1927 model home
In July 1927 the A. F. Wasielewsky Construction Company built a model home at 1106 W. Lynwood St., per the association.
Streetcar suburb
The neighborhood was marketed as a streetcar suburb near the Grand Avenue and Kenilworth streetcar lines, with narrow, deep lots.
Narrow lots, porches and porte cocheres
The National Park Service record for the F. Q. Story Neighborhood Historic District lists its styles as Bungalow/Craftsman, Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals, and Modern Movement. The city's subdivision study notes that the Bungalow style predominates in the eastern portion. A Bungalow is a low one-story or one-and-a-half-story house with a broad front porch.
The lots are narrow and deep, a layout typical of a streetcar suburb. By the mid-1920s, as more households drove, houses on the western lots added detached garages and side-yard porte cocheres, per the association. A porte cochere is a covered drive-through on the side of a house where a car can stop under a roof.
- East side.Bungalows predominate in the eastern portion, per the city's subdivision study.
- West side.Later lots from the mid-1920s on, with detached garages and porte cocheres.
- Deed minimums.The association records minimum building costs of $5,000 in North Story, $3,000 to $4,000 in New Story, where some sections allowed duplexes, and $2,500 and $2,200 in West Story.
West of downtown, near the Capitol
Grand Avenue, which Story had built 100 feet wide in 1887, later carried a streetcar line, per the association. Distances below are straight-line miles from the coordinates the National Register database gives for the district. From F.Q. Story, the Arizona State Capitol is about 1 mile away and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is about 5 miles away.
Exterior work goes through city review
Properties on the Phoenix Historic Property Register carry HP overlay zoning. An overlay is an extra layer of zoning rules placed on top of the base zoning. In F.Q. Story, design review covers exterior changes, infill construction and changes to non-historic properties inside the district, according to the city's Historic Preservation approvals and guidelines page.
The National Register works differently. National Register listing does not rezone a property and gives no formal protection, but it can make a property eligible for state and federal incentives. City listing brings special permit review and eligibility for city incentives, per the city's historic preservation FAQ.
Exterior work
A building permit that affects the exterior needs a Certificate of No Effect or a Certificate of Appropriateness. A Certificate of No Effect is an over-the-counter staff approval for minor work. A Certificate of Appropriateness is for larger or street-visible work and requires a public hearing with an independent hearing officer.
What is not reviewed
Routine maintenance such as painting is excluded from review, and the Historic Preservation Office does not regulate paint colors. Interior work that does not affect the exterior does not need review. Replacing materials in kind, meaning with the same material, does not need permission unless a conservation easement applies.
Demolition
A Request for Demolition Approval goes to the Historic Preservation Office. Demolition of a contributing property can be delayed up to one year. A contributing property is one that adds to the district's historic character.
F.Q. Story, answered
Where is F.Q. Story?
West of downtown Phoenix. The city describes the historic district as generally bounded by McDowell Road, Roosevelt Street, and Seventh and 17th avenues.
Who was F.Q. Story?
Francis Quarles Story, a Boston wool merchant turned California citrus grower, credited with the advertising campaign that made Sunkist oranges famous. He bought the land in 1887 and built Grand Avenue. He never lived in Phoenix.
Is F.Q. Story an official historic district?
Yes. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 24, 1988, and on the Phoenix Historic Property Register in March 1988.
When were the houses built?
The Story Tract was offered for homesites in 1920, only one house was built in 1921, and the peak year was 1930 with 133 new houses. The city register gives a period of significance of 1921 to 1942.
What style are the houses?
The National Park Service lists Bungalow/Craftsman, Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals, and Modern Movement. Bungalows predominate in the eastern portion.
What is a porte cochere?
A covered drive-through on the side of a house where a car can stop under a roof. Houses on the western lots added them from the mid-1920s on.
Do I need city approval to paint a house in F.Q. Story?
No. Routine maintenance such as painting is excluded from historic preservation review, and the city's Historic Preservation Office does not regulate paint colors. Exterior changes that need a building permit do go through review.
What is the difference between the city register and the National Register?
City listing adds HP overlay zoning, special permit review for exterior changes and eligibility for city incentives. National Register listing does not rezone a property and gives no formal protection, but it can make a property eligible for state and federal incentives.
How do I check whether a specific house is historic?
Look the property up on the Phoenix Historic Property Register and the city's district maps, and check whether its zoning carries an HP suffix (historic district zoning) or an HP-L suffix (an individually listed landmark). For the National Register, check the National Park Service records.
Looking at F.Q. Story?
Which addition a lot was platted in, its construction year and its HP zoning all sit in the city and county records. Send me the addresses and I will pull them. Text 480-485-4261.
Own a home in F.Q. Story? See what the county has on file and get a real value. Looking? Search homes for sale.
Sources: City of Phoenix Residential Historic Districts, Phoenix Historic Property Register, F.Q. Story district map, National Register Properties in Phoenix, Historic Preservation FAQ and Approvals and Guidelines; National Park Service NPGallery record 88000212; City of Phoenix Historic Preservation Office, Historic Residential Subdivisions and Architecture in Central Phoenix, 1912 to 1950 (National Register multiple property documentation, hosted by Arizona State Parks); Story Preservation Association history; coordinates from the Wikipedia list of National Register listings in Phoenix. All checked 28 October 2026.