HISTORIC KEY EVENTS

1883

The Arizona Canal is built through the Scottsdale area.

1896

The olive trees planted by Winfield were not on his homestead land. As with citrus trees, he acted as a tree 'broker' and imported thousands of citrus, olive and other fruiting trees. (By the way, a large number of these trees were transplanted in teh 1960s out to Paolo Soleri's Cosanti in Paradise Valley)

1888

Chaplain Winfield Scott visits the valley in February. In July he makes a down payment of 50 cents per acre for a section of land extending east from Scottsdale Road and Indian School Road to Hayden Road, north to Chaparral Road, west to Scottsdale Road, then south back to Indian School Road. He deeds that portion of the property north of the canal back to the government because he cannot irrigate it with water from the canal. The total cost of the property is $2.50 per acre.

1889

Chaplain Scott asks his brother, George Washington Scott, to move to the property to start clearing the land for farming. Chaplain Scott asks to be transferred to Fort Huachuca in southern Arizona so he can be closer to his farm.

1893

Chaplain Scott's old Civil War wounds begin to make it difficult for him to continue as Army Chaplain. He retires and settles on his farm.

1894

The section of land just south of the Scott property is bought by Rhode Island banker, Albert G. Utley. He plans to sub-divide the 40 acres on the northwest corner of the property into a town site he plans to name Orangedale. For some unknown reason, the town site is changed to Scottsdale.

1895

The week before Christmas, a tragic house fire destroys all the Scott's belongings. All of Scott's books and papers are destroyed. His wife, Helen Scott, also loses the few reminders she has of her New York home. Fortunately, no one is injured.

1896

Scott plants olive trees around the perimeter of a citrus grove between Scottsdale Road and Civic Center Boulevard and Second Street and Osborn Road. A few of the trees still stand along Civic Center Boulevard and 2nd Street near the hospital.
By the summer of this year, with enough students moving into the area, Winfield Scott and some of the first settlers petition the Maricopa County School Board Supervisor to form a school district. School District #48 is formed and named Scotts-Dale. Scott, John Tait and Frank Titus are appointed by the community to the first school board. In September, the men of the community meet and build the one-room schoolhouse east of the present Scottsdale Historical Museum.

1897

J.L. Davis builds a wood frame building on the corner of Brown Avenue and Main Street. It is the first store in Scottsdale.

1898

Winfield Scott is elected to the Territorial House of Representatives.

1902

John Rubenstein "Popcorn John", mail carrier, shoots and kills Peter Johnson and Amos Nigh on Scott's property. Their hay wagons are blocking the place where Rubenstein wants to park his buggy and eat his lunch. These are the first murders in the small community.

1903

Scott is appointed as chancellor of the Tempe Normal School of Arizona (Now Arizona State University)

1909

The student population has outgrown the original one-room schoolhouse. The red brick building that houses the Scottsdale Historical Museum is built for $4,500. The Bond Issue vote had approved up to $5,000, so it came under budget.
E.O.Brown replaces J.L. Davis's 1896 wood frame store with a cement block building.
The Ingleside Inn is opened near the intersection of 60th Street and Indian School Road.

1910

Winfield Scott dies in a hospital in Phoenix on October 19 from complications from his old Civil War wounds. Mrs. Scott lives until 1933. They are buried in San Diego.
George Cavalliere builds his blacksmith shop at the corner of Second Street and Brown Avenue. The city fathers say they do not want a "smelly, dirty, and noisy" blacksmith shop on Main Street. He can build it on the "outskirts" of town where it "won't bother anyone".
The US Census lists the population for “Scottsville” as 267.  Phoenix has a population of 11,134.

1912

The Baptist Church is formed in Scottsdale. Prior to this time, the church services are ecumenical.

1917

Cotton farming becomes very important to the community during World War I. Cotton was an important component in rubber tires. Mexican immigrant families are sponsored to help in the cotton fields. The Tomas Corral family is one of the first Mexican families to arrive in Scottsdale. Mr. Corral opens an adobe brickyard near where the Center for the Arts now stands. During the Depression, Mrs. Corral sells tamales door to door. Today, the Corral family owns Los Olivos Patio Restaurant on the corner of Second Street and Wells Fargo. It is named for the olive trees that were on Second Street.

