What is a barrio?
According to https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/barrio, a barrio is:
"a Spanish-speaking quarter or neighborhood in a city or town in the U.S. especially in the Southwest"
For Mexicans who lived in these Phoenix neighborhoods the barrios were a way of life, a distinct community, a haven from the the racism and discrimination that often characterized the Latino experience in Phoenix in the 20th century.
Read this article in Barriorzona, an online periodical, to find out more about what Mexicans brought to the Valley. A list of barrios will be found at the end of the article.
https://barriozona.com/a-short-history-of-south-phoenix-from-1865-to-the-early-1930s/
Here is another very informative article from Barriozona:
https://barriozona.com/a-vanished-phoenix-barrio-visions-of-life-on-16th-street/