South entrance to Maricopa

Travelers approaching Maricopa in the early 1900s from the south entered the town at this point. The lands south of Maricopa included the Ak-Chin reservation and the Samuel G. Scott Farm, located about five miles south of Maricopa on Papago Road (Eddie Pratt Farm).

The White and Parker Ranch also farmed southeast of Maricopa on the White and Parker and Louis Johnson Roads.  A small school was located at this site, too. Originally referred to as Summerland, it also had a post office (ca 1911-1950s). The Arizona Nissan testing grounds are located at this site today. 

When Ak-Chin became a reservation in 1912, its population included most of the same families that continue to live and farm its land today. Following the tradition of its ancestors, the Hohokam, the Akimel O’Otham (Pima) and the Tohono O’odham (Papago), Ak-Chin turned almost 16,000 acres of desert into rich farmlands, making it one of the largest farming enterprises in the United States. Cotton is the main crop, but they also grow alfalfa, corn, barley and potatoes. Ak-Chin has diversified its economy to include not only farming, but also a resort and gambling enterprise and an industrial park east of Maricopa. The gaming industry has not only benefited Ak-Chin but also other communities, businesses and the state and federal government.

At the west end of Ak-Chin is the Ak-Chin Him Dak Eco-Museum, the first of its kind in America. The museum contains more than 700 boxes of prehistoric local artifacts. 

One of the families who lived at Ak-Chin at the beginning of the 20th century was the Enos family. Ted Enos was the first police officer at Ak-Chin in 1960 and later served as the Chief of Police. His wife, Lena Thomas Enos, was born in 1917 at Ak-Chin Community to Joseph and Josepha (Lopez) Thomas.  She graduated from ASU and taught children at MUSD for many years.  Lena Enos lived at a time when Maricopa had two hotels, the Edwards Hotel north of the tracks and the Hotel Williams that lined the south side of the tracks. This was a time when Ak-Chin people delivered and sold mesquite wood to the hotels for $1 a rick (1/4 cord). The hotel shipped this wood in great quantities to Tucson and Phoenix. She also rode the train to school in Phoenix when she was young.

Lena Enos is no longer with us, but when asked what was one of the most important happenings in her lifetime…she replied, “The most important happening in my lifetime is the Ak-Chin Farms and community creating a self-supporting farming enterprise.”  (Oral history:  Maricopa Historical Society)

Submitted photo

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.