History

The Short Version

Our history in Phoenix is as colorful as the ancient peoples, immigrants and settlers who shaped it. If you're a history buff, no trip here is complete without a visit to the museums dedicated to telling Phoenix's story — places like Pueblo Grande Museum and Archaeological Park, Heard Museum, and the Phoenix Museum of History.

For now, though, here's a lesson in Phoenix History 101: The Hohokam people inhabited what is now Greater Phoenix until about 1450 A.D. They created the first major urban civilization in the Salt River Valley and developed a canal system that's still in use today. In 1865, the U.S. government established Fort McDowell here, and settlers such as Jack Swilling began farming the land.

The city of Phoenix was established in 1868. Two years later, the first survey and census of the city noted it was about a mile long and a half-mile wide, with 74 dwellings and a population of 250. Today, Greater Phoenix covers about 2,000 square miles and the population exceeds 3.8 million.

Want to read more about Greater Phoenix's history? See the long version below.

The Long Version

Early Life Along the Salt River

Hundreds of years before any of the cities in the eastern part of our country were so much as clearings in the wilderness, a well established, civilized community occupied the land we know as Phoenix. The Pueblo Grande ruins, which were occupied between 700 A.D. and 1400 A.D., testify to our city's ancient roots.

The wide Salt River ran through the Valley of the Sun, but there was little rain and no melting snow to moisten the brown earth from river to mountain range on either side.

As early as 300 BC, the Hohokams were the first to farm in Phoenix. They were industrious, enterprising and imaginative. They built an irrigation system, consisting mostly of some 135 miles of canals, and the land became fertile. The ultimate fate of this ancient society, however, is a mystery. The accepted belief is that it was destroyed by a prolonged drought. Roving Indians, observing the Pueblo Grande ruins and the vast canal system these people left behind, gave them the name "Ho Ho Kam" -- the people who have gone.

Modern History

Phoenix's modern history begins in the second half of the 19th century. In 1867, Jack Swilling of Wickenburg stopped to rest his horse at the foot of the north slopes of the White Tank Mountains. He looked down and across the expansive Salt River Valley and his eyes caught the rich gleam of the brown, dry soil turned up by the horse's hooves. He saw farm land, predominately free of rocks, and in a place beyond the reach of heavy frost or snow. All it needed was water. Returning to Wickenburg, he organized the Swilling Irrigation Canal Company, and moved into the Valley. The same year, the company began digging a canal to divert some of the water of the Salt River onto the lands of the Valley. By March 1868, water flowed through the canal, and a few members of the company raised meager crops that summer.

Phoenix is Born

By 1868, a small colony had formed approximately four miles east of the present city. Swilling's Mill became the new name of the area. It was then changed to Helling Mill, after which it became Mill City, and years later, East Phoenix. Swilling, having been a confederate soldier, wanted to name the new settlement Stonewall after Stonewall Jackson. Others suggested the name Salina, but neither name suited the inhabitants. It was Darrell Duppa who suggested the name Phoenix, inasmuch as the new town would spring from the ruins of a former civilization. That is the accepted derivation of our name.

Phoenix officially was recognized on May 4, 1868, when the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors, the county of which we were then a part, formed an election precinct here.

A post office was established in Phoenix on June 15, 1868, with Jack Swilling as postmaster. The sharp whistle of the first steam mill in the Valley added a brisk note to the sound of emerging industry. It advertised the Richard Flour Mills, built in 1869, where the Luhrs Tower now stands.

Selecting a Townsite

The rapid influx of pioneers continued, and by 1870, it was clear that a townsite had to be selected. On Oct. 20, 1870, a meeting was held to select such a site in the home of John Moore.

This well-known farmer offered 40 acres to the cause, but 320 were purchased by a popular subscription that raised $50. The official designation of this new townsite was the North Half of Section 8, Township 1 North, Range 3 East. Today, it would encompass the downtown business section, bounded on the north by Van Buren Street, on the south by Jackson Street, on the east by Seventh Street and on the west by Seventh Avenue.

The Great Sale

The Prescott Miner carried the following advertisement on Dec. 7, 1870:

"GREAT SALE OF LOTS AT PHOENIX, ARIZONA on the 23rd and 24th of December."

The first effort resulted in the sale of 61 lots at an average price of $48 each. The first lot was purchased by Judge William Berry of Prescott. It was the southwest corner of First and Washington streets, and he paid the rather steep price of $116.

The first store building to be erected in the new town was Hancock's Store, a general store opened in July 1871, by William Smith. The adobe structure was built on the northwest corner of First and Washington streets and served as the town hall, county offices and general meeting place of early Phoenix.

Although various religious organizations had been formed by 1870, the first church building erected in Phoenix was the Central Methodist Church built in 1871 at the corner of Second Avenue and Washington Street.

The first Catholic priest came to Phoenix in 1872, but it was not until after 1881 that an adobe church building, the Sacred Heart of St. Louis at Third and Monroe streets, replaced the Otero home as a place for Catholics to worship.

