Phoenix Arizona Tourism

In Phoenix, as early as 300 BC, the Hohokams were the first to farm, building an elaborate canal system that brought water from the Salt River.

Whites didn’t start settling the area until after the Civil War and the formation of Camp McDowell in 1865.

In early 1868 about 4 miles east of the present town where the flour mill was later erected a settlement was established. Jack Swilling founded the city. He was a Confederate Soldier. When the question of what the town should be called he came up with the name “Stonewall” after Stonewall Jackson, who was also a Confederate Soldier. But the idea was denied. The town was named by Phillip Darrel Duppa who named it because the city’s irrigation system was developed from the Hohokam remains. He also named Tempe after the Vale of Tempe in Greece. A town was surveyed in 1870, and in 1889, the territorial capital made its final move from Prescott to its current city Phoenix.

The name Phoenix was first used officially when the Board of Supervisors of Yavapai County formed an election precinct by the name, May 4, 1868.