November: Jack Swilling, resident of Wickenburg, establishes the Swilling Irrigating and Canal Company with the intent to develop the Phoenix area, which he became impressed with after viewing the area on a visit to Camp McDowell.[6]
December: Swilling leads a group of 17 miners from Wickenburg to the Phoenix area and begins the process of developing a canal system.[7]
1868
May 4: Phoenix is officially recognized by the Board of Supervisors of Yavapai County, which at that point contained Phoenix.[8]
June 15: First post office established, in the Swilling homestead, with Swilling as postmaster.[9]
Swilling has completed almost 3 miles of his canals.[10]
Mary Adeline Gray, the first European woman settler, and her husband Columbus, arrive.[10]
Salt River floods for the first of many times during Phoenix's settlement.[10]
1870
October 20: Town site selected in what is currently downtown Phoenix.[8][11]
Town laid out,[12][13] original town site consists of 320 acres, or 0.5 square miles.[8][14]
Population of the Salt River Valley reaches 240, the Arizona Territory has 9,658 people.[10]
1700 acres under cultivation in the Salt River Valley.[10]
February 25: Phoenix officially incorporated when Governor John C. Frémont signs "The Phoenix Charter Bill", instituting a mayor-council form of government.[8][13]
La Guardia, the valley's first Spanish language newspaper, begins publication.[18]
The Arizona Territory passes a law allowing cities, including Phoenix, to annex land surrounding the city, as long as it obtained the permission of the inhabitants of that area.
1894
Orangedale (later called Scottsdale) is founded by Winfield Scott.[10]
The city passes an ordinance limiting prostitution to a single block area.[10]
The New York Store is opened by Sam Korrick;[18] Nathan and Isaac Diamond open the Boston Store; and Baron Goldwater opens a branch of his Flagstaff store, M. Goldwater and Brothers.[10]
City adopts council-manager form of government (previously mayor-council), becoming one of the first cities in the country to adopt this form of government.[31]
The Phoenix Main Line of the Southern Pacific Railroad is completed, intercontinental rail will begin being routed through Phoenix the following year.[35]
The first Annual Masque of the Yellow Moon is held.[32]
The segregated Phoenix Union Colored High School opens.[32]
The city's second high school, North High School, opens.[32]
1940s
1940
Civic Center Association formed to raise funds for Phoenix Art Center. It was dissolved in 1955 when all fund raising and archival activities were taken over by the Fine Arts Association.[36]
Falcon Field opens in nearby Mesa as a training location for British RAF pilots.
Urban renewal project creates 3 new housing developments: Marcos de Niza Project for Mexicans, Matthew Henson Project for Blacks, and Frank Luke Jr. Project for Whites.[32]
October: A fire destroys all but four of Phoenix's electric streetcars. The city begins the process of transitioning to a public bus transit system.[35]
The Phoenix Charter Revision Committee is formed. The political group, headed by Barry Goldwater, would dominate city politics in the 1950s.[51]
Republican Barry Goldwater elected United States Senator, defeating the Senate Majority Leader Ernest McFarland; Republican John Howard Pyle elected governor
Arizona Public Service formed by the merger of Central Arizona Light and Power and Northern Arizona Light and Power[50]
Racial segregation is banned at Sky Harbor Airport.[50]
Adam Diaz becomes the first Hispanic on the city council.[50]
1953
State courts declare school segregation illegal. Phoenix begins school desegregation.[50]
KYTL-TV begins operations as an NBC affiliate. Currently KPNX-TV.[50]
Channel 10 begins broadcasting, currently KSAZ-TV, the Fox affiliate.[50]
1954 – City finishes the desegregation of Public schools.[50]
1955
Terminal 1 opens at Sky Harbor Airport, built at a cost of $835,000, it represented the most modern and efficient passenger terminals of its time. It was demolished in 1991.[44]
Metropolitan Bus Lines is purchased by L.A. Tanner and renamed Valley Transit Line. Tanner was unsuccessful in his attempts to also purchase the city-run municipal bus system.[35]
Phoenix battles Scottsdale over annexation of unincorporated areas. This battle would last until an agreement was reached regarding "spheres of annexation influence" in 1964.[52]
L.A. Tanner is successful in purchasing the city-owned municipal bus system, merging it into his Valley Transit Line. All bus service in the valley is now unified.[35]
East wing of the Phoenix Art Museum opens, resulting in almost tripling the museum's space.[36]
Morrison Warren becomes first black on city council.[50]
1966
August 9: City council unanimously approves the "Plan for the Phoenix Mountains", thereby creating the Phoenix Mountain Preserve.[57]
Valley Transit Line is sold to American Transit Corporation (headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri), and the transit system is renamed Phoenix Transit System.[35][58]
Phoenix Mountains Preservation Council founded in August, to purchase all of the 7000 acres in the Phoenix Mountains Preserve, and a total of 9700 acres.[62]
Remnants of Tropical Storm Norma slam into city, causing flooding and resulting in 23 deaths.[50]
During the 1960s, Phoenix annexed 134.55 square miles of land, now totaling 245.5 square miles.[54]
Population reaches 581,562,[63] city becomes the nation's 20th most populous.[50]
1971
May 1: Amtrak takes over intercity rail routes.[35]
First National Bank Plaza, currently known as the Wells Fargo Plaza, is built.
