Rail service came to Mesa in December 1895, when the Maricopa & Phoenix &
Salt River Valley Railroad began running trains between Mesa and Tempe. For
years Mesa passengers changed trains in Tempe or Phoenix if they were
leaving the Salt River Valley. In 1926, the Southern Pacific routed its main
line through Mesa. Regular passenger service to Mesa ended in 1958. The
Robson Street depot was closed in 1982 and destroyed by fire in 1989.
1898: Turning On The Lights
Mesa acquired electricity in 1898, when a hydroelectric power plant was
built on the new Crosscut Canal. At first the power was used only for
streetlights. Later it was sold to businesses and residents, who suffered
periodic blackouts when the canal ran low. Two years later, service was
improved by a steam generating plant. In 1917, the private utility company
was purchased by the city, which has supplied power to residents ever since.
1902: Telephones for Mesa
Telephone service came to Mesa in 1902, when Consolidated Telephone set up a
switchboard in the rear of a local store. By 1924, when the company was
called Mountain States Telephone & Telegraph, there were only 780 telephones
in Mesa. Local switchboards were phased out after 1949, when direct-dial
service became available. Mountain States was later acquired by Mountain
Bell.
1908: Vance Auditorium
The Vance Auditorium opened on Valentine’s Day in 1908. Advertised as the
largest hall of its kind in Arizona, it was Mesa’s most important gathering
place for many years as it was the scene of dances, theater productions and
speeches by visiting politicians. In 1919, the building was purchased by the
LDS Maricopa Stake, which later renamed it the Mezona—a contraction of Mesa
and Arizona. In 1971, the hall was torn down and replaced by the
Mezona Motel.
1909: Mesa High School
Mesa Union High School opened its first building at 2nd Avenue and Center in
1909, after holding classes in temporary facilities for ten years. The
school’s motto, “Carry On,” was inspired by the last words spoken by a
student before his accidental death in 1932. The “Old Main” building was
destroyed by fire in 1967. Five years later, in 1972, Mesa High was moved to
a new location on Southern Avenue.
1911: Roosevelt Dam
On March 18, 1911, former President Theodore Roosevelt pushed a button to
release water from the reservoir behind Roosevelt Dam. It was the first
large-scale irrigation project to be financed by the federal government, and
it provided a stable water supply for both agricultural and urban use.
Roosevelt Dam and the Salt River Project paved the way for the phenomenal
growth of Mesa and other Salt River Valley communities during the twentieth
century.
1912: Cotton Farming
One of Mesa’s earliest cotton gins was built by the Egyptian Cotton Company
in 1912. Soon thousands of acres of land were planted with cotton. Mesa
celebrated this new industry in 1919 with the King Kotton Karnival and a
meeting of the Arizona Cotton Congress. The cotton boom was followed by lean
years after prices fell in 1920. Eventually the market stabilized and cotton
joined citrus as an important crop for Mesa farmers.
1912: CarsCome To Town
In 1912, the first year of Arizona statehood, there were 109 automobiles and
trucks in Mesa, one for every 15 residents. Within a few years, enough cars
were on the road to raise concerns about traffic enforcement. A police
officer was stationed on the Mesa-Tempe highway in 1916, parking meters were
installed on Main Street in 1946 and Mesa’s first traffic light was erected
in 1950. Six years later, in 1956, Arizona’s first automobile show was held
in Mesa.
1914: Farmers Paradise
Agriculture in Mesa was more than just citrus and cotton. Mesa farmers also
raised grain, melons, alfalfa, grapes, nuts and vegetables. Livestock, dairy
and poultry farming were important as well. In 1914, the University of
Arizona established a research station on Main Street, just west of Alma
School Road. Until it was closed in 1983, the station tested new crops and
helped local farmers improve their irrigation and farming methods.
1914: Apache Trail
The road connecting Roosevelt Dam with Mesa was completed in 1904, but it
was not until 1914 that it was called the Apache Trail. The new name
originated with the Southern Pacific Railroad, which carried tourists over
the road in automobiles and wanted a colorful name to attract customers.
Along with El Portal Hotel, which opened in 1928, the Apache Trail started
Mesa’s tourism industry. By 1952, tourism was the city’s second-largest
industry.
