The History of Phoenix, Arizona goes back millennia. Beginning with the descendants of the nomadic paleo-Indians which existed in the Americas about 9,000 years ago, at approximately 1,000 BC, agriculture began to take over.^[1] These archaic Indians made their way north from what is now Mexico, and began settling in the Valley of the Sun. The Hohokam first settled the area around 1 AD, and in about 500 years, they had begun to establish the canal system which enabled agriculture to flourish in the area. Europeans arrived in the southwest in the 16th century, when Spaniards explored the area.

The town of Phoenix was settled in 1867, becoming officially recognized the following year by the County of Yavapai. It would incorporate in 1881 as the City of Phoenix. Currently it has grown to the 6th most populous city in the United States.

Native American period

See also: Hohokam History

At some point in the centuries before the Common Era, a group of archaic Indians, migrated north from Mexico, bringing with them an agrarian society, different from the hunter-gatherer cultures of most of the archaic Indian tribes. Evidence of this culture has been uncovered in the Tucson area, consisting of slab-lined storage pits, and "sleeping circles". This archaic Indian culture would give rise to the Hohokam peoples, who right around the beginning of the Common Era moved further north and settled in the Salt River basin.^[2]

For more than 2,000 years, the Hohokam peoples occupied the land that would become Phoenix.^[3][4] Hohokam is a present-day name given to the occupants of central and southern Arizona who lived here between about the year 0 and 1450 CE (current era). It is derived from the Pima Indian (Akimel O'odham) word for "those who have gone" or "all used up".

The Hohokam inhabitation of the valley is broken up by paleontologists into five periods. The earliest period is known as the Pioneer Period, which lasted roughly from from 1-700 A.D., and was categorized by groups of shallow pit houses, and by its end the first canals were being used for irrigation, and the first decorated ceramics were appearing. This was followed by the Colonial Period (ca. 700-900 A.D.), during which time the irrigation system was expanded and the community sizes grew, as did the size of the dwellings. Rock art and ballcourts began to appear, and cremations became the usual form of burial. 900 to 1150 A.D., referred to as the Sedentary Period, again saw the expansion of the settlements and the canal system. Platform mounds began to be built, and plazas and the ballcourts which began to appear in the last period, became more prevalent in the larger settlements. The final period, the Classic Period, lasted approximately from 1150 A.D. until 1450 A.D. The number of villages declined during this period, but the size of the remaining settlements increased.^[5]

During their inhabitation of the valley, the Hohokam created roughly 135 miles (217 km) of irrigation canals, making the desert land arable. Paths of these canals would later become used for the modern Arizona Canal, Central Arizona Project Canal, and the Hayden-Rhodes Aqueduct. The irrigation provided by these canals enabled the Hohokam culture to spread throughout the valley, and by 1300 A.D., the Hohokam were the largest population in the prehistoric Southwest, and the largest native population north of Mexico City.^[6] This was the largest single body of land irrigated in prehistoric times in North or South America, perhaps in the world.^[7] The Hohokam also carried out extensive trade with the nearby Anasazi, Mogollon and Sinagua, as well as with the more distant Mesoamerican civilizations like the Aztecs.^[6] It is believed that a Hohokam witness of the supernova that occurred in 1006 CE created a representation of the event in the form of a petroglyph that can be found in the White Tank Mountain Regional Park west of Phoenix. If confirmed, this is the only known Native American representation of the supernova.^[8]

At some point in the mid-Fifteenth Century, the Hohokam culture simply disappeared from the area, speculation as to why as focused on periods of drought and severe floods during this period.^[9] After the departure of the Hohokam, groups of O'odham (mostly Pima and Papago) and Maricopa tribes began to use the area, as well as segments of the Yavapai and Apache.^[10] The O'odham were thought to be the descendants of the formerly urbanized Hohokam. In the 16th century, they migrated to the area around the Gila River, to avoid attacks by the Quechan and Mojave peoples.^{[11][12][13][10]}

