Manistee Ranch House - Glendale, AZ

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The Manistee Ranch House is located inside the Manistee Ranch Park which is open from sunrise to sunset daily. The park is owned and operated by the City of Glendale, but the Glendale Historical Society owns the main house, barn, garage, office building and a small field with various farming equipment on display. Manistee Ranch is a historic site and is about four acres. It is a gem located right next to a busy intersection at 51^st Avenue and Northern Avenue. The park has benches and pathways for a leisurely stroll. It is also a well know place to have professional photography taken for any special occasion. The grounds are well maintained and there are plenty of trees surrounding the park and the Manistee Ranch home and office building. There are signs scattered about pointing out points of interest or tidbits of information. One could easily spend an hour just walking the grounds. It should also be noted that there aren't any public restrooms or a playground here but there is enough room for playing frisbee or having a nice picnic under a shady tree.

Manistee Ranch Back of Manistee Ranch and office buildingSide of Manistee Ranch

Manistee Ranch House History

The Manistee Ranch house is an example of the Queen Anne Revival style and was built in 1897 by Herbert W. Hamilton. Mr. Hamilton was a well to do lumberman from Marinette, Wisconsin who while visiting the Salt River Valley, now known as Glendale, Arizona, decided to purchase land and build the ranch house for himself and his wife and children. Mr. Hamilton decided to try his hand in cattle ranching for a time. The Hamilton family lived in the ranch home until 1903 when they moved to Eureka, California where Mr. Hamilton went back to the lumber business. Around 1900 a Swedish emigrant named Louis Sands was a successful Michigan lumberman moved his family to Flagstaff, Arizona and became involved in the Saginaw and Manistee Lumber Company. His son Louis M. Sands in 1906 married Frances Porter and in 1907 Louis M. Sands purchased the ranch from Mr. Hamilton and the property was renamed Manistee Ranch. The couple went on to have three children all born in the master bedroom of the house and the property not only was his home but headquarters for his developing ranching and business endeavors. The Sands family is still very much a part of the Glendale, Arizona community and the name of Sands for various businesses are still around as well.

Manistee Ranch Tour

The Manistee Ranch Historic tour consists of the main house and office building dating back to around 1924. The house has three stories and a basement and is constructed out of brick masonry and wood framing. The home has four bedrooms and three bathrooms on the main floor along with a living room, dining room, kitchen, porch, veranda, and hall which leads to the upstairs and the basement. While touring the main floor you will be able to watch a short video explaining about the history of the Glendale Area then have the opportunity to walk around the old house looking at some of the old personal items of the Sands family and seeing other areas of interest about the Glendale area too. There are four tour guides who take turns showing you various parts of the main floor, upstairs and basement and give you interesting stories about various items found in the home and about the home. As you start to look around you will see in the kitchen pencil markings showing where the children stood to see how tall they have grown since their last birthday. The second-floor tour, conducted by another tour guide, is where the servants where given quarters and storage space for the attic as well. Then third floor is a square tower aka “The Sky Parlor” which allows you to see a spectacular view of the surrounding areas. This area also serves as a cooling area for the entire home as the windows can be opened and a breeze can go down to the main floor helping to cool the large home. The next stop on the tour is to go back down to the main floor and down into the basement, conducted by another tour guide, where you can see another space where the children often hung out and played with their varying interests at the time. There is plenty to see as the basement has at least three rooms with various artifacts not exactly all related to the Sands family. The last stop on the tour is up some other stairs that lead you outside and a short walk across the yard to the office building. The building is a two-room building with a lot of interesting features such as a cannonball safe, walk in safe and bank teller style wooden desk and glass paned windows. In this building you will learn a little about the business about the Sands ranch.

The Glendale Arizona Historical Society is the sponsor of the tour and will take the time to talk to you about anything you might have questions about. If you want to see the garage that was built in 1912 you will need to schedule a private tour prior to the house tour. The Glendale Arizona Historical Society also encourages visitors to visit their outdoor exhibit, “Working the Manistee”, which is a self-guided tour located just behind the Manistee Ranch.

Photos

Outside

Office BuildingWorking Manistee ExhibitWorking Manistee Exhibit

Kitchen

KitchenKitchenWriting on kitchen wall

Living Room

Living RoomLiving Room and Hall

Sky Parlor

Sky ParlorSky Parlor View

Basement

Office

Room in officeCannonball SafeBank Teller Window and Desk

*Note all photos taken by Rachel Walston and John Henderson

Learn more

Glendale Arizona Historical Society

Manistee Ranch Park - City of Glendale (glendaleaz.com)

Manistee Ranch Historical Marker (hmdb.org)

Address and Historical Tours

Manistee Ranch

5127 West Northern Avenue
Glendale, Arizona 85301

(Enter from the parking lot on 51^st Avenue)
Tours for the house and office building are available from October through May noon to 4 p.m. Currently the dates are for the 1^st and 3^rd Saturdays.
Fees: Adults $5.00 Seniors $4.00 Veterans $4.00 Ages 6-16 $1.00

*Note the tour of the home consists of walking up and down stairs, is not air conditioned and is typically a 2-hour tour.