Yavapai County was divided on Feb. 12, 1871, when Maricopa County was created by the Legislature. The sixth county in the state, Maricopa, gave up portions in 1875 and 1881 to help form Pinal and Gila counties, respectively.

The first county election was held in 1871, when Tom Barnum was elected the first sheriff of Maricopa County. As a matter of historical interest, a shooting between two other candidates for the office, J. A. Chenowth and Jim Favorite, resulted in Favorite's death and Chenowth's withdrawal from the race.

Schooling for Phoenix's youth began on September 5, 1872. About 20 children studied under the guidance of Jean Rudolph Derroche in the courtroom of the county building. By October 1873, a small adobe school building was completed on Center Street (now Central Avenue), a short distance north of where the San Carlos Hotel now stands. Miss Nellie Shaver, a newcomer from Wisconsin, was appointed as the first female schoolteacher in Phoenix.
Whole Town Worth $550

On April 10, 1874, President Grant issued a patent to Judge Alsap for the present site of Phoenix. The declaratory statement was filed at the Prescott Land Office on Feb. 15, 1872. Official entry was made at the Florence Land Office on Nov. 19, 1873. The total cost of the Phoenix Townsite of 320 acres was $550, including all expenses for services.

In 1874, downtown lots were selling for $7 to $11 each. That year also marked the entry into Phoenix of the first telegraph line. Morris Goldwater was the first operator of this station, located in his father's store on the northwest corner of First and Jefferson streets.

By 1875, there were 16 saloons, four dance halls, two monte banks and one faro table in Phoenix. The townsite-commissioner form of government, however, was not working well. At a mass meeting held at the courthouse on Oct. 20, 1875, an election was held to select three village trustees and other officials.

John Smith became the chairman of the trustees and Charles W. Stearns the treasurer, with Capt. Hancock continuing as secretary.
A safe location was required for the money being made in the Valley. To solve the problem, the National Bank was established in 1878 with capital stock of $200,000.

The first newspaper in Phoenix, the Salt River Valley Herald, changed its name to the Phoenix Herald in 1880. By this time, the paper had progressed from a weekly publication to semiweekly.

In 1880 Phoenix had a population of 2,453, a school enrollment of 379 pupils, an ice factory and a new brick sidewalk in front of the Tiger Saloon. On Nov. 26 of that same year, Maricopa County had its first legal hanging. A toll gate built at Central and McDowell avenues in the 1880s was owned by the Central Avenue Improvement Association, a subsidiary of the Arizona Water Co. The toll for wagons and buggies was 25 cents. Bicycles were free, and the town was full of bicycles.

Incorporation in 1881

Just as Phoenix had outgrown its original townsite-commissioner form of government, it grew too large for the village trustee operation. "The Phoenix Charter Bill" was passed by the 11th Territorial Legislature. The bill made Phoenix an incorporated city and provided for a government consisting of a mayor and four council members. It was signed by Governor John C. Fremont on Feb. 25, 1881.

On May 3, 1881, the first election was held in the newly incorporated city with a population of approximately 2,500.

The first regular meeting of the City Council was held on May 9, 1881. The first ordinance adopted was the one relating to the official seal of the city described as follows:

"In the center a bird rising, and surrounding this the inscription Phoenix, Arizona - Incorporated February 25, 1881."

The 11th Legislature attempted to have the United States Government establish a mint in Phoenix. The effort wasn't successful, but another enterprise saw its beginning. Holsum Bakery realized the opportunities Phoenix had to offer and opened its doors in 1881.

Within the next 10 years, great strides were made toward maturity of a modern city. In 1886, one of the first electric plants in the west was installed in Phoenix. It was a steam plant with boilers fired by mesquite wood.

That same year, the Phoenix Fire Engine Company Number 1 was organized. It was comprised of a volunteer group that served the city for many years.

Transportation: Horse & Rails

The first horse-drawn streetcar line was built along some 2 miles of Washington Street in 1887, and the kick off of this new mode of transportation was on Nov. 5. An additional line was installed along Center Street, and the first car moved over those shaky rails on Dec. 30, 1889.The streetcar system became rather extensive in later years, with tracks covering most of Phoenix and extending even to Glendale.

July 4, 1887, would have been just another Independence Day had not the first Southern Pacific train arrived that day from Maricopa Wells. This had been a long-anticipated event.

The coming of the railroad was the first of several important events that revolutionized the economy of this area. Merchandise now flowed into the city by rail instead of wagon. Our products went quickly to eastern and western markets. In recognition of the increased tempo of economic life, the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce was organized on Nov. 4, 1888.

That same year, the city offices were moved into the new City Hall, built where the downtown bus terminal now stands. This building also provided temporary offices for the territorial government when they were moved to Phoenix from Prescott in 1889.

The location of Arizona's Capitol had been moved several times since 1864. It was first established at Navajo Springs, then Prescott, then Tucson after an attempt to move it to La Paz failed, then back to Prescott, and finally to Phoenix.