European arrival and the founding of Phoenix

Spanish explorers most likely traveled through the area in 16th century, on their way from New Mexico to the Sea of Cortez, by way of the Grand Canyon. Although his exact route is not known with certainty, one of the first Europeans to enter what is now southern Arizona was Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca. Between 1528 and 1536, he led a party of four across Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, eventually ending up on the Pacific Coast near Culiacan, Mexico, where he was reunited with Spanish settlers. The party consisted of Alonso del Castillo Maldonado, Andrés Dorantes de Carranza, his Moroccan slave Estevanico (Esteban), and Cabeza de Vaca himself. Upon returning to Spain in 1837, Cabeza de Vaca wrote an account of his journey, La Relación (The Report), first published in 1542.^[14] Further expeditions were undertaken by the Franciscan Friar Marcos de Niza in 1539 and Francisco Vásquez de Coronado in 1540.^[15][14][16]

In the 1840's

When the Mexican-American War ended in 1848, most of Mexico's northern zone passed to United States control, and a portion of it was made the New Mexico Territory (including what is now Phoenix) shortly afterward. The Gadsden Purchase was completed in 1853, bringing what is now southern Arizona into the American fold.^[17][18] The area of modern Phoenix was contested ground during the American Civil War:^[19][20] both the Confederate Arizona Territory, organized by Southern sympathizers in 1861 with its capital in Tucson,^[21] and the United States Arizona Territory, formed by the United States Congress in 1863 with its capital at Fort Whipple (now Prescott), included the Salt River Valley within their borders. The valley was not militarily important, however, and did not witness conflict.

In 1863 the mining town of Wickenburg was the first to be established in what is now Maricopa County, to the north-west of modern Phoenix. At the time Maricopa County had not yet been incorporated: the land was within Yavapai County, which included the major town of Prescott to the north of Wickenburg.

The US Army created Fort McDowell on the Verde River in 1865 to quell Native American uprisings. The fort established a camp on the south side of the Salt River by 1866, which was the first non-native settlement in the valley after the decline of the Hohokam. In later years, other nearby settlements would form and merge to become the city of Tempe,^[22] but this community was incorporated after Phoenix.

The history of the city of Phoenix begins with Jack Swilling, a Confederate veteran of the American Civil War (1861–1865), who came west to seek wealth in the 1850s, and worked primarily in Wickenburg. On an outing in 1867, he stopped to rest at the foot of the White Tank Mountains, observed the abandoned river valley, and considered its potential for farming, much like that already cultivated by the military further east, near Fort McDowell. The terrain and climate were optimal; only a regular source of water was necessary. The existence of the old Hohokam ruins, showing clear paths for canals, made Swilling imagine new possibilities. He had a series of canals built, which followed those of the ancient Native American system.^[3][23]

A small community formed that same year about 4 miles (6 km) east of the present city. It was first called Pumpkinville, due to the large pumpkins that flourished in fields along the canals. Later it was called Swilling's Mill in his honor, though later renamed Helling Mill, Mill City, and finally, East Phoenix. Swilling, a former Confederate soldier, wanted to name the city "Stonewall", after General Stonewall Jackson. Others suggested the name "Salina." Neither name, however, was supported by the community. Finally, Lord Darrell Duppa suggested the name "Phoenix", as it described a city born from the ruins of a former civilization.^[3][23]

The Board of Supervisors in Yavapai County, which at the time encompassed Phoenix, officially recognized the new town on May 4, 1868, and formed an election precinct. The first post office was established on June 15, 1868, with Jack Swilling serving as the postmaster. With the number of residents growing (the 1870 U.S. census reported a total Salt River Valley population of 240), a town site needed to be selected. On October 20, 1870, the residents held a meeting to decide where to locate it. A 320 acres (1.3 km²) plot of land was purchased in what is now the downtown business section.^[3]

On February 12, 1871, the territorial legislature created Maricopa County, the sixth one formed in the Arizona Territory, by dividing Yavapai County. The first election for county office was held in 1871, when Tom Barnum was elected the first sheriff. Barnum ran unopposed as the other two candidates, John A. Chenowth and Jim Favorite, had a shootout that ended in Favorite's death and Chenowth withdrawing from the race.^[3]

