kathleen garcia

Like the mythical bird it is named after, Phoenix rose from the desert heat to become a prosperous and vital city. Settled on the lands of the ancient Hohokam Indians, Phoenix began as an agricultural community in the 1860s. It was appointed county seat
of Maricopa County in 1871 and territorial capital in 1889. By 1900, town boosters were calling Phoenix an "Oasis in the Desert" and the "Denver of the Southwest." By 1920, Phoenix was on its way to being a metropolitan city with a population of 29,053 and sporting an eight-story "skyscraper." Many farsighted individuals documented this development through photographs, allowing today's residents to see the community's amazing growth from small town to big city.

At 5:48 p.m., on March 18, 1911, former president Theodore Roosevelt pushed the button allowing the first waters to be released from the world's highest masonry dam. The dam was one of the first projects authorized under the Newland Reclamation Act of 1902. The act provided federal money for state reclamation projects and established the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which, between 1902 and 1907, began 30 projects within 11 western states. The confident promoters of the Roosevelt Dam began developing the project at the confluence of Tonto Creek and the Salt River five months before receiving formal approval by the newly established bureau in 1903. As a result of a 1992 expansion and renovation project, today's dam stands 357 feet high and bears little resemblance to the dam dedicated by Theodore Roosevelt.