1918

The Pima Indians tie up their wagons on First Avenue. When businesses are first built on First Avenue, the street is called Pima Plaza for them.

1920

Two buildings are built south and east of the Red Brick School House. There are six teachers and 410 students in the school. E.O. Brown adds a much appreciated ice house to the back of his store. The town continues to grow. Brown's Scottsdale Ginning Company begins operating on Second Street south of Brown Avenue. E. O. Brown was a partner with Mort Kimsey incorporating Scottsdale Light and Power Company and buys power from Arizona Falls generating plant. The number of businesses increases from three to nine. Joining E.O. Brown's General Store are Johnny Rose's Pool Hall, McComb Brothers, Farmer's State Bank, A.F. Mahoney Mercantile, Sterling Drug, Herron and Walker Barbershop, Eckley's Soft Drink Emporium and Stage Office and Kubelsky's Clothing Store (originally the Boston Store). E.O. Brown also owned the domestic water company that served the downtown area and was the primary investor in the Farmer's State Bank. E. O. Brown was a partner with Mort Kimsey in the Scottsdale Light and Power Company. He also owned the domestic water company that served the downtown area and was the primary investor in the Farmer's State Bank.
The US Census lists the population of Scottsdale as 1,047 and of Phoenix as 29,053.

1922

The first newspaper, Scottsdale Bulletin, is published by Roy George.
L.O. Duross is appointed first superintendent of the Scottsdale School District.

1923

Scottsdale High School is built on Indian School Road. There are three students in the first graduating class.
Johnny Rose razes his store and builds a new two-story, white-glazed, brick building on the site at the corner of Brown Avenue and Main Street.

1924

The Scottsdale Methodist Church is established.

1928

Scottsdale Grammar School--later known as Loloma School--is built on the corner of Second Street and Marshall Way. The name "Scottsdale Grammar School" had first been given to the Little Red Schoolhouse and was transferred to the new school. Garland White is the first principal.
The red brick schoolhouse on Main Street becomes known as Coronado School. It is a community center and school for the first three grades. Grace Thomas Crews teaches at the school from 1929 to 1957. There were Post Office in the back of stores intially but the first building dedicated to being post office is built on Brown Avenue. It is now the site of Porter's Western Shop.

1929

J. Chew Song buys Johnny Rose's store. It later becomes Mexican Imports run by the Song family.

1930

The US Census lists the population of Scottsdale as 2,761 and of Phoenix as 48,118.

1933

The Farmer's State Bank closes March 2 for a "bank holiday" called by Governor B.B. Moeur. It never reopens.
Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church is built at the corner of First Street and Brown Avenue from adobe made by the Corrals.

1937

Frank Lloyd Wright sets up a rustic outdoor camp at the base of the McDowell Mountain. It later becomes known as Taliesin West.
Four inches of snow fall in Scottsdale January 20.

1940

The US Census does not list a population for Scottsdale due to a change in reporting but list the population of Phoenix as 65,414.

1941

Malcolm White buys a service station at the southeast corner of Main Street and Scottsdale Road. He turns it into Whitey's Cafe and Bar. He later builds a movie theater on Main Street. The building has a false front, a wooden sidewalk and hitching rails. They are still there.

1942

Thunderbird Field II was built by a private consortium that included Hollywood celebrities. It initially trained pilots from foreign countries and then expanded to train US Army pilots.

1944

Christmas Eve several German prisoners of war escape from the Prisoner of War Camp on 64th Street South of Thomas Road through a tunnel they had dug.

1947

With the help of Tom Darlington and K.T. Palmer, Mathilde Schaefer, Lew Davis, Philip Sanderson, Lloyd Kiva New, Wes Segner and Leonard Yuschik establishes Arizona Craft Center in the E.O. Brown building at the southwest corner of Main Street and Brown Avenue.
The Village Patio, Scottsdale's first shopping center, opens on the north side of Main Street with three stores.
The Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce is incorporated.  Soon the Chamber creates the slogan for Scottsdale of “The West’s Most Western Town”.

1948

Lou Witzman starts Rural Metro Fire Department, a private company that served Scottsdale through the years.
James H. Boyd first publishes the Scottsdale Progress as a weekly newspaper.