Several lots of land were sold in 1870 at an average price of $48. The first church opened in 1871, as did the first store. The first public school class was held on September 5, 1872, in the courtroom of the county building. By October 1873, a small school was completed on Center Street (now Central Avenue).^[3] Land entry was recorded by the Florence Land Office on November 19, 1873, and a declaratory statement was filed in the Prescott Land Office on February 15, 1872. President Ulysses S. Grant issued a land patent for the present site of Phoenix on April 10, 1874. The total value of the Phoenix Townsite was $550, with downtown lots selling for between $7 and $11 each.^[3]

By 1875, the town had a telegraph office, sixteen saloons, and four dance halls, but the townsite-commissioner form of government was no longer 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. Those first three trustees were John Smith (Chairman), Charles W. Stearns (treasurer), and Capt. Hancock (secretary).^[3] 1878 saw the opening of the first bank, the National Bank, and by 1880, the town's population stood at 2,453. Later in 1880 the first legal hanging in Maricopa County was held, performed in town.^[23]

Incorporation (1881)

By 1881, Phoenix' continued growth made the existing village structure with a board of trustees obsolete. The 11th Territorial Legislature passed "The Phoenix Charter Bill", incorporating Phoenix and providing for a mayor-council government. The bill was signed by Governor John C. Fremont on February 25, 1881, officially incorporating Phoenix with a population of approximately 2,500. On May 3, 1881, Phoenix held its first city election. Judge John T. Alsap defeated James D. Monihon, 127 to 107, to become the city's first mayor.^[3]

The coming of the railroad in the 1880s was the first of several important events that revolutionized the economy of Phoenix. A spur of the Southern Pacific Railroad, the Phoenix and Maricopa, was extended from Maricopa into Tempe in 1887. Merchandise now flowed into the city by rail instead of wagon. Phoenix became a trade center, with its products reaching eastern and western markets. In response, the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce was organized on November 4, 1888.^[24] Earlier in 1888 the city offices were moved into the new City Hall, at Washington and Central (later the site of the city bus terminal, until Central Station was built in the 1990s).^[3] When the territorial capital was moved from Prescott to Phoenix in 1889 the temporary territorial offices were also located in City Hall.^[23]

The Arizona Republic became a daily paper in 1890, with Ed Gill as its editor. 1891 was marked by the greatest flood in the Valley's history, as well as by the advent of the first telephone system in Phoenix. The Phoenix Street Railway electrified its mule-drawn streetcar lines in 1893, with streetcar service continuing until a 1947 fire. From 1911 to 1926, an interurban line carried passengers and express packages between Glendale and downtown Phoenix. On March 12, 1895, the Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix Railroad ran its first train to Phoenix, connecting it to the northern part of Arizona. The additional railroad sped the capitol city's economic rise. The year 1895 also saw the establishment of Phoenix Union High School, with an enrollment of 90.^[3]

From 1900 to World War II

By the turn of the century, the population of Phoenix had reached 5,554, and the following year, on February 25, 1901, Governor Murphy dedicated the permanent state Capitol building. It was built on a 10 acre site on the west end of Washington Street, at a cost of $130,000.^[3] The Phoenix City Council levied a $5,000,000 tax for a public library after the state legislature, in 1901, passed a bill allowing such a tax to support free libraries. This action satisfied the conditions set by Mr. Andrew Carnegie in his proposal to donate a library building to the city. The Carnegie Free Library would open seven years later, on Feb.18, 1908, dedicated by Benjamin Fowler.^[23]

In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt signed the National Reclamation Act, allowing for dams to be built on western streams for reclamation purposes. Residents were quick to enhance this by organizing the Salt River Valley Water Users' Association (on February 7, 1903), to manage the water and power supply. The agency still exists as part of the Salt River Project.^[25][26] Theodore Roosevelt Dam was started in 1906. It was the first multiple-purpose dam, supplying both water and electric power, to be constructed under the National Reclamation Act. On May 18, 1911, the former President himself dedicated the dam, which was the largest masonry dam in the world, forming several new lakes in the surrounding mountain ranges.^[27]

