Signs of life at ‘ghost subdivision’
Maricopa’s “ghost subdivision” is coming back to life. Dormant for a decade, the Santa Rosa Crossing development with a long history and no homes...
Curtis: Battle of Pima Butte made history
Like most Maricopa residents, I have driven past Pima Butte (“M” mountain) many, many times. But only recently did I learn that a significant event...
Maricopa History: A Man and His Cat
In the history of Maricopa, a man named Perry Williams is noted three ways. An entrepreneur, he built Hotel Williams in 1884 on the...
Flash to the past: Big red pump and electricity
A water tank that held 500,000 gallons of water sat just west of the railroad station in Maricopa in the early 1900s. Southern Pacific...
A water tower and an overpass
In the 1930s, a couple of men came to Maricopa and set up a woodcutting business. They contacted the people on the reservation and...
Maricopa’s first druggist David P. Kimball
By Maricopa Historical Society
David Patton Kimball opened the first drugstore in Maricopa in 1956. He and his wife, the former Nellie Nash, came from...
History photo: high school scene
The black-and-white view of Maricopa High School was taken in 1998 by Gray Photographs of Phoenix. The high school, which opened in 1955 with...
History photo: On the Rails 2001
The historic California Zephyr railcar (right) makes its 2001 debut in Maricopa and is greeted by a modern Amtrak train (left). The railcar, which...
DNA test reveals a father – and a family
It’s said life can turn on a dime. For Mike Otis, it changed on a $69 DNA test.
Otis, a retired technical writer, did what...
HISTORY: All along the water tower
The old water tower is a familiar landmark that highlights the city’s history as a hub for trains. This old tower has seen it...
Where are they now: Former MUSD superintendent enjoying retirement
Steve Chestnut, who led the Maricopa Unified School District from 2012 to 2018 as superintendent, is now living happily in Scottsdale.
Chestnut left MUSD to...
Train car wrapped against the elements
With its windows removed for a special project, the vintage Silver Horizons railcar from the California Zephyr was left vulnerable to upcoming winds, dust...
History: Water tanks had important impact on Maricopa
By Patricia Brock, Donald DeHart and Maricopa Historical Society
Just west of the railroad station were two very large water tanks that held over 1...
History photo: Art on the Rails
Maricopa Historical Society received this original painting from the Cole family through the Maricopa Public Library. The painting (ca. 1972) was on display in...
Vietnam vet shares memories with JROTC class at MHS
The Air Force Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (JROTC) program at Maricopa High School is thriving, with about 130 students, or 5% of the...
History Photo: Future SR 347
A 1949 photo from atop the water tower was taken after a flood. The Maricopa dirt road heading north runs along the bed for...
History photo: Flooding nothing new
Floodwaters inundate the backyard of Dallas and Susie Smith in September 1946. Their home was just south of today’s Business Barn. Dallas Smith was...
Kazi Haque: 10 years as Maricopa planning’s inside man
The city of Maricopa has witnessed numerous changes since its incorporation in 2003. New homes bloomed, businesses formed and the population swelled.
Kazi Haque, zoning...
Unusual history of Maricopa Post Office includes fires, trains and a bobcat
In the early 1950s, a man named Harry Brock moved to Maricopa to begin work as a rural mail carrier. He roomed in the...
A history of pecans in Maricopa
By Patricia Brock, Oliver Anderson and the Maricopa Historical Society
Maricopa lost its importance as a railroad junction when the railroad redirected a line through...
Veterans Day: Ex-paratrooper brings get-it-done attitude to Ak-Chin Council
When Octavio Machado enlisted in the U.S. Army at age 19, he was following a family tradition that went back to his grandfather, who...
Flashback: Pima Butte opens doors
In July 2005, Maricopa schools welcomed students for the first day of the new school year. Pima Butte, a new elementary school in Rancho...
‘Big Boy’ historic locomotive to pass through Maricopa
Union Pacific’s historic Big Boy steam locomotive No. 4014 is touring the Union Pacific system throughout 2019 to commemorate the transcontinental railroad's 150th anniversary.Tips from...
Man and volcano: Retired Forest Service worker shares Mount St. Helens story
It was 43 years ago — May 18, 1980 — when Reed Gardner was working at the federal building in downtown Las Vegas. He...
Vets gain local recognition for USS Liberty
By Raquel Hendrickson
Frustrated and angry about being relegated to a footnote in the middle of one of the most tense military times in world...
Flash to the past: Maricopa PD on patrol New Year’s Eve for first time
A look back 15 years:
In 2008, while most of Maricopa was kicking back to celebrate the passing of another year, Maricopa Police Chief Patrick...
Veterans working to make memorial park a reality
Maricopa veterans Jim Bussey and Terry Oldfield were coming home from a funeral for a fellow veteran in Marana when the idea of a...
‘Lost mine’ in Sierra Estrella: Fact or Folklore? (VIDEO)
Embedded in Arizona is a history rife with facts, folklore and fantasy.“The structure is one of the more substantial mining structures that I’ve seen....
Tales & Treasures debuts for historical society (GALLERY)
Some history stories, a silent auction, and catered meal and more drew a crowd to Maricopa Historical Society's first Tales & Treasures supper at...
Thanking veterans for their service
They've put on the uniforms of the United States of America's armed forces to defend our rights and our way of life.
Many of them...
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