The area that includes what became Scottsdale was first inhabited by the Hohokam people, from approximately 300 BC to 1450 AD. This ancient civilization farmed the area and developed a complex network of irrigation canals for that was unsurpassed in pre-Columbian North America. At its peak, the canals stretched over 250 mi (400 km)s. Many remain today, some having been renovated and put into use in the 20th century. Under still-unknown circumstances, the Hohokam left the area about 1450 or 1500, most likely because of a prolonged drought. The next inhabitants, the Akimel O’odham (Pima) and the Tohono O’odham (Papago), are thought to be the Hohokam’s direct descendants.
Scottsdale was originally a Pima village known as Vaṣai S-vaṣonĭ, meaning “rotting hay.” Despite its becoming a modern city, some Pima remain there today. Until the late 1960s, there was a still-occupied traditional dwelling on the southeast corner of Indian Bend Road and Hayden Road. The Pima who live in Scottsdale today reside in modern houses, not traditional dwellings. Many Pima and Maricopa people live in the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, which borders Scottsdale to the south and east.
In the early to mid-1880s, U.S. Army Chaplain Winfield Scott visited the Salt River Valley and was impressed with it and its potential for agriculture. Returning in 1888 with his wife, Helen, he purchased 640 acres (260 ha) for $3.50 an acre ($92 as of 2015) for a stretch of land where downtown Scottsdale is now. Winfield and his brother George Washington Scott became the town’s first residents. It was soon known as “Orangedale” due to the large citrus groves the Scotts planted. Many of the community’s original settlers, recruited by Scott from the East and Midwest, were educated and had an appreciation for cultural activities. The town was renamed Scottsdale in 1894.
In 1896, these settlers established the Scottsdale Public School system and opened the first schoolhouse, which was followed by the opening of the first general store by J. L. Davis, which also housed the first post office for Scottsdale in 1897. In the early 1900s the community supported an artists and writers culture, culminating in the opening of the region’s first resort in 1909, the Ingleside Inn, just south of the Arizona Canal and west of the Crosscut Canal (Indian School Road at about 64th Street) in what is today Scottsdale. Also in 1909, Cavalliere’s Blacksmith Shop opened in downtown Scottsdale, and the original schoolhouse was replaced by the much more expansive Little Red Schoolhouse, which stands to this day. While not in its original building, Cavalliere’s has been in continuous operation since that time.
In 1912, both the Phoenix Street Railway Company and a competitor, the Salt River Valley Electric Railway Company, proposed building streetcar lines to Scottsdale, but due to an economic downturn, neither was built.
Between 1908 and 1933, due to the construction of the Granite Reef and Roosevelt dams (in 1908 and 1911, respectively), Scottsdale’s population experienced a boom, growing steadily during those years. It became a small market town providing services for families involved in the agricultural industry.
During the First World War, Scottsdale and its environs supported a large cotton farming industry, due to the creation of Long Staple Egyptian Cotton, developed by the US Department of Agriculture. Cotton is still grown in southern Arizona, but Scottsdale’s cotton boom ended with the loss of government contracts at the end of the war.
In 1920, a second resort was opened on 12 acres (4.9 ha) of property owned by the artist Jessie Benton Evans. Called the Jokake Inn, meaning “mud house”, the structure still stands on the grounds of the Phoenician Resort.
The Depression years saw an influx of artists and architects to Scottsdale, which included, in 1937, Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright and his wife purchased 600 acres (240 ha) acres of desert at the foot of the McDowell Mountains and established Taliesin West, his winter home and his architectural firm’s southwestern headquarters. Scottsdale and the rest of Phoenix have seen an everlasting influence from Wright. Many buildings throughout the region were designed by him. His influence on the regional architecture is commemorated by a major street bearing his name and a 125-foot (38 m) spire memorial designed by Wright in North Scottsdale.
Among the more significant events during the years of World War II was the opening of Thunderbird II Airfield in 1942 (it later became Scottsdale Airport), where 5,500 pilot cadets received their primary flight training before the war’s end. Scottsdale was the site of a German POW camp at the intersection of Scottsdale and Thomas Roads in what today is Papago Park.
