History

In August 2012, a trifecta of heat, humidity and standing water left mosquitoes feeling right at home in Maricopa, and Maricopans were itching like...

A 1949 photo from atop the water tower was taken after a flood. The Maricopa dirt road heading north runs along the bed for...

This 1913 photo looks south from the Southern Pacific railroad crossing to the main street leading into Maricopa. The path through the trees eventually...

Born in 1946 in Ak-Chin, Armida Mattia learned the art of O’odham basketweaving from her grandmother. Her baskets have been presented to governors, senators...

To understand Arizona history, you have to learn about Italian explorer Eusebio Kino.IF YOU GO What: Maricopa Historical Society Speaker Series When: First Mondays, October-April, 5:30...

A community pool once sat just north of where the Silver Horizon Zephyr railcar now sits. The Zephyr railcar came to Maricopa in 2000...

IF YOU GO What: Tales & Treasures Who: Maricopa Historical Society When: Oct. 26, 3-6 p.m. Where: Leading Edge Academy, 18700 N. Porter Road How much: Advance tickets $40/member...

This month, Desert Sunrise High School will accept its first students. It’s a milestone and a statement about the population growth in Maricopa over...

The growth of Maricopa was dramatic between 2002 and 2006, when the city was a poster child of the housing boom. The post-recession surge...

Believe it or not, Maricopa, with a population of more than 60,000, does not have a cemetery. The city is exploring the possibility of...

Trains have always been a part of Maricopa and are the reason the town exists where it does. The first “trains” were horse and...

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...

The month of June in the past. 2004: Maricopa native Kelly Anderson was elected mayor of the first elected City Council on June 1. Councilman...

During a long, hot summer, finding ways to keep cool has always been a priority in Maricopa. Swimming is a big temptation, but in...

For decades, Maricopans were able to cool off in the summer with a dip in the swimming pool at Rotary Park. Built to lessen...

At War: Fresh-faced WAVES recruit did her part After the United States declared war on Japan in 1941, Mary Francis Holmes Abrahams was just 16....

Decades before Maricopa incorporated, the center point of the community was the school. Some of these fresh faces may still be familiar to long-time...

Around the time the United States began its fight for independence from Great Britain in eastern North America, Spanish explorers on the other side...

The Maricopa Historical Society began meeting in 2005 as the Maricopa History Committee with the Friends of the Maricopa Library. Thanks to many generous...

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...

A photo taken in Maricopa circa 1910 facing west shows the Southern Pacific tracks passing by a water tower, the Maricopa Train Station, along...

City of Maricopa Fire/Medical Deputy Fire Marshal (and former Maricopa Fire Department chief) Eddie Rodriguez shows off the department’s 1940s Ford/Howe pumper truck. The...

Courtesy of Maricopa Historical Society The first of many Maricopa Stagecoach Days began on Sunday, May 3, 1959, with a BBQ dinner, and a slew...

The COVID-19 pandemic that has plagued the nation since early 2020 has changed the way we do a lot of things. Put the staging...

Photos of the same intersection in Maricopa nearly 20 years apart show the changes that have occurred since 1998. The 1998 photo, part of...

The 1917 perspective of what used to be the town center no longer exists but for the top of the ever-present water tower. The...

  Winston Churchill once said, “history is written by the victors,” alluding to a reality in which often only self-serving histories are memorialized. Despite criticisms...

During one of Marshall Trimble’s visits to Tombstone, a family came over to him and said, “The next gunfight isn’t for 45 minutes. What...

The Maricopa Museum and Visitor Center opened Saturday morning with extensive displays telling Maricopa's history. Read other stories about the new museum here. The museum plans...

In July 2009, Maricopa police officers responded to a report of a sheep stuck in a drainage ditch in The Villages. The call came from...