Maritza DominguezArizona Republic
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A white house with a yellow window trim and a brown door is nestled in Mesa’s Washington Escobedo neighborhood and is a standing beacon to the city’s first Black doctor. Now, the city is setting aside a $20,000 yearly budget to maintain it.
Mesa has owned the home since 2007 after it agreed to a land swap with Valley of the Sun Habitat for Humanity Arizona.
Dr. Lucius Charles Alston practiced medicine out of the home in the 1930s to Black, Hispanic and white patients alike.
He was well-known in the neighborhood and across the city in those days. He delivered babies, fixed broken arms and opened up his house to others.
The Washington-Escobedo Heritage Neighborhood is sandwiched between Center Street and Mesa Drive and north of University Drive. It was settled because many Black and Hispanic residents weren’t allowed to own homes in the original townsite.
Dr. Alston’s home sits along Pima and Fifth streets.
The proposed budget for the home would take care of general cleaning, landscaping, repairs, an alarm system and utilities. The $20,000 will come out of the city’s community services department. The city is also using department savings to paint the home and update the landscaping.
During budget discussions, City Manager Chris Brady told the council there needs to be future talks to further look at other improvements and programming.
Local historian reacts to yearly investment
Bruce Nelson grew up in the Washington-Escobedo Neighborhood and is a local historian documenting Mesa’s Black history.
Alston delivered Nelson’s older twin brothers in his childhood home, he told The Arizona Republic. He recalls stories of when people knocked on Alston’s front door while seeking a remedy. He remembers hearing his brother walk to Aston's home with a broken arm looking for help.
Not only was Alston the local physician but a help the local community.
In Nelson’s research, he found stories that Alston would let Black baseball players sleep at his house during spring training season because they weren't allowed to stay in the hotel with the rest of the team.
After hearing the city would set aside $20,000 for the Alston house, he felt grateful the city was adding a budget to the home.
However, it was mixed with disappointment that the Alston House has not received the same level of investment as other historic properties around downtown Mesa. The city’s first Post Office dubbed the Post was recently restored into an office and rentable event space which cost the city about $8.5 million. Another $5 million is expected to be spent on an outdoor garden to display historic neon signs at The Post.
The Sirrine House, a late-Victorian building, is set to be included in a bond package to ask voters to approve millions to renovate the outdoor patio with an educational farm and benches for the community. Phase one is expected to cost $3 million.
“Millions of dollars for those other programs feels one-sided. I’m glad they’re doing something but it’s tough to hear,” he said.
He plans to get the community together and start brainstorming ways to further the talks with the city to find ways to “celebrate” the community.
It shouldn’t end with the Alston House, Nelson said. He pointed to prominent community members in the neighborhood including the first Black veterinarian in Mesa, James Livingston, and Veora Johnson, the first African-American principal in Arizona.
What does the home mean to the community?
The home was donated to the Valley of the Sun Habitat for Humanity Arizona by Alston’s descendants. The non-profit planned to demolish the home until the city stepped in to save it with a land exchange agreement for two then-vacant parcels.
Soon after the city gained ownership it approved a $198,000 contract using federal and state grants and private donations to restore the home. In 2011, the home was reponed for community use.
At one point it housed the Mesa Martin Luther King Celebration Committee and Mesa Hispanic Citizen’s Association.
The bungalow is still used to house small community gatherings like local book clubs, small tours or school graduation events.
Who was Dr. Lucius Charles Alston?
Alston was born in 1892 in Georgetown, West Virginia, and graduated from the University of Tennessee. He did postgraduate work at Columbia University.
Alston was a veteran of World War I and served overseas. He married Velma Young and the pair moved to Mesa in 1929 into the one-story bungalow along Pima Street. His home was also a makeshift doctor’s office until he opened a practice downtown in later years.
Alston died in 1958 at 66 years old in California where he had gone to receive treatment, according to his funeral announcement in The Arizona Republic.
He is buried in the Mesa City Cemetery.
Although the man was well-known and respected in the community, no photo of him has been found. Nelson remains committed to tracking down a photo of Alston.
Reporter Maritza Dominguez covers Mesa, Gilbert and Queen Creek andcan be reached atmaritza.dominguez@arizonarepublic.comor 480-271-0646. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter:@maritzacdom.