1916: Escobedo Neighborhood
In 1916, the Verde Vista subdivision was created, offering
Mexican Americans their first real opportunity to buy homes in the Mesa
area. Located north of University between Sirrine and Pasadena, Verde Vista
grew rapidly in the 1920s. The center of Mesa’s Mexican-American community,
it was home to a mixture of residences and small businesses. Later it was
called the Escobedo neighborhood, after a local housing project of the same
name built in the 1940s.
1917: Women's Club
The Woman’s Club of Mesa was founded in 1917 to sponsor civic, cultural and
philanthropic activities. Club members helped support Mesa’s first library,
led a safety campaign to cover open irrigation ditches, offered aid to needy
families during the Depression, and raised money for local hospitals and
other charitable organizations. The Woman’s Club building on Macdonald
Street was built in 1931 and is listed on the National Register of Historic
Places.
1920: Washington Community
African Americans came to Mesa starting in the early 1900s, but
discrimination kept them from owning homes in the original townsite. The
first housing subdivision to welcome them as buyers and residents was the
Mitchell Addition, created in 1920 on land north of University and east of
Center. Together with another subdivision, Tuskegee Place, it soon became
known as the Washington neighborhood, after the school of the same name.
1920: New City Buildings
In 1920, Mesa built its first modern fire station. Located on Macdonald
Street, the station was part of a civic center that also included a city
hall constructed in 1912. The hall was demolished in 1937 to make way for a
new city hall, library and police station built with funds from the Works
Progress Administration (WPA). The fire station remained in use until 1963.
The 1937 city hall is now part of the Arizona Museum of Natural History.
1920: Southside Hospital
Mesa’s first community hospital was established in 1920, when a group of
citizens purchased a home at Main Street and Hibbert and converted it into a
hospital. In 1923, it was incorporated as Southside District Hospital. It
moved into a new building in 1935 and continued to grow steadily. In 1973,
after merging with Phoenix’s Good Samaritan Hospital, Southside was closed
and replaced by Desert Samaritan Hospital near Southern and Dobson.
1927: Arizona Mormon Temple
On October 23, 1927, Salt River Valley Mormons dedicated the Arizona Temple,
whose design was inspired by Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem. Planning and
fund raising for the project had started in 1912. Upon its completion, local
Mormons no longer had to travel to Utah to be married. The Easter service
held on the temple grounds began in 1938. The building was rededicated in
1975 after a major renovation.
1927: Mesa Grande
Fearing the loss of an archaeological treasure, the Mesa Chamber of Commerce
campaigned in 1927 for the city to buy and preserve Mesa Grande, a Hohokam
ruin located northeast of the original Mesa townsite. The city declined to
purchase the ruin and it remained in private hands. Fortunately the site was
voluntarily preserved by its owners, and archaeologists were later able to
conduct research at Mesa Grande. The city eventually acquired the ruin in
1987.
1930: Expanding City Limits
During its first fifty years, Mesa’s incorporated area remained within the
original one-mile-square townsite. This changed in 1930, when the city
annexed six subdivisions and doubled in size. Since then Mesa has grown
steadily, especially after the Second World War. In 1950, the city was just
over six square miles in area and had a population of nearly 17,000. By
2000, it was 125 square miles in area and had 396,375 residents.
1931: Citrus Fair
By the early 1890s, several citrus orchards had been planted on the
outskirts of Mesa. From those simple beginnings grew one of the city’s most
important industries. Thousands of acres were planted with oranges, lemons
and grapefruit, and packing sheds and warehouses were built. In 1931, the
Salt River Valley Citrus Fair was started in Mesa. It was later combined
with the Maricopa County Fair, which was held at the Mesa Civic Center until
1959.
1935: New Deal for Mesa
In December 1935, men hired by the federal Works Progress
Administration began building a new library and city hall for Mesa. Over the
next six years, many projects in the city were built by the WPA, which
provided jobs to unemployed men. These included improvements to the Lehi and
old Franklin schools, an addition to Southside Hospital, swimming facilities
at Rendezvous Park and several miles of new concrete sidewalks and paved
streets.
1937: Public Library
Mesa’s library found its first permanent home in 1937, when it moved into
the new Mesa city hall at 1st Street and Macdonald. Opened in 1906 as a free
reading room, the library at first was run by volunteers and housed in a
series of downtown commercial buildings. In 1926, the city of Mesa took over
the library’s management. The library moved to 1st Street and Sirrine in
1960, and a new building was constructed on 1st Street near Centennial Way
in 1981.