1950

The Arizona Craft Center is destroyed by fire. With the help of Mrs. Fowler McCormick of farm implement fame, Lloyd Kiva New and Wes Segner begin building on two acres west of Scottsdale Road on Craftman's Court.
The US Census population of Scottsdale is 2,032 and of Phoenix is 106,818.

1951

The town of Scottsdale is incorporated. The town council appointed on July 2 includes Malcolm White, Jack Sweeney, Bill Miller, E.G. Scott (no relation to the Chaplain) and Mort Kimsey. Malcolm White is appointed as mayor by the town council. Hurley Pruitt is the first town marshal. The town signs its first contract with Rural Metro Fire Department for $4,260 per year.
Population for the incorporated town: 1,200 This incorporation included only about 1 square mile, and did not include the area-wide population that had been attributed to Scottsdale in the 1950 Census. This would become a major issue in the 1960 Census where the official number counted only those within the incorporated area and did not include homes and people that would be annexed into the city within two years.

1953

The Scottsdale Jaycees take over the Sunshine Festival and rename it Parada del Sol.
The old bank is bought and is turned into the Rusty Spur Saloon. The bank vault is used to store the liquor.

1954

A second Motorola plant was opened at the southwest corner of 52nd Street and McDowell, just over a mile from Scottsdale.

1955

The first Scottsdale Stadium is built on the corner of Civic Center Boulevard and Osborn Road. The Baltimore Orioles started playing in the Scottsdale Stadium in January of 1956, and was the third team in what became the Cactus League.

1956

The Hotel Valley Ho is opened in December by Robert Lawrence Foehl and his wife Evelyn.
The Safari Hotel opened on Scottsdale Road.

1957

Motorola opens on McDowell Road.

1959

Paul Messinger opens Messinger's Mortuary, Scottsdale's first, on the corner of Miller Road and Indian School Road.
A shopping center opens on the northwest corner of Scottsdale Road and Camelback Road with a Bayless Grocery, Ryan-Evans drugstore, and a liquor store.  Goldwaters’ Department Store follows in 1961, and later Joe Hunt’s Steak House opens.  This area is now Fashion Square.
The Parada del Sol Rodeo Grounds moves to a location just east of the Scottsdale Stadium and north of the Boys and Girls Club

1960

Population: 10,026 (although the population of the area that would be annexed in the next 4 years was actually about 29,600 in 1960) (Phoenix has 434,277) / Land Area: 3.8 square miles.

1962

The Town of Scottsdale passes a city charter and becomes the City of Scottsdale.
An ordinance is passed by the city council prohibiting the erection of new billboards. This is the forerunner to a 1965 ordinance that regulates the size and placement of signs.
The Scottsdale Baptist Hospital is built on the corner of Osborn Road and Civic Center Boulevard. It later becomes the Scottsdale Memorial Hospital and then the Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn Campus. The Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn Campus is now the Honor Health Osborn Campus.

1962-1964

Sewer service is introduced to southern parts of the city.

1965

Bennie Gonzales is hired to design the City Hall, Civic Center, Library, and later the Scottsdale Arts Center, all to be connected by a walking mall and gardens.
A Special Census lists the population of Scottsdale as 54,504.

1967

Eldorado Park, Scottsdale's first major park, is built.  This is the prototype for what would become the Indian Bend Wash greenbelt.
McCormick Ranch is annexed.
Scottsdale Airpark opens on the site of World War II's Thunderbird Field on north Scottsdale Road.
Indian Bend Wash floods. With no bridges, traffic is kept from crossing the Wash. Schools are closed.
Scottsdale becomes one of the first cities in Arizona to adopt a General Plan.

1968

The new City Hall and Civic Center Library are opened.

1965-1974

Several-hundred citizens join together to form the Scottsdale Town Enrichment Program (STEP Forum) and develop a wide range of visions and programs for the city.  Ideas such as the greenbelt, trails and bikeways, the Civic Center, a General Plan, and the Resort Corridor are among the many important contributions of this collaboration.

1968

A group of "Old Timers" form the fledgling Scottsdale Historical Society and gather over 1,500 signatures in a petition to save the Little Red Schoolhouse.