On February 14, 1912, under President William Howard Taft, Phoenix became the capital of the newly formed state of Arizona.^[27] This occurred just six months after Taft had vetoed, on August 11, 1911, a joint resolution giving Arizona statehood. Taft disapproved of the recall of judges in the state constitution.^[26] Compared to Tucson or Prescott, Phoenix was considered preferable as the capital because of its central location. It was smaller than Tucson, but outgrew that city within the next few decades, to become the state's largest city. Later that day, Phoenix saw the first wedding in the newly named state, when Joe Melczer married Hazel Goldberg, who delayed their wedding by several hours so they could claim the privilege. A three-year-old Barry Goldwater, who would later serve as US Senator from Arizona, and run for President, was the ring-bearer.^[28]

In 1913 Phoenix adopted a new form of government, changing from a mayor-council system to council-manager, making it one of the first cities in the United States with this form of city government. After statehood, Phoenix's growth started to accelerate, and by the end of its first eight years under statehood, Phoenix' population had grown to 29,053. Two thousand were attending Phoenix Union High School. In 1920 Phoenix would see its first skyscraper, the Hearst Building.^[3] In 1928 Scenic Airways, Inc. saw profitability in flights in the Southwest. Scenic General Manager, J. Parker Van Zandt purchased land for Scenic in Phoenix, and named the new airport Sky Harbor, which was formally dedicated on Labor Day in 1929.^[29]

On March 4, 1930 Former President Calvin Coolidge dedicated a dam on the Gila River named in his honor. Because of a long drought the “lake” behind it held no water. Humorist Will Rogers, also a guest speaker, quipped, “If that was my lake I’d mow it.”^[26] Phoenix's population had more than doubled during the 1920s, and now stood at 48,118.^[3]

After the stock market crash, Sky Harbor was sold to another investor, and in 1930 American Airlines brought passenger and air mail service to Phoenix. In 1935 the city of Phoenix would purchase the single runway airport, nicknamed "The Farm" due to its isolation, and it has been owned and operated by the city to this day. During the 1930s couples used to fly into Sky Harbor solely to get married. There was a chapel close to the original terminal, and Arizona was one of the few states that did not have a waiting period for marriage.^[29]

World War II and the post-war years

During World War II, Phoenix's economy shifted to that of a distribution center, rapidly turning into an embryonic industrial city with mass production of military supplies. There were 3 air force fields in the area: Luke Field, Williams Field, and Falcon Field, as well as two large pilot training camps, Thunderbird Field No. 1 in Glendale and Thunderbird Field No. 2 in Scottsdale. These facilities, coupled with the giant ground-training center at Hyder, west of Phoenix, brought thousands of new people into Phoenix.^[3][30][31]

On Thanksgiving night 1942, a brawl at a bar led to MP's arresting a black soldier, followed by a riot of black troops from segregated units. Three men died and eleven were wounded in the riot. Most of the 180 men arrested and jailed were released, but some were court-martialed and sent to military prison.^[32]

German prisoners of war built a secret tunnel at the prisoner-of-war camp which was located at the present site of Papago Park. In the Great Papago Escape of 23 December 1944, 25 men POW's escaped. Local and federal officials took a month to recapture them all.^[33]

During the war, public transportation was overwhelmed by the newcomers at a time when gasoline was rationed to 3 gallons a week and no new autos were built. In 1943, the transit systems operated seventeen streetcars and fifty-five buses. They carried 20,000,000 passengers a year. A fire in 1947 destroyed most of the streetcars, and the city switched to buses.^[34]

Another impetus to the growth of Phoenix was the migration of industry to the Valley of the Sun after World War II. When the war ended, many of the men who had undergone their training in Phoenix returned, and their families came with them. Large industry, learning of this labor pool, started to move branches here.^[35] In 1948 high-tech industry, which would become a staple of the state's economy, arrived in Phoenix when Motorola chose Phoenix for the site of its new research and development center for military electronics. Motorola was attracted by the city's business-friendly attitude, its location within reasonable distance of supply houses in New Mexico and southern California, the potential for engineering programs at Arizona State College (now Arizona State University), and the climate. In time, other high-tech companies such as Intel and McDonnell Douglas would follow Motorola's lead and set up manufacturing operations in the Valley.^[35]

