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Allen B. Ming - Director Commercial Club
“Another early large property owner was F. S. Ming. Ming came to Yuma from New Jersey in 1904 and quickly acquired a considerable amount of property in the Conservancy area. The Ming Apartments, at 502 S. Orange Avenue (Y.B013),and several other vacant lots were in his possession.
Ming Apartment - 502 S. Orange Ave
The Ming Apartments, built in 1920, is a stucco over wood frame structure with common Bungalow characteristics. It houses three families and sits on a corner lot at Orange and Fifth Street.
Frank Ming was proprietor of the Southern Pacific Hotel, and was famous for the slogan he adopted from the Pilot Knob Hotel: “free meals, every day the sun doesn’t shine.” Ming was also active in citrus farming and served as Mayor of Yuma in the 1920′s. He pursued an active social life, maintaining memberships in several fraternal organizations. Withe the aid of his brother, Allen B., he built the Del Ming Hotel at 300 Gila Street (Y.M011, National Register #Yu.106).
Arizona State Historic Property Inventory
Page 49
Property Name
A.B. Ming Residence
Location
468 Orange Avenue
City
Yuma
County
Yuma
Owner
Lillie T. Stevens
Owner’s Address
468 Orange Avenue
Yuma, AZ 85364
Form Completed by
Yuma County Historical Society
Address
240 Madison Avenue
Yuma, AZ 85364
468 S. Orange Ave., Yuma, Arizona - April 1978
Photo by
P. Callahan, Date 4/1978 Yu139
View Front elevation from east
Present Use
Residence/Single Family
Acreage
less/acre
Style or Cultural Period
Bungaloid and Neo-Colonial influence
Significant Dates
Built 1906
Physical Description
The A.B. Ming Residence is a one-and-a-half story frame residence. Its massing is assymetrical and plan irrigular. Overall the building measures about 28 feet in width by 70 feet in depth. The roof consists of a large bellcast gable with an offset gable extension on the front facade. Roof and gable surfaces are covered with wood shingles; exterior walls are finished with clapboard. A porch follows the recessed configuration of the front facad. The principal entry is located off the south end of the porch. Special features of the building include a Palladian window, a corbeled chimney, and spindlework in the front screen door.
Statement of Significance
Built in 1906 by W.E. (Billy) Marvin, the huse at 468 Orange Avenue is significant both archetecturally and for its several distinguished owners. Marvin was a Rough Rider, County Supervisor, and real estate agent. He sold the property in 1908 to Fred Fleishman. The house remained with the Fleishman family until 1922 when it was purchaced as the home of Allen B. Ming. Mr Ming served for many years as County Assessor and was prominent in civic affairs. Architecturally the building combines formal characteristics of the Bungaloid and Neo-Colonial styles. The building retains most of its original character and is in excellent condition.
Verbal Boundary Description
Block 118; Lot 6; Yuma Townsite
Arizona State Historic Property Inventory
“Historic Building Form”
Identification
Survey Area Name: Century Heights Conservancy
Historic Name: Allen B. Ming Home
Address/Location: 468 S. Orange Ave.
City/Town: Yuma
Owner: Shinault, Raymond
Owner Address:468 S. Orange Ave., Yuma, Arizona 85364
Historic Use: Residence
Present Use: Residence
Building Type: House
Style: Bungalow
Construction Date: 1906
Architect/Builder: W.E. “Billy” Marvin
Integrity: Minor Alterations
Condition: Good
County: Yuma
Survey Site: Y.C003
USGS Quad: Yuma, AZ
T 8s R 23w S 21 / NW 1/4 of the SE 1/4
UTM
Description
Stories: 1 1/2
Dimensions: (l) 28 (w) 70
Structural Material: Wood Frame
Foundation Material: Unknown
Wall Sheathing: Clapboard with corner boards
Applied Ornament: None
Roof Type: Medium bell cast gable with..
Roof Sheathing: Wood Shingle
Eaves Treatment: Boxed cornice, rectangular wood palladian vent on right..
Windows: 1/1 DH, wood frame
Entry: Off-Center with wood screen door and panel wood door with single light
Porches: Open, with shed and gabled roofs with wood posts and no rail
Storefronts: Not Applicable
Notable Interior: Unknown
Outbuildings: Wood frame guest house with DH windows in good condition
Alterations: Side boarded window
468 S. Orange Ave., Yuma AZ - May 1986
Photograph: Linda Laird & Associates
Date: May, 1986
View: W, 3/4
Negative Number: R:L F:5
Additional Description/Analysis (annoted form): Eaves contd: sid pediment and enlongated diamond shaped fixed windows and wood shingles on central pediment.
Roof type contd: single interior chimney, and corbelled chimney.
Prom Occup contd: County Assessor, who with Frank Ming, built the Del Ming Hotel
Significance: Other (specifiy) Architecture
Historic Associations (be concise):
Prominent Occupant/Historic Associations: Marvin was a Rough Rider, County Supervisor, and real estate agent. He sold to Fred Fleishman in 1908, then sold to Ming.
Relationship to Local Development: Relates to elaborate residential development in Yuma
Cultural Affiliations: None
Engineering/Structural: None
District/Streetscape Contribution: Individually listed on the National Register
Discussion as Required: Contributes to the historic fabric of the block face. This building is stylistically similar to eastern shingle style houses of the same period.
Context: Residential Street
Bibliography/Sources: Phone directories: 1905 – 1923; Tax Assessors’s Rool: 1890 – 1954; Interviews with: Estelle Dingess, Rose Marie Sanguinetti Gwyn, Mary Lorona, George Snow; Doan, May G., I Woldn’t Trade Those Yesterdays; Westover, William H., A Biography of E. F. Sanguinetti; Winsor, Mulford, Unpublished monograph on Jose Marie Redondo; Yuma Chamber of Commerce, The Gate City of the Great Southwest; Yuma Chamber of Commerce, Yuma County Arizona; Newspapers; Arizona Sentinel, The Sun Yuma, Yuma Daily Examiner; City of Yuma building permits 1913-1935.
Listings in other Surveys: Yuma Multiple Resource Area Nomination (Yu.139) Listed
Surveyor: Linda Laird & Assoc.
Survey Date: June 1986
Date Form Completed: August 1986
