Glendale, Arizona
was basically born out of an unsuccessful business project. In 1880,
the land that is now Glendale was nothing more than empty desert.
But, in 1882 the Arizona Canal Co. hired William J. Murphy to build
44 miles of canal from the Salt River to the Agua Fria River.
Murphy joined
three Arizona builders, M.W. Kales, William A. Hancock and Clark Churchill,
to lead the Arizona Canal Co. project, which would bring water to
the desert land. With the help of 225 mules and whatever machinery
was available, Murphy and his team completed the canal in May 1885
but for Murphy it was a financial disaster.
He opted to receive
stocks and bonds in the canal company in lieu of cash. Murphy then
proceeded to do what he could to resolve his financial dilemma. By
the late 1880s, several homesteaders began to settle around the new
canal. One early settler, William H. Bartlett, homesteaded lands in
what is now central Glendale.
Bartlett
started a 640-acre fruit farm in 1886, complete with a main house
and 13 other buildings. It became known as the Sahuaro
Ranch. This and the Rancho del Higo, founded by Samuel
C. Bartlett became farming icons of the time and for many years thereafter.
In 1887 Murphy
was instrumental in establishing a trolley line between Glendale and
Phoenix. In 1888, Murphy, with the help of others, constructed the
diagonal Grand Avenue, connecting Phoenix to the northwest part of
the valley.
Promoting
the area was one way for Murphy to recover his loses and, in 1891,
by enticing Burgess A. Hadsell to bring
a religious group of 70 families to the area Murphy was on his way
to wealth and Glendale was on its way to becoming a city. Unlike neighboring
Phoenix, founded by a bar owner, Hadsell planned that Glendale was
to become "a educational and temperate" town.
Why the name "Glendale",
first used in 1885, was chosen is not known but, February 27, 1892,(Glendale’s
official birthday) the first residential area of the city began to
take shape with the Glendale town site taking shape soon after. By
1895 there were 300 residents and the first school, the Glendale Grammar
School, was built.
In the
mid 1890s, Glendale became the pathway for a line of the Santa
Fe Railroad, linking the Valley to Prescott and northern
Arizona. The railroad allowed Glendale settlers to transport goods
to the north and easily receive building materials.
In 1895, Victor
E. Messinger, one of the first graduates of Stanford University, came
to Glendale and helped found the town’s first library with 400
books from his own collection. The first library was built on what
is now Murphy Park.
By the early 1900s,
the large ranch home on 51st and Northern avenues was bought by Louis
M. Sands, a wealthy lumberman and rancher. He named the surrounding
land and Victorian home Manistee Ranch after his hometown in Michigan.
It remained one of the last working cattle ranches in the Valley.
The house has been preserved for future generations to see.
The first
world war brought a new surge of energy into Glendale, which officially
incorporated as a town in 1910. With cotton prices reaching $2 a pound
and a high demand for food farmers were kept busy. Soon there was
a need for more housing, and today’s Catlin Court was born from
1915 to about 1930. Most of these homes are still standing and are
on the National Register of Historic Places.
The population
rose from ca. 1000 in 1910 to 2727 in 1920. In 1911 the Sine Brothers
Hardware Co. began doing business in Glendale and today holds the
record for the longest operating business in the city. In 1916 the
beet sugar factory closed and would never reopen. In 1919 the Southwest
Flour and Feed Co. was founded.
1920 witnessed
the inaugural season of the Glendale Greys baseball team, the paving
of city streets, the naming of east-west streets alphabetically and
the north-south streets numerically. Of further notice in the 1920’s
were the founding of the Rotary Club (1922), Glendale Union High School
becoming the Arizona baseball champions (1923), the Glendale Herald
starting publication as the Saturday Shopper (1926), and the founding
of the Chamber of Commerce (1927).
In 1930 when the
town became the "City of Glendale" the population was 3665.
Confident of the town’s future in 1935 Louis M. Sands opened
Sand’s Chevrolet. In 1938 a new public library was built in
Murphy Park.
Over the years,
Glendale grew to become one of the most culturally diverse cities
in the Valley. The city owes much of its heritage to early Hispanic
settlers as well as Japanese and Russians who moved to Glendale from
California. Due to the mostly agrarian economy depressed periods had
serious effects on Glendale. From 1933 to 1937 the influx of WPA money
helped to sustain the area. By 1940 the population had risen to 4855.
Once again a war
stimulated growth in the area. Thunderbird Field and Luke Field brought
servicemen, their families and their money to Glendale during WWII.
In 1942 Glendale’s second elementary school, Isaac Imes, opened.
In 1946 Luke Field was closed but still maintained by the military.
Thunderbird Field was sold to a group headed by Lt. General Barton
K. Yount in order to set up the American Institute for Foreign Trade
(now known as the American Graduate School of International Management).
Today its graduates are found with the world’s best companies.
By 1948 Glendale
became unique by being the only city in Arizona to have all its streets
paved. In 1950 a second high school was opened. The Korean War resulted
in Luke AFB being permanently reopened and developed into a major
training facility for American and foreign military pilots.
The military and
college presence sparked a need for utilities, parks, schools and
streets. Northwest Hospital was built in 1960 at 61st and Northern
avenues and city officials in the 1960s began to play catch up with
the population, and over the next 40 years, the city added an operations
center, landfill, water treatment plant, sewage plants, libraries,
parks, public safety facilities an airport, a city hall and a civic
center.
Developments from
1950 to 2000 have been rapid and substantial, resulting in a major
city capable of attracting new residents and businesses in the future.
The essential cooperation among all of the Phoenix Area cities and
business organizations has resulted in the "Valley of the Sun"
consistently occupying a top position in America’s fastest growing
categories.
Glendale
today is poised to become the sports destination for all of Arizona,
as the Glendale Arena and NHL
Coyotes continue to attract fans to new growth in the
far western areas of the city. The state-of-the-art Cardinals Stadium
is almost complete, and Glendale is set to host the 2008
Super Bowl. It should be exciting to see what the future
holds.
Glendale
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Glendale AZ Living
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