Phoenix, Arizona

===Founding and incorporation===
[[File:Phoenix-Duppa-Montgomery Adobe-1895-2.JPG|thumb|The Phillip Darrell Duppa adobe house was built in 1870 and is the oldest house in Phoenix. The homestead is named after "Lord" Darrell Duppa, an Englishman who is credited with naming Phoenix and Tempe as well as founding the town of New River.]]

The history of Phoenix begins with [[Jack Swilling]], a Confederate veteran of the Civil War who prospected in the nearby mining town of [[Wickenburg]] in the newly formed [[Arizona Territory]]. As he traveled through the [[Salt River Valley]] in 1867, he saw a potential for farming to supply Wickenburg with food. He also noted the eroded mounds of dirt that indicated previous canals dug by native peoples who had long since left the area. He formed the Swilling Irrigation and Canal Company that year, dug a large canal that drew in river water, and erected several crop fields in a location that is now within the eastern portion of central Phoenix near its airport. Other settlers soon began to arrive, appreciating the area's fertile soil and lack of frost, and the farmhouse Swilling constructed became a frequently-visited location in the valley.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://glorecords.blm.gov/details/survey/default.aspx?dm_id=107721&sid=xzdik1aw.jli#surveyDetailsTabIndex=1|title=Survey Details – BLM GLO Records|website=glorecords.blm.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wateruseitwisely.com/arizona-water-pioneers-jack-swilling/|title=Arizona Water Pioneers – Part 1 &#124; Jack Swilling|date=April 30, 2019|access-date=July 14, 2020|archive-date=July 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200714175458/https://wateruseitwisely.com/arizona-water-pioneers-jack-swilling/|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Phillip Darrell Duppa|Lord Darrell Duppa]] was one of the original settlers in Swilling's party, and he suggested the name "Phoenix", as it described a city born from the ruins of a former civilization.<ref name=Phxgov />

The Board of Supervisors in Yavapai County officially recognized the new town on May 4, 1868, and the first post office was established the following month with Swilling as the postmaster.<ref name=Phxgov /> In October 1870, valley residents met to select a new townsite for the valley's growing population. A new location three miles to the west of the original settlement, containing several allotments of farmland, was chosen, and lots began to officially be sold under the name of Phoenix in December of that year. This established the downtown core in a grid layout pattern that has been the hallmark of Phoenix's urban development ever since.

On February 12, 1871, the territorial legislature created Maricopa County by dividing Yavapai County; it was the sixth one formed in the Arizona Territory. The first election for county office was held in 1871 when Tom Barnum was elected the first sheriff. He ran unopposed when the other two candidates (John A. Chenowth and Jim Favorite) fought a duel; Chenowth killed Favorite and was forced to withdraw from the race.<ref name=Phxgov />

The town grew during the 1870s, and President [[Ulysses S. Grant]] issued a land patent for the site of Phoenix on April 10, 1874. By 1875, the town had a telegraph office, 16 saloons, and four dance halls, but the townsite-commissioner form of government needed an overhaul. An election was held in 1875, and three village trustees and other officials were elected.<ref name=Phxgov /> By 1880, the town's population stood at 2,453.<ref name=Moffat>{{cite book |last=Moffatt |first=Riley |title=Population History of Western U.S. Cities & Towns, 1850–1990 |publisher=Scarecrow |place=Lanham, MD |year=1996 |page=14}}</ref>

[[File:Phoenix1885-AerialMap HiRes.jpg|alt=Refer to caption|thumb|right|Aerial lithograph of Phoenix from 1885]]

By 1881, Phoenix's continued growth made the board of trustees obsolete. The Territorial Legislature passed the Phoenix Charter Bill, incorporating Phoenix and providing a mayor-council government; Governor [[John C. Fremont]] signed the bill on February 25, 1881, officially incorporating Phoenix as a city with a population of around 2,500.<ref name=Phxgov />

The railroad's arrival in the valley in the 1880s was the first of several events that made Phoenix a trade center whose products reached eastern and western markets. In response, the [[Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce|Phoenix Chamber of Commerce]] was organized on November 4, 1888.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.phoenixchamber.com/about/history |title=History |publisher=Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce |access-date=October 9, 2015}}</ref> The city offices moved into the new City Hall at Washington and Central in 1888.<ref name=Phxgov /> The territorial capital moved from Prescott to Phoenix in 1889, and the territorial offices were also in City Hall.<ref>{{cite book | title=Early Phoenix | editor-first=Kathleen | editor-last=Garcia | page=18| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F25aMroD_IUC&pg=PA18| publisher=Arcadia Publishing | year=2008 | isbn=978-0738548395 }}</ref> The arrival of the [[Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix Railway]] in 1895 connected Phoenix to Prescott, Flagstaff, and other communities in the northern part of the territory. The increased access to commerce expedited the city's economic rise. The [[Phoenix Union High School]] was established in 1895 with an enrollment of 90.<ref name=Phxgov />