Michael Sullivan (stonemason)


Michael Sullivan was a stonemason who in the 1920s built various historical structures of fieldstone in Casa Grande. He also built a monument in the town of Sacaton, Arizona, dedicated to Pvt. Matthew B. Juan, a Native American, who was the first Arizonan to die in World War I.

Stonemason

Sullivan was born in Casa Grande, Arizona, in the late 19th century. There he became a professional stonemason. His specialty was building structures out of fieldstones. Fieldstones are the stones collected from the surface of fields where it occurs naturally. The stones used as fieldstones are building construction materials which are collected from the surface of fields where they occur naturally. In 1924, he built the cobble Casa Grande Woman's Club Building, following the design of Tucson architect Henry Jaastad.
The largest fieldstone building to be built by Sullivan was a building for the local Presbyterian congregation which is known as “The Casa Grande Stone Church”. He accomplished this feat with the help of Los Angeles architect Robert Orr. The first service held in the church, with its glittering copper-plated dome, was in January 1928. The Casa Grande Historical Society acquired the Stone Church in June 1977.
Sullivan’s last completed project was the Pvt. Matthew B. Juan monument in the town of Sacaton, Arizona. Juan was a Native American who died in the Battle of Cantigny of World War I. Juan was the first Arizonan to die in the war. Sullivan did not see the dedication of this monument as he died on March 25, 1928, of a heart attack while en route to Sacaton, Arizona, for a visit.

List of historic fieldstone structures

Among the structures which he built and which are listed in the National Register of Historic Places are the following: