50 Fun Facts About Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix is the county seat of which Arizona county?

The county was carved out of Yavapai County in 1871, the sixth county formed in the territory.

Where did Phoenix rank among US cities by population at the 2020 census?

It edged out Philadelphia by about 40,000 people and is the most populous state capital.

Phoenix lies in the northeastern reaches of which desert?

It is the largest city in the Americas with a hot desert climate.

In which year did Phoenix become the capital of Arizona Territory?

The capital moved from Prescott, and the territorial offices were housed in the new City Hall.

In which year was Phoenix incorporated as a city?

The population at the time was around 2,500.

Which member of the original settlers' party suggested the name Phoenix?

He chose it because the city was rising from the ruins of a former civilisation.

Which Confederate veteran founded