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Learn about the early history of Phoenix and how the city sprung from the remnants of the ancient Hohokam.

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The very first inhabitants of the Phoenix area were a group of hunter-gatherers known as the Paleo-Indians. They primarily hunted large Pleistocene animals, such as mammoths or mastodons. They Paleo-Indians originated from Central Mexico but as the herds they hunted migrated north, they too followed.

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The Phoenix area was occupied by the Hohokam people for roughly 2000 years until period of severe, alternating droughts and floods hit the area from 1300 to 1450. They are accredited for constructing large scale irrigation canals, which turned the dry, desert-like area into arable land. These canals also facilitated trade between other Mesoamerican civilizations.

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In 1846, following the outbreak of the Mexican-American War, a detachment of Mormon volunteers entered the region and made its way to the villages of the Akimel O’odham. There they traded goods for fresh produce and grains.

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When the Mexican-American War ended in 1848, much of Mexico’s northern territory was ceded into the United States, and with it, Phoenix. At the time, Phoenix was a part of the New Mexico Territory.

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Phoenix was settled by John W. Swilling in 1867 as an agricultural community near the confluence of the Salt and Gilda Rivers.

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The town of Phoenix was officially recognized by it’s county on May 4th, 1868. Soon afterwards, a post office was established.

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The town of Phoenix began to prosper as more settlers arrived. President Ulysses S. Grant would issue a land patent in 1874, which led to the construction of 16 saloons, 4 dance halls, and a telegraph office. By 1880, the town boasted a population of 2,453 residents.

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Phoenix held its first city election on May 3, 1881. John T. Alsap became its first mayor.

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The Southern Pacific Train arrived in Phoenix, which changed the city forever. With the arrival of the railroad, the economy was altered and Phoenix moved from being completely agricultural to becoming a trade market.

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In 1881 Phoenix was established as a city, it soon became the capital of Arizona Territory in 1889.

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A local farmer donated a 10-acre site for the territorial capitol, and the new building was dedicated on February 25, 1901. When Arizona attained statehood on February 14, 1912, the building became the state capitol.

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The National Reclamation Act, signed by President Theodore Roosevelt, allowed the construction of the first multipurpose dam: it provided both water and electricity.

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On February 14, 1912, Phoenix became a state capital, as Arizona was officially admitted to the Union. This allowed the population to skyrocket, reaching 29,053.

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The first skyscraper, the Heard Building in Phoenix would be built.

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Sky Harbor Airport officially opened in 1929

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The military presence in the Phoenix area also contributed to the city’s rapid growth. Until the 1930s, Camp McDowell was the sole military outpost in the region; in the years preceding World War II.

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The city grew and several hundred German and Italian prisoners of war who had been interned in camps in and near Phoenix chose to remain rather than return to their homelands after 1945.

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While Phoenix is the corporate and industrial center of the southwest it has not forgotten its past. It has retained its long-time reputation of friendliness and concern of its citizens for one another and their government.This has been attested to by the National Civic League, which four times since 1950 selected Phoenix as an "All-America City" in competition with hundreds of other cities and towns across the nation.

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The city grew explosively in the 1950s; the population expanded by a factor of three, and industry by a factor of fifteen. The growth brought serious problems of minority housing, traffic congestion, smog, and a fading of the traditional laid-back Phoenix lifestyle.

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The 1950s growth was spurred on by advances in mechanical air conditioning, which allowed both homes and businesses to offset the extreme heat known to Phoenix during its long summers. In 1959 alone, Phoenix saw more new construction than it had in the more than three decades from 1914 to 1946

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The Phoenix Corporate Center opened; at the time it was the tallest building in Arizona, topping off at 341 feet.

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The Rozenweig Center, today called Phoenix City Square, was completed. Architect Wenceslaus Sarmiento's largest project, the landmark Phoenix Financial Center, was also finished.

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Another factor in Phoenix’s growth was the arrival of another source of water. Arizona Senators Carl Hayden and Barry Goldwater lobbied for a massive public works project, and in 1968 the Colorado River Basin Project Act was passed.

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Phoenix annexed 99.33 square miles of land, now totaling 420.36 square miles.

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The Arizona Center was built. It is the landmark destination for shopping, dining and live events, centrally located in Downtown Phoenix, also known as the "Heart of Phoenix."

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With increased prosperity in the 1990s, many of the city’s social ills, notably crime, lessened, and material conditions improved. In 1993 the CAP, construction of which began in the early 1970s, was officially completed. The city continued to grow through policies of annexation and promotion to bring businesses to the area.

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Phoenix won theCarl Bertelsmann Prize, a prestigious international competition that recognized the best-run city government in the world. Phoenix, which shared the prize with Christchurch, New Zealand, was praised for its highly efficient and customer-oriented programs.

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The Musical Instrument Museum, the largest museum of its type in the world, opens

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Phoenix Arizona Historical Documentary 2017