Jefferson Park Neighborhood Profile

Jefferson Park

To kick off this series of neighborhood highlights, we thought we’d start with the neighborhood where our Ward 3 office is located: Jefferson Park. Stretching from Euclid Ave to Campbell Ave, and from Grant Road to Chauncey Lane (just North of Elm street), Jefferson Park has an active neighborhood association and enjoys and is designated a national historical district. Located six blocks north of the University of Arizona, there is a substantial student population along with many homeowners who have called the neighborhood home for decades. About 76% of the homes are occupied by renters, compared to the Tucson general average, which is just under 40%.

The area was homesteaded in 1898 by Anna Stattelman, who later married and became Anna Stattleman Lester. That's where Lester Street derives its name, and where the original Stattleman Lester house still sits. According the the neighborhood association’s website, around 1942, in an effort to get more families to purchase land and build homes in the areal, Woodson Allen was offered a plot of land from Anna Lester for $150. These days, the median cost of a home in Jefferson Park is $327,500.

Anna Stattleman Lester Somewhere in Jefferson Park in 1890

JP is home to Iskashitaa Refugee Network, a nonprofit that runs a community garden, reduces food waste throughout the city, and assists refugees in our community. Three churches are located in the neighborhood—New Life Pentacostal Church, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and Bible Chapel. The west edge of the neighborhood features the colorful Lizard and Gila Monster mural by Joe Pagac, near where Euclid Avenue bends, south of Grant Road.

Though Jefferson Park is very close to lots of local restaurants on Campbell and North 1st between Grant and Glenn, the neighborhood itself is almost entirely residential with only a small handful of businesses actually in its bounds. A notable exception is Sausage Deli, on the corner of Grant and Euclid.

Neighbor Joan Hall told me, "We used to do a duck race down Vine Ave back when there was more rain in the summer. The first year that Tucson Police Chief Magnus was hired, he entered a ducky and won first prize."

Vine Avenue during the monsoon

Joanne Osuna and Joan Hall, organizers of the duck race

In addition to a thriving neighborhood association, the residents of Jefferson Park also started a non-profit for the neighborhood, simply named “Friends of Jefferson Park”. Asked why she loves living there, JP resident and long time neighborhood organizer Joan Daniels said, “We have a wonderful inclusive neighborhood board with ‘can do’ people who pull weeds, clean parks and offer their homes for tours to pay for the historic nomination. Colleen Nichols moved to the neighborhood 45 years ago. Her family liked the proximity to the U of A, and loved the southwestern features of their little stuccoed adobe house with mission tile roof,arched openings and  the large covered front porch and the like. Most recently greenspace is has been added in the form of a linear park along the southern edge of Grant Road between Hampton Street and Santa Rita Ave