The Public Transportation Administration becomes an official department of Phoenix.[35]
1985
Valley Metro Regional Public Transportation Authority formed, after passage of Proposition 300, tasked to create a regional transit plan and system.[35]
Voters turn down a $10 billion referendum for a valley-wide rapid transit system, due to the cost and dissatisfaction with the elevated portions of the proposed system.[35]
Phoenix Grand Prix is run in Downtown Phoenix in June.[70]
1990s
1990
The Barry Goldwater Terminal (terminal 4) opens at Sky harbor airport with 5 concourses and 44 gates.[77]
November 10: The Desert Sky Pavilion (currently named the Ak-Chin Pavilion) opens. Billy Joel is its first act.[78]
September 30: Williams Air Force Base closes after 52 years of military service.
RPTA adopts the name, Valley Metro, for the regional transit system. Phoenix and Mesa become the first two systems in the valley to agree to the name.[35]
City wins the Carl Bertelsmann Prize, for the best run city government in the world.[8]
Arpaio creates Tent City, to help alleviate crowding.[70]
Salt River floods and destroys the new Mill Avenue Bridge.[70]
Steve Benson, a cartoonist for the Arizona Republic, wins the Pulitzer Prize.[70]
"Transit 2000" proposition passes, approving construction of 24 miles of light rail with Phoenix city limits, named Valley Metro Rail.[35]
Tempe city council passes motion approving an additional 5 miles of light rail to be constructed and linked to the Valley Metro Rail system.
2000s
2001
Glendale voters approve a sales tax increase to fund transportation improvements, including 5 miles of light rail to connect with the Metro Light Rail.[35]
Arizona Diamondbacks defeat the New York Yankees in the World Series.[70]
Maricopa County voters approve a 20-year continuation of the 1985 sales tax to fund transportation needs. The plan includes almost $25 billion in funding for: freeways, bus transit expansion, light rail, city streets, and bike and pedestrian paths.[35]
Renovations begin on Terminal 3 at Sky Harbor airport, part of a 3-phase redevelopment of the terminal expected to be completed in 2020.[91]
Super Bowl XLIX played at University of Phoenix Stadium. The New England Patriots defeat the Seattle Seahawks.
2017
In June 2017, a heat wave grounded more than 40 airline flights of small aircraft, with American Airlines reducing sales on certain flights to prevent the vehicles from being over the maximum weight permitted for safe takeoff.[92][93]
A. Leonard Meyer (1888), Meyer's Business Directory of the City of Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, Ariz, OL7233806M{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Henley, David C. (1992). The Land That God Forgot: The Saga of Gen. George Patton's Desert Training Camp (reviseded.). Fallon, Nevada: Western Military History Association. p.54. OCLC76951993.
John Carl Warnecke and Associates (1967). Central Phoenix plan, first stage: work program for a planning and economic study of downtown-midtown Phoenix. John Carl Warnecke and Associates. OCLC19485397.
"Phoenix P.O.", Arizona Business Directory and Gazetteer, San Francisco: W.C. Disturnell, 1881
Patrick Hamilton (1881), "Chief Towns: Phoenix", Resources of Arizona, Prescott, Ariz{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Published in 20th century
Maricopa County (Ariz.). Board of Supervisors (1908), "Phoenix", Salt River Valley, Arizona, offers productive lands, a healthful climate and rare opportunities to the investor and homeseeker, New York: Norman Pierce Co., OCLC16818598
Lykes, Aimee de Potter. "A Hundred Beers of Phoenix History", in G. Wesley Johnson, Jr., ed. Phoenix in the Twentieth Century: Essays in Community History (1993) pp.220–236, to 1981
Published in 21st century
Gober, Patricia (2006). Metropolitan Phoenix. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN978-0-8122-3899-0.
Grady, Patrick (2012). Out Of The Ruins. Arizona Pioneer Press. ISBN978-0-615-55511-9.
American Cities Project (2013). "Phoenix". America's Big Cities in Volatile Times: City Profiles. Washington, D.C.: Pew Charitable Trusts.
Joseph Galaskiewicz; etal. (2013). "Studying the role of nonprofits, government, and business in providing activities and services to youth in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area". In Mario Luis Small; etal. (eds.). Reconsidering the Urban Disadvantaged: The Role of Systems, Institutions, and Organizations. Sage. ISBN978-1-4833-0656-8.
VanderMeer, Philip (2010). Desert Visions and the Making of Phoenix. University of New Mexico Press. ISBN978-0-8263-4891-3.