The City of Tempe, Arizona, the
state's seventh largest city, is located in the center of the
Valley of the Sun with more than 160,000 residents calling it
home. The City of Tempe, Arizona is bordered by Phoenix,
Scottsdale, Mesa and Chandler. Access to Tempe is a snap with
the Loop 101, 202, US 60, I-10 and Hohokam Expressway serving Tempe, making us the most
accessible city in the metropolitan area. And, we are only 10
minutes from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport with taxi
service and public transportation available seven days a week. The
City of Tempe, Arizona offers more than 330 days a year of sunshine
to its residents and visitors, and annual rainfall amounts to
approximately 7.36 inches a year.
In 1865, the U.S. Army arrived at the eastern end of the Salt River
Valley and established Fort McDowell. After the arrival of the
cavalry came Caucasian pioneers including Wickenburg entrepreneur
Jack Swilling, who directed the renovation of the Hohokam canals,
and town "founder" Charles Trumbull Hayden, who built a flour mill
and began a ferry service across the Salt River.
"Hayden's Ferry," as the city was called then, was also the name of
the only vehicle across the Rio Salado. The town grew slowly with
mercantiles, saloons and other businesses along the dusty main
street Mill Avenue, and was renamed the City of "Tempe" Arizona
(Tem-PEE) by an English traveler who compared the area to the
beautiful Vale of Tempe in Greece.
In 1886, the Arizona Territorial Normal School welcomed its first
class of 31 students in the structure known today as Old Main on
Arizona State University's campus. The college town and farming
community grew steadily and quietly until post-World War II's Baby
Boom pushed Tempe's city limits against the neighboring communities
in every direction. In most recent years, corporate America has
rediscovered and redefined the City of Tempe, Arizona much the same
way Hayden "discovered" the home of the Pimas, who had "discovered"
the home of the Hohokam.
The City of Tempe, Arizona has seen great changes during the past
two decades: gorgeous industrial parks and planned communities have
developed by the dozens in an effort to keep pace with the influx of
high-tech industry, financial, insurance, athletic, academic,
cultural, political and tourism operations.
