Phoenix, Arizona

Beginnings

Phoenix began in 1867 as an agricultural community on the Salt River. After redigging the prehistoric Indian canals, Jack Swilling raised crops for nearby army and mining camps. Development increased with additional canals, especially the 41-mile Arizona Canal (1885), which opened substantial lands to cultivation. Arrival of the Southern Pacific in 1887 and the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe railroads in 1895 brought the community connections and increased prosperity. Government offices further boosted the young city's economy. Incorporated in 1881, Phoenix garnered the territorial Insane Asylum (1888) and a federal Indian boarding school (1891); most significantly, it became the territorial capital in 1889.

A brick factory, constructed in 1879, enabled those in Phoenix to build a modern-looking community, with commercial and residential buildings influenced by eastern styles. By the 1890s, Phoenix boasted numerous Victorian homes, electricity, telephones, and streetcars. Together with establishing schools and various social institutions, residents perceived their community as successfully civilizing the frontier. Phoenix also established itself as the commercial hub of central Arizona, supporting an active Board of Trade and a substantial range of businesses, professions, and skilled trades, and by 1900, its population numbered 5,544 persons.

After a flood in 1891 and drought during subsequent years, leaders in Phoenix persuaded the federal government to fund the Roosevelt dam (1911) and three additional dams in the 1920s. This provided flood control, hydroelectric power, and water for agriculture and the population. City growth during the early 20th century produced a discernable downtown, with hotels and department stores, movie theaters, and a library. The popularity of cars encouraged street paving and the construction of lower density suburbs, which were soon annexed. Seeking to promote a moral climate, residents of Phoenix cultivated schools, churches, and social clubs; they struggled to repress prostitution and gambling; and they led successful state campaigns for women's suffrage (1912) and Prohibition (1914). Complaints about government efficiency and honesty produced a new, progressive city charter in 1913, with a commission-manager form of government. In 1921, the commission adopted the city's first plan, proposing new government building, parks, and enhanced transportation, including an airport, which opened in 1929.

Immigration also grew in the 1890s because Phoenix's climate attracted persons with pulmonary health problems. Three hospitals were built by 1911, all focusing on “lungers,” and many ailing migrants lived in tent communities outside the city. (Phoenix continued to draw health seekers throughout the 20th century, despite improvements in medical and social services elsewhere.) Seeking new economic stimuli, in 1919 city boosters began promoting tourism, organizing a national advertising campaign in 1924, and in 1934 they coined the more appealing name “Valley of the Sun” to describe Phoenix. Several new hotels, notably the Arizona Biltmore, catered to wealthy [Page 573]winter visitors, as did establishing regular air passenger service to the city. Tourism continued growing during the 1930s and, aided by various federal programs, so did Phoenix.

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