Chandlers History In 1891, Dr. Alexander John Chandler, the first veterinary surgeon in Arizona Territory, settled on a ranch south of Mesa, studying irrigation engineering. By 1900, he had acquired 18,000 acres of land and began drawing up plans for a townsite on...

Gilbert owes its beginnings to William "Bobby" Gilbert, who provided land to the Arizona Eastern Railway in 1902 to construct a rail line between Phoenix and Florence, Arizona. Ayer's Grocery Store, the first store in Gilbert, opened in 1910 and became the location of...

Scottsdale Early History The area that would become Scottsdale was originally inhabited by the Hohokam, from approximately 300 BC to 1450 AD. This ancient civilization farmed the area and developed a complex network of canals for irrigation which was unsurpassed in...

TEMPE’S EARLY HISTORY:   The Hohokam lived in this area and built canals to support their agriculture. They abandoned their settlements during the 15th century, with a few individuals and families remaining nearby.   Following the establishment of Fort McDowell...

The History Phoenix, the capital of Arizona, is as colorful as the ancient peoples, immigrants and settlers who mold it.  The Ho Ho Kam people inhabited what is now Greater Phoenix until about 1450 A.D. They created the first major urban civilization in the Salt River...