In the early 1900s, ranch schools became popular in the Western United States. This was largely due to the example of President Theodore Roosevelt, whose success was attributed to his rough experiences in the West. Arizona led the nation in the…

Although the first school in Mesa started in 1879, few children went to school past the age of 12 or 13. Mesa didn’t start a high school class until 1899. They held the class in the upstairs of the Old North School. Mesa Union High School District…

The Irving School stands in the Town Center area of Mesa at 155 North Center Street. It was built in the same location that the old North School stood for 37 years. It was named after the American writer Washington Irving. Designed by architect…

The Phoenix Hebrew Academy is an Orthodox Jewish day school in north central Phoenix, Arizona. The Academy was founded in 1965 by Rabbi David Rebibo. Rabbi Rebibo has served as the Dean of Students since its inception. It is the first Jewish day…

Any great city needs a first rate library as a part of its cultural accouterments. The Civic Center Library found in Downtown Scottsdale, with its beautiful physical aesthetic, fulfills this requirement and then some. The library opened in 1968 and…

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 intersection of Main and Center street has been at the heart of Mesa's history for over a century. Now home to the Mesa Arts Center, conceived Mesa's firs shopping center was built in 1908 by A.J. Chandler on the corner of Main and…

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…

Built in 1908, the current University Club building is open only to exclusive members and their guests. If you want to waltz your way into a delicious meal or some afternoon tea, you must be current or retired faculty, staff, alumni, a member of the…

Looking at the beautiful brick building that still fits perfectly in the modern world, it is hard to imagine that for decades Old Main was the largest building in the Valley at only three stories tall. Old Main was built in 1898, when Arizona was…

As grand as Old Main and just as significant, the building formerly known as the Industrial Arts Building stands as a testament to the growth of Arizona State University from classical education to the research university it is today. When ASU…

Large crowds gathered at Scottsdale Grammar School #2 when it opened in October 1928, just in time for the fall school term. It was an event that deserved a celebration as Scottsdale was quickly growing, and the new school was a symbol of the…

Built in 1909, Scottsdale’s Little Red Schoolhouse is a testament to the Progressive values, attitudes, and aesthetics that shaped the growing community at the turn-of-the-century, and women and children were at the center of it. Middle-class values…