In 1950, the town continued to grow as Motorola became the first of many technology companies to build a plant in Scottsdale. It built a second plant in 1956. With a population of approximately 2,000, the city was incorporated on June 25, 1951. It appointed its first mayor, Malcolm White, and adopted the motto “The West’s Most Western Town”. The seal, depicting a mounted cowboy surrounded by a 64-pointed starburst, was designed by Mrs. Gene Brown Pennington. The city also became a tourist destination with the opening of the city’s first modern resorts, the Hotel Valley Ho and the Safari Hotel, in 1956.
The town began a period of rapid population growth after its incorporation in 1951, growing from 2,000 to 10,000 residents during the 1950s. This growth necessitated development into the floodplain known as the Indian Bend Wash. Floodplains throughout history have been enticing locations for development due to their flatness, ease of building and inexpensiveness. This is even more tempting in a desert, where flooding so rarely happens. As Scottsdale expanded, the north-south Indian Bend Wash virtually bisected the city. In the late 1950s, the problem became more and more pronounced, until in 1959 the Arizona State Legislature formed the Maricopa County Flood Control District (MCFCD). The MCFCD became the lead player in developing a comprehensive flood plan for the entire county.
At the same time, the United States Army Corps of Engineers began to look into flooding in Maricopa County. Over the next several years, it presented several plans, which all revolved around constructing concrete canals and levees to channel and divert the floodwaters, as well as building bridges over the canal, similar to the storm drains of Los Angeles. But during MCFCD meetings between 1961 and 1963, a different course of action was developed. This plan became known as the multi-use, or Greenbelt, concept. The two concepts were at odds with one another until the canal plan was defeated in a bond referendum in 1965. In 1966 a study was commissioned that validated the Greenbelt concept as a way to prevent flood damage. After a major flood in 1972, work on the Greenbelt project began in earnest. It was completed in 1984, although minor projects continue. Today, the 12-mile-long (19 km) Scottsdale Greenbelt connects four city parks—Vista del Camino Park, Eldorado Park, Indian School Park and Chaparral Park—through a 25-mile (40 km) bike path.
The 1960s and ’70s continued to see the city’s growth, the population reaching almost 68,000 by 1970. Most of the unused property within the city limits was to the north, so that was the direction in which the city expanded. The city, which in 1959 had spanned 5 sq mi (13 km2), expanded its borders to encompass 62 sq mi (160 km). Large ranch tracts covered huge areas in the northern part of the city. One of the largest of these was the McCormick ranch, a 4,236-acre (1,714 ha) ranch serving much of the eastern boundary of Scottsdale owned by Fowler and Anne McCormick. Fowler’s paternal grandfather was Cyrus McCormick, the inventor of the grain reaper, and his maternal grandfather was John D. Rockefeller. When Anne died in 1970, the property was sold to Kaiser-Aetna for $12.1 million. This started a series of large-scale, master-planned communities within Scottsdale’s borders, including Scottsdale Ranch (1978), Gainey Ranch (1980), McDowell Mountain Ranch (1992), Desert Mountain (1986), and DC Ranch (1990s).
In 1975, the city annexed the “east Shea” section, bordering Fountain Hills, expanding its area from 62.2 to 88.6 sq mi (161 to 229 km). This was followed by a four-year period from 1981 to 1984 during which the city annexed an additional (almost) 80 sq mi (210 km2).
Faced with this rapid expansion and growth, many residents became concerned about losing their southwestern scenery. The McDowell Sonoran Conservancy was born in 1991. Teaming with developers, a plan was developed to set aside the McDowell Mountains and adjoining areas in a huge preserve. In 1995, Scottsdale’s citizens voted to implement a sales tax to purchase acreage for this purpose. When completed, the 36,000 acres (15,000 ha) planned for the McDowell Sonoran Preserve will be nearly one-third of Scottsdale’s land area, equal in size to Bryce Canyon National Park.
From its official incorporation in 1951 with a population of 2,000, Scottsdale has grown to a 2020 census count of 241,361. It is now the state’s seventh-largest city. Scottsdale is commonly defined by its high quality of life, and in 1993 was one of several cities to receive a “Most Livable City” award from the United States Conference of Mayors. The Scottsdale Airpark, surrounding the city’s airport, became a hotspot for a variety of large and small businesses, ranging from light industry to luxury auto sales. The Airpark in the 2000s emerged as one of the top employment centers in the Phoenix metro area. The airport supported 3,462 jobs, which boosted the Scottsdale economy a lot and gave residents a faster way to fly.
