Alexander P. Petit

Alexander P. Petit, 1819-1895
Architect
 
The Petits are buried in IOOF Cemetery, Block 4, Lot 2, Graves 1 & 2

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Alexander Peter Petit was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania about 1819. However, the Gold Rush brought him and his wife Catherine to Sacramento, California, in October 1849. Although Petit was listed as a carpenter on the 1850 federal census, he was also a self-taught architect.
 
Petit spent the next several years building theaters and government buildings throughout northern California. With his partner James Queen, he went into the brickmaking business, and their South Sacramento brickyard was quite successful. Petit also became active in the community and was elected to the Sacramento city council.
 
Around 1879, Petit and his wife moved to Phoenix in the Arizona Territory. Shortly after his arrival, he designed the Irvine Building on First and Washington Streets, one of the first two-story brick buildings in Phoenix. His plans for the new Maricopa County courthouse and jail were accepted in August of 1879; however, construction was never begun because of funding issues with the County. 
 
Petit and Catherine then decided to pursue opportunities in Tucson, a more mature community. There, Petit designed and built several of the commercial buildings along Congress Street, including the Henry Buehman Photography Studio and Gallery and a school near Military Plaza. The Arizona Daily Star building, erected in 1883, is the only remaining evidence of Petit’s work in Tucson.
 
The Petits returned to Phoenix where in February 1891 Catherine died after a short illness. She was buried in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) Cemetery—later one of seven cemeteries that constitute the Pioneer and Military Memorial Park near downtown Phoenix. 
 
Petit continued his architectural work for four more years. His last design was the Rosson House, located at 6th Street and Monroe. The Eastlake-Queen Anne style Rosson House was completed a month before Petit died on March 28, 1895. As a 50-year member of the Odd Fellows fraternal organization, he was buried in the IOOF cemetery next to his late wife.
 
Over the years, Alexander Petit’s contributions to Arizona’s history have been largely forgotten. While the Petits’ graves may have had headstones at one time, the original markers disappeared. In 2015, the Pioneers’ Cemetery Association, through its Memorial Marker Program, placed two new markers on the Petits’ graves. 
 
© 2020 by Patty Gault. Last revised 27 April 2020.

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