Featured Stories
Building South Mountain
The Great Depression had a profound impact on the United States as well as greater Phoenix. In an effort to confront the economic and social costs of the Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt argued for a New Deal in which the federal…
Mesa Arizona Temple
Prior to the construction of the Mesa Arizona Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, church members wishing to marry in a temple were required to make the grueling journey on the “Honeymoon Trail.” The trail was named “Honeymoon”…
Wigwam Auto Court
The use of Teepee designs for mid-century hotels was inaugurated by architect Frank A. Redford in Kentucky in 1933. This style of roadside hotel architectural style quickly captured the popular imagination and spread Westward across the country…
Recent Stories
Sanctuary, But For Whom?
Sanctuary Resort on Camelback Mountain sits beneath The Praying Monk, a rock formation perched upon the proverbial camel’s head. This monk has been in a state of pious meditation since long before humans resided in the Salt River Valley. If this…
Mecca for the Wealthy
Forty-five years before The Sanctuary Resort on Camelback Mountain opened its doors as a luxurious paradisiacal resort, the property's story began in 1956 as the Paradise Valley Racquet Club. Created during the greatest boom in Arizona’s…
The Center of Mesa Revitalization
When walking through downtown Mesa, the relatively small-scale streets and buildings have a quaint feeling that do not hint to Arizona’s largest arts center sitting squarely downtown on Main and Center Street. However, once you get within a block of…
The Parkway Theater
At the conclusion of World War II, a couple by the names of Joe and Alice Woods would purchase the building from the Chandler Improvement Company and convert it into the Parkway Theater; one out of three theaters that the couple would own in their…
Phoenix's Drive-in Church
Completed in 1965 by architect E Logan Campbell, the Glass and Garden Drive-in Church redefined the traditional church- going experience. Designed to accommodate Arizonans inclined to stay in their vehicles, the creation of the church reflected the…
Enchantment
The first president of the Phoenix Parks and Recreation Board, William Hartranft, modeled the city's Encanto Park after San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. In so doing, Hartranft channeled the vision of Frederick Law Olmsted, an American landscape…
Salt River Stories
A project by Arizona State University & Mark TebeauSalt River Stories brings the history, cultures, and communities of the Valley of the Sun, the Phoenix-Scottsdale-Tempe metro area to your fingertips. Salt River Stories is created by students & faculty at Arizona State University in collaboration with the community. It is powered by Omeka + Curatescape, a humanities-centered web and mobile framework available for both Android and iOS devices.
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