The 1950s through the 1980s

By 1950, over 105,000 people lived within the city and thousands more in surrounding communities. There were 148 miles (238 km) of paved streets and 163 miles (262 km) of unpaved streets.^[3] The 1950s growth was spurred on by advances in air conditioning, which allowed both homes and businesses to offset the extreme heat known to Phoenix during its long summers. Affordable cooling in the decade contributed to a wild building boom. In 1959 alone, Phoenix saw more new construction than it had in the more than three decades from 1914 to 1946.^[35][36]

Over the next several decades, the city and metropolitan area attracted more growth and became a favored tourist destination for its exotic desert setting and recreational opportunities. Nightlife and civic events concentrated along now skyscraper-flanked Central Avenue. In 1960 the Phoenix Corporate Center opened; at the time it was the tallest building in Arizona, topping off at 341 feet.^[37] 1964 saw the completion of the Rozenweig Center, today called Phoenix City Square.^[38] Architect Wenceslaus Sarmiento's largest project, the landmark Phoenix Financial Center (better known by locals as the "Punch-card Building" in recognition of its unique southeastern facade), was also finished in 1964.^[39] In addition to a number of other office towers, many of Phoenix's residential high-rises were built during this decade.

In 1965 the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum was opened on the grounds of the Arizona State Fair, west of downtown, and in 1968, the city was surprisingly awarded the Phoenix Suns NBA franchise,^[40][41] which played its home games at the Coliseum until 1992.^[42] In 1968, the Central Arizona Project was approved by President Lyndon B. Johnson, assuring future water supplies for Phoenix, Tucson, and the agricultural corridor in between.^[43]

In 1971, Phoenix adopted the Central Phoenix Plan, allowing unlimited building heights along Central Avenue, but the plan did not sustain long-term development of the "Central Corridor."^[44] While a few office towers were constructed along North Central during the 1970s, none approached the scope of construction during the previous decade. Instead, the downtown area experienced a resurgence, with a level of construction activity not seen again until the urban real estate boom of the 2000s. By the end of the decade, Phoenix adopted the Phoenix Concept 2000 plan which split the city into urban villages,^[45] each with its own village core where greater height and density was permitted, further shaping the free-market development culture (see Cityscape, below). This officially turned Phoenix into a city of many nodes, which would later be connected by freeways.

After the Salt River flooded in 1980 and damaged many bridges, the Arizona Department of Transportation and Amtrak worked together and temporarily operated a train service, referred to by the Metro Light Rail as the "Hattie B." line, between central Phoenix and the southeast suburbs. It was discontinued because of high operating costs and a lack of interest from local authorities in maintaining funding.^[46]

1990-present

The famous "Phoenix Lights" UFO sightings took place in March 1997. The Baseline Killer and Serial Shooter crime sprees occurred in Phoenix, Tempe, and Mesa. Steele Indian School Park was the site of a mid-air collision between two news helicopters in July 2007. In 2008 Squaw Peak, the second tallest mountain in the city, was officially renamed Piestewa Peak after Army Specialist Lori Ann Piestewa, an Arizona native who was the first Native American woman to die in combat with the U.S. military, and the first American female casualty in the 2003 Iraq War.^[47]

Phoenix has maintained a growth streak in recent years, growing by 24.2% before 2007. This made it the second-fastest-growing metropolitan area in the United States following only Las Vegas, whose population had grown by 29.2% in that time.^[48] In 2008, Phoenix was one of the hardest hit by the Subprime mortgage crisis. In early 2009, the median home price was $150,000, down from its $262,000 peak in recent years.^[49] Crime rates in Phoenix have gone down in recent years and once troubled, decaying neighborhoods such as South Mountain, Alhambra, and Maryvale have recovered and stabilized. Recently Downtown Phoenix and the central core have experienced renewed interest and growth, resulting in numerous restaurants, stores and businesses opening or relocating to central Phoenix.^[50]