Socializing, entertaining in Maricopa’s early days

Maricopa has never been short of social events and entertainment over the years.

In the 1870s at Maricopa Wells, travelers could hear the sounds of music and laughter from great distances.  Music and dancing was a favorite pastime for the four lively young daughters of the proprietor, James A. Moore.

At Maricopaville, Maricopa’s second location, the newspapers of the day listed a number of hotels with the best accommodations available for guests with live music, plays and theatre for nightly entertainment. 

During Maricopa Junction days a special train, the Doodlebug, was available for local travel into the Salt River Valley for shopping, theaters, plays, meeting with other clubs/organizations and special events.  Maricopa women formed a Women’s Club in March 1914 that consisted of eight community women who took turns hosting the meetings. The women also held “500 parties” on a regular basis with newspapers declaring that the men were “threatening to hold something or other, too.”

During the 1930s, the citizens in the community attended the state fair in Phoenix, and Jack Burkett built the Wander Inn with an open pavilion for Saturday night live music and dancing. These events attracted residents who lived at Mobile, Estrella, Casa Grande and throughout the Valley. Greeting the trains and visiting with passengers from one end of the country to the other was another favorite way of socializing during the train days. Frequently people rode to Maricopa in wagons, gambled a little (a slot machine was in the Maricopa Hotel) and visited with one another under the water tower and trees. 

During the farming era of the 1950-60s, community cohesiveness and entertainment were organized and nutured around the school. Every Wednesday and Friday night movies were available at the school for students and parents. Spanish movies were shown on Wednesdays, and English movies on Fridays. Parents were actively involved in school activities that included school plays, dinner theaters, special events, class parties and tutoring students in the classrooms. The PTA was in full swing with a school carnival that bused students and their parents for the evening event. Art shows from local artists and state museums became a favorite event. 

The Maricopa Community Library sponsored teen nights with art lessons and a variety of games for young people to learn and enjoy.  Stagecoach Days was the brainchild of the Rotary Club that not only paid for a community swimming pool and sponsored a hotshot swimming team, but also celebrated Maricopa’s rich history. Before churches were built in Maricopa, people held church services under the trees, at the school and/or in the homes. Men from the Arizona Bible Institute led some of the Bible studies in the homes and at Ak-Chin Community. Today, there are churches of almost every faith located all over the city that reflect the spiritual needs of its people.

Photo courtesy of the Maricopa Historical Society

Editor’s note:  Maricopa factoids are a regular feature on InMaricopa.com. They are provided by the Maricopa Historical Society, a branch of the Friends of the Maricopa Public Library. Most of the photos and information come from “Reflections of a Desert Town” by author and historical society chairperson Patricia Brock.