1969

Los Arcos Mall opens on McDowell Road at Scottsdale Road with Sears and Broadway department stores and a two theatre complex.  It closes in 1998.

1970

The Scottsdale Community College is opened on the Salt River Indian Community to the east of Scottsdale.
Rawhide Western Town attraction opened on the southeast corner of Pinnacle Peak Road and Scottsdale Road.  It grew to be one of the top five attractions in Arizona.  It is currently located on the Gila River Reservation near Chandler.
In the Labor Day flood the Indian Bend Wash flows almost 1,000 feet wide and the Arizona Canal breaks and floods Scottsdale neighborhoods.
Population: 67,841 (Phoenix has 580,275) / Land Area: 62.2 square miles.

1971

The Scottsdale Historical Society is formed. The city wants to tear down the red brick schoolhouse for the expansion of the mall area. The building becomes known as the "Little Red Schoolhouse". Money is raised to preserve the building by selling slates with the "Little Red Schoolhouse" logo on them.
The Chamber of Commerce offers to help raise money to save and preserve the "Little Red Schoolhouse". The City Council decides to provide public water service.  At this time the water service north of Chaparral Road was provided by private water companies while to the south was mostly provided by the City of Phoenix.
Development is started on the McCormick Ranch and Fountain Hills.

1972

The Chamber of Commerce signs a 25 year lease with the city for the "Little Red Schoolhouse" for $1.00 a year.

1973

The Indian Bend Wash Green Belt project begins.  It is completed in 1984 and was built with Federal, State, County, and private funds.
City social services are set up at Vista del Camino.
The Scottsdale Senior Center is built at the corner of Second Street and Wells Fargo. The center is later relocated near the corner of McDowell Road and Granite Reef, and the original building is sold in 2011 to Scottsdale Healthcare

1974

The Scottsdale Symphony is formed with Irving Fleming as director.

1975

The “East Shea” area, located near Fountain Hills, is annexed.
In a Special Census, the population of Scottsdale is 78,000 / Land Area: 88.6 square miles

1980

Molly the Trolly system comes to Scottsdale. Visitors and residents are transported to the shopping areas and hotels around the town.
Population: 88,412 (Phoenix has 789,704) / Land Area: 88.6 square miles.

1981

The city begins four years of annexation that nearly doubles its size.
Development at Gainey Ranch and Scottsdale Ranch is approved.

1982

The Desert Highlands and Pinnacle Peak Village East (now Troon Village) residential projects begin.

1985

United Cable Television comes to Scottsdale. Loloma School is bought for their headquarters. The Scottsdale Historical Society is given space for an office and displays.
The Scottsdale Princess and Gainey Ranch Hyatt resorts are opened.

1986

Development of Horseman’s Park at Westworld for horse shows begins.

1987

Scottsdale completes the water treatment plant and begins using Colorado River water from the Central Arizona Project.
The Mayo Clinic branch campus opens.

1989

The Scottsdale Historical Society opens a small historical museum in the Scottsdale Financial Center on the site of Chaplain Scott's farm.

1990

Population: 130,069 (Phoenix is 983,403) / Land Area: 185.2 square miles.

1991

The Chamber of Commerce moves to larger quarters on the Scottsdale Mall. The Scottsdale Historical Society opens the Scottsdale Historical Museum in the "Little Red Schoolhouse.

1992

Major expansion of Scottsdale Fashion Square is started and incorporates the Camelview Plaza and Camelback Square centers.
The Scottsdale Historical Society opens the History Museum in the Little Red Schoolhouse.

1994

Citizens vote to create the McDowell Sonoran Desert Preserve with the intent to set aside nearly one-third of the city land area as untouched natural desert.

1995

The Special Census population for Scottsdale is 167,277.

2000

Population: 202,705 (Phoenix is 1,277,621) / Land Area: 185.2 square miles.

2001

The Loop 101 Pima Freeway is completed through Scottsdale.

2005

The Special Census population for Scottsdale is 226,395 (Phoenix is 1,510,777).

2009

The Gateway Trailhead at Scottsdale’s McDowell Sonoran Preserve is opened at Thompson Peak Parkway in North Scottsdale.

2010

Population: 217,385, Land Area 185.2 square miles.