Historical Places

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Raney House

A historical farmhouse that has been relocated to lots adjacent to the Buckeye Chamber of Commerce on Monroe Avenue. The house was built in 1895 by Nels Benson, and is approximately 3,500 square feet in size. Main Street is working to save this historic landmark, which is expected to be the centerpiece for downtown events and activities.

Old Courthouse and Jail

The building that stands at 216 S. 4th Street in Buckeye has a rich history in the West Valley. Built in 1912, the building was the brain child of Royal Lescher, Lescher and Mahoney Architects. This building is either the first or second building that Lescher and Mahoney built in the Valley of the Sun, thus some of the historical significance of the building in Arizona history. The building is a classic example of architecture in the Southwest, with a Neo-Classical influence.

The building has been used for many purposes over the last 90 years. It's first and foremost use was as the original Courthouse and Jail for the Buckeye Valley Region. In 1888 the postal stop was known as the Buckeye Post Office, because of the location of the Buckeye Canal that runs through the heart of town. The community was originally named Sidney due to our founder being from that region of Ohio, but most residents called it Buckeye because of the name of the Post Office. In 1910 the name of the town was finally changed to Buckeye and official incorporation was granted in 1929.

Another part of the Courthouse and Jail history lives on today in the fact that one of the original judges of the Buckeye area was Judge Billy Meck. Meck had several children, one of which is Jackie Meck who is the current General Manager of the Buckeye Irrigation and Water Conservation District which oversees the operation of the Buckeye Irrigation District Canal.

Over the years the Courthouse and Jail has been used as a Hospital, the grade school auxiliary building, the town library and most recently as the town food bank. In 2002, a client of the food bank mistakenly stepped on her gas instead of her brake and drove her car through the front wall and window of the building. Since that incident the building has been boarded up and this gem of the West Valley hasn't been in use.

In 2006 the Buckeye Main Street Coalition wrote and received a Heritage Grant from the Arizona State Parks Office for a complete restoration and rehabilitation of the building including getting the building listed on the National Historic Registry. Two requirements for the building to be listed on the National Registry are: The building has to be greater than 50 years old and it needs to be a specific part of the Town History.

As for the architectural details that make the building special, the building includes stepped parapets on the roof, a symmetrical facade, large openings in the front facade with wide surrounds and is and will be a very positive contribution to the historic character of the neighborhood along 4th Street.

Information was taken from a book by Charles Mitten entitled "Buckeye, the First Hundred Years 1888-1988" and from a compilation of facts from historian Verlyne Meck. Other information was gathered by Jim Harken, Director of the Buckeye Main Street Coalition, 2006.

Museum

Description will be available soon.

Hours:
October - May
Wednesday - Friday 1-4
Saturday 10 - 4

Hobo Joe Statue

On the East end of Monroe Avenue in Historic Downtown Buckeye stands a statue of a Hobo. No, it's not because of our rich railroad history. This Hobo was once made famous by a string of restaurants scattered across the Southwest called Hobo Joe Restaurants. They were best known for good hearty food at a very fair price.

The Local lore says that Hobo Joe came to Buckeye by way of a friendship. We turn to an e-mail from Kevin Casey, whose father Jim Casey built the original Hobo Joe Statues.

"My father, Jim Casey, was the sculptor who modeled the original Hobo Joe (all three sizes: the small souvenir-sized one, the life-sized one, and the huge roadside one). All were modeled in clay. Molds were made from the originals, which were then discarded. His company (Image Makers) did all of the casting and painting of the reproductions made from the molds. The smallest version was cast in plaster: the two others were cast in fiberglass. His assistant, Elaine Polley, painted most if not all of the reproductions in the two larger sizes. I believe the small ones were cast and painted in Tijuana, and were sold at the cash registers of the restaurants."

More history came to use in another e-mail from Mr. Casey:

"I'm pretty sure the first large Hobo Joe was cast, assembled, and painted in Scottsdale in the summer of 1967 ... my brother and I visited him from California for a week or two and helped with some of the work. I vaguely recall there being 2 large ones (one in Scottsdale and one in Las Vegas), but I'm not sure about that and about whether they would have been made consecutively.

My brother recalls doing casts of the 5 ft figure into the late 1970's. The molds for that figure were given to friend's company, which may have done some others after that."

So now you're asking, "How did Hobo Joe get to Buckeye and where he stands today?"

We go to another e-mail from Mr. Casey:

"I spoke with Marilyn Woolard who is the daughter of Max Gillum who owned the Buckeye Slaughter House and the statue. She said that their "hobo" was a third casting that was never erected for the restaurant chain. Apparently, Marvin Ransdell worked with my father on the casting and assembly of the large hoboes. She said he worked in fiberglass as a career. He had this unpainted casting in his backyard, we believe in Phoenix, but the City made him get rid of it, so her father took it. Her cousin painted it before it was erected in the late '80s. Several years ago much of it was repainted: apparently the face hasn't been repainted because the painter didn't think he could do a good job on it. She says there's a name carved on it, I believe on the sole of the right shoe where it's separated from its "upper:" the name should be "Jim Casey" or "J. Casey." She remembered that my father had been a Disney sculptor before doing the hobo (he hadn't been with Disney for long as an employee, but he emphasized the connection because it helped him get contracts once he worked as an independent artist)."

So now you know the story of Hobo Joe and how he became a part of the history that makes Buckeye, Arizona the unique place to visit.

Eastman Gin

    The 5 C's of Arizona...
  1. Cotton
  2. Cattle
  3. Citrus
  4. Climate
  5. Copper

The Eastman Gin is one of the last original cotton gins in the Buckeye Valley. Cotton is one of the "5 C's" of Arizona. The Buckeye Valley was a top producer of cotton for the state with numerous gins around the area. With new techniques on picking cotton and transporting it longer distances, the need for a cotton gin every few miles found the Eastman Gin obsolete.

After several other gin sites were demolished to allow more room for housing developments a task force was created in Buckeye to save the Eastman Gin, the last of a dying breed, and turn it into an agricultural museum. Several acres of property are being acquired along with the Gin in hopes of creating a new museum and gateway into Downtown Buckeye.

A Cotton Gin is where the seeds and stalks get removed from the Cotton Boll, which is picked off the plant, now by machines, but historically picked by the hand of migrant workers.

Women's Club

Description will be available soon.