The Temple is decorated on its corners with frieze panels that depict Latter-day Saint beliefs about the gathering of Israel from the four corners of the earth as prophesied by Isaiah in the Old Testament of the Bible. A.B. Wright crafted the…

The city of Mesa enjoys a 90 year history of Baseball. With the Chicago Cubs and Oakland Athletics thrilling crowds from late February through early April every year, it can be easy to forget that the sport of baseball has made its presence know for…

Until 2016, the Chicago Cubs have been America’s lovable losers for over a century. For 35 of those years, the Chicago Cubs spent their springs preparing for a grueling season just west of Center Street in North Mesa. Hohokam Stadium opened in the…

The first visitors’ center for the Mesa Temple consisted of a small table and literature racks set up at the temple’s west entrance in the late 1940s. This set-up was soon found to be inadequate and a permanent structure, the Bureau of Information…

The Phoenix Suns played their inaugural NBA season in 1968-1969. Prior to the start of the season, the Suns and the Los Angeles Lakers played a series of exhibition games around the state to generate publicity for the team. On October 1, 1968 the…

The Vance Auditorium was built in 1904 by John Thomas Vance. People all around Mesa came to the dances. At the time of its construction, it was the biggest auditorium in the southwest. In 1919, Vance sold the building to the Maricopa Stake of The…

The arrest and conviction of Ernesto Miranda, as well as the subsequent overturning of that conviction on appeal, introduced the nation to “Miranda Rights.” Buried in the City of Mesa Cemetery on Center and Brown. Ernesto Arturo Miranda was born…

Prior to the construction of the Mesa Arizona Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), church members wishing to marry in a temple were required to make the grueling journey on the “Honeymoon Trail.” The trail was named…

An iconic blonde in blue swimsuit stands at the heart of Mesa's identity. The 78 foot tall neon light lady lit up the Starlite Motel. Owners Elmo and Richard Kaesler added the sign--now a classic piece of roadside American architecture from the…