Featured Stories
A Cotton Growing Community
The original pioneers settled in the area around the current city of Peoria in about 1886. Settlers started planting a variety of plants to see what would grow best. Additionally, early farmers raised horses and cattle, sheep, hogs, and grew grains…
Valley National Bank (Tempe)
Valley National Bank served the Valley from its founding in 1900 through 1992. During this time, the Bank's iconic logo was a common sight throughout the Valley and its branches often had iconic architectural design. The Tempe branch was located…
Alma School Station
Settled by Mormon pioneers in 1880, “Stringtown” emerged as one of Mesa's earliest settlements-a linear district running south for a couple of miles along present-day Alma School Road. Settlers dug an extension of the Mesa Canal canal bringing…
Recent Stories
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…
The New Windsor Hotel
The New Windsor Hotel is a survivor in downtown Phoenix. It was built in 1893 and had several remodels and name changes such as “The Windsor” and “The Sixth Avenue Hotel.” The hotel survived gentrification and was accepted in the National Register…
Ecology and Tourism in the Southwest
The Desert Botanical Garden emerged as an antidote to the agricultural and economic development of Phoenix. A dedicated group of Phoenix residents, concerned about the city’s sprawling expansion and the increasing destruction of the surrounding…
The Desert Botanical Garden
Founded in 1939, the Desert Botanical Garden has helped to change the way Phoenicians see the Sonoran Desert. As Phoenix began to grow in the 1920s, many residents saw the desert as a blighted landscape in need of improvement. Local politicians and…
Sun City: A Revolution
Sun City revolutionized housing and retirement in the United States. It became the nation's largest and most successful retirement development and contributed to a new formulation in how Americans thought about life during retirement. It provided…
The Sahara Motor Inn
Built by an investement group that was led by prominent Phoenicians Marion Isbell and Del Webb, the Sahara Motor Inn opened in 1955. It became one of the signature hotels of the Ramada Inn motel chain during the 1960s and served a generation of…
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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