1937: Air Conditioning
In January 1937, the Mesa Journal-Tribune invited residents to visit
its demonstration home, which featured a refrigerated air conditioning
system. Mesans had been experimenting with cooling systems since the early
1900s, and evaporative coolers became popular starting in the 1930s.
Refrigeration was more expensive and not widely used until after the Second
World War. Its eventual adoption paved the way for the postwar growth of the
Salt River Valley.
1938: Rendezvous Park
In May 1938, Mesa residents dedicated their first city park, Rendezvous
Park. It boasted a swimming pool, bathhouse, skating rink, tennis courts and
a floodlit baseball field. Located at 2nd Street and Center, the park had
been created with volunteer labor. The baseball field was built in 1920, a
swimming pool was added in 1924 and the city’s parks department was
established in 1936. Later, the field was used for spring training games
from 1952 until 1977.
1941: Military Bases
With war raging in Europe, two military airports were built near
Mesa in 1941. Falcon Field was built to train British pilots, and Williams
Field was set up for American pilots. After the war, Falcon Field was closed
and turned over to the city of Mesa, which converted it into a municipal
airport. Williams Field (later Air Force Base) continued to operate as a
training base until 1993. It was acquired by the city in 1994 and reopened
as Williams Gateway Airport.
1942: A Divided Town
In February 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt ordered Japanese
Americans living in parts of the West to leave their homes. At the time,
Mesa was home to a thriving Japanese-American community. Those who lived in
the security zone, whose boundary was Main Street, were forced to sell their
businesses and leave. Several families were sent to internment camps. Those
who lived out-side the zone, mostly in Lehi, were prohibited from crossing
Main Street.
1947: First
Television
Mesa’s first radio station, KARV, went on the air in January 1947. It was
followed by KTYL, another local station that operated under several names
until the 1980s, when it was sold and re-named KZZP. Mesa’s first and only
television station was KTYL-TV, which began broadcasting in 1953 from
studios on the Mesa-Tempe highway. After several name and ownership changes,
the television station moved to Phoenix, where it became KPNX-TV.
1951: Integrated Schools
In 1951, Arizona began integrating its schools three years before
the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregated schools were unconstitutional.
Two Mesa schools were integrated-Daniel Webster School in the
1940’s and Booker T. Washington School in 1954. The Daniel Webster
School had been built for Mexican-American children in 1910 and remained in
use until 1948. The Booker T. Washington School was built in 1920 for
African-American children and remained standing until 1976.
1952: Chicago Cubs
Mesa became the spring training home of the Chicago Cubs in 1952. The Cubs
played at Rendezvous Park through 1965, later moving to Scottsdale. The
Oakland Athletics trained in Mesa from 1969 through 1978, first at
Rendezvous and then at Hohokam Stadium, which was built in 1977. In 1979,
the Cubs returned to Mesa. In 1997, the original Hohokam Stadium was torn
down and replaced by a new stadium.
1952: Mesa Junior High
Mesa’s first junior high school opened in 1952, bringing
the number of schools in the Mesa district to seven. In the years that
followed, the district continued to build schools to keep up with the city’s
rapid growth. Forty-two new grade schools opened between 1950 and 1990,
along with nine junior high schools and five high schools. By 1990, Mesa
Unified School District No. 4 was the largest school system in the state and
the largest employer in the city.
1953: Civil Rights for All
In May 1953, a group of Mesa citizens organized the Better Community Council
to fight racial discrimination. At the time, public facilities in Mesa were
segregated. There were even separate black and white restrooms at the city
hall. The Better Community Council lobbied Mesa restaurants and hotels to
sign non-discrimination pledges. The group also led a successful effort to
integrate the Rendezvous Park swimming pool.
1954: Shopping Centers
Mesa’s first shopping center opened in 1954 at the northeast corner of 4th
Avenue (now Broadway) and Mesa Drive. It had a Wright’s grocery store, nine
other stores and an off-street parking lot. The city’s first indoor shopping
center was Tri-City Mall, which opened in 1968 and closed in 1998. The next
was Fiesta Mall, which opened in 1979. A third, Superstition Springs Center,
became Mesa’s largest shopping mall when it opened in 1990.
1957: Space-Age City
In 1957, a rocket engine manufacturer, Talco, moved its research division to
Falcon Field, starting Mesa’s high-technology industry. It was joined in
1960 by Talley Defense Systems, which became Talley Industries, Mesa’s first
homegrown Fortune 500 company. In 1966, Motorola opened a plant at Broadway
and Dobson. In 1982, Hughes Helicopter opened its Apache helicopter factory,
which later became part of McDonnell Douglas and then Boeing.
1963: Mesa Community
College
Mesa Community College opened in 1963 as a branch of Phoenix
College. In that first year, 615 students and 20 instructors met at Main
Street and Extension, in what later became the Landmark Restaurant. Three
years later, in 1966, Mesa Community College opened its new campus at
Southern and Dobson with 2,100 students. By the year 2000, the college had
an enrollment of 24,000 and had established the Red Mountain branch campus
in east Mesa.
1966: Saving Mesa's History
The Mesa Historical and Archaeological Society was founded in 1966. An
earlier society had been started in 1955, but it soon disbanded. The
Society’s first project was the Park of the Canals, which became a city park
in 1977. The Society also started the Mesa Museum, which opened in 1977 and
later became the city-operated Arizona Museum of Natural History. In 1984,
the Society acquired the old Lehi School, which eventually became the Mesa
Historical Museum.
1967: City Charter
After the Second World War, Mesa’s city government changed to keep pace with
the city’s growth. A city manager was hired in 1952, and a manager-council
form of government was formally adopted in 1955. Mesa voters approved the
city’s first charter in 1967. This gave the city home rule, freeing it from
supervision by the Arizona legislature. It also provided for direct election
of the mayor. In 1968, Mesa residents elected their mayor for the first
time.
1973: Dobson Ranch
Model homes in Dobson Ranch opened for buyers in October 1973. The first
master-planned community in Mesa, Dobson Ranch was sometimes called a city
within a city. It featured artificial lakes and a golf course, and it was
governed by a homeowners’ association that enforced rules on the appearance
of individual houses. By the early 1990s, more than 10,000 residents lived
there, making it one of the largest planned communities in Arizona.
1977: Superstition Freeway
The first freeway to reach Mesa’s city limits opened in July
1977, when the Superstition was completed to Dobson Road. The Superstition
had been planned since 1962, after Mesa was bypassed by Interstate 10. It
was completed nearly thirty years later, in 1991, when it joined US Highway
60 near Apache Junction. Mesa’s second freeway, the Price (Loop 101) opened
in 1991. The Red Mountain Freeway (Loop 202) reached Mesa in 1997.
1979: All-America City
In May 1979, Mesa was named an All-America City by the National Municipal
League. Mesa was honored for its efforts to address community problems
through cooperation among citizens, schools, civic groups and local
governments, including the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. Among
the projects praised by the League were the founding of the Tri-Cities
Community Service Center and a cleanup campaign along the Salt River.
1980: Arts In Mesa
Mesa Arts Center, the first community arts center, opened in 1980. Located
in the historic Irving School building, it offered arts classes,
performances and exhibits. Its opening continued a long tradition of local
arts organizations that began in 1937 with the founding of the Mesa Little
Theater. Others have included the Mesa Art League (1955), Mesa Symphony
Orchestra (1956), Mesa Musical Theater (1966) and Xicanindio Artes (1975).
1990: Fastest-Growing City
Between 1980 and 1990, Mesa was one of the fastest-growing cities in the
United States with populations over 100,000. During that decade, Mesa’s
population rose from 152,000 to 288,000—an increase of 89 percent. This was
actually a slower growth rate than in the past. During the 1970s, Mesa’s
population jumped from 63,000 to 152,000—a growth rate of 141 percent. High
growth rates have been a Mesa tradition. Every decade between 1930 and 1990,
the city’s population nearly doubled.
1996: Celebrating Diversity
The birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the slain civil
rights leader, was declared a city holiday by voters in 1996. The result of
an initiative campaign, the holiday was the latest addition to a calendar of
events reflecting Mesa’s diversity. For many years the city has celebrated
Cinco de Mayo, a Mexican holiday. The Mesa Pow Wow, attended by Native
Americans from across the nation, has been a regular fall event since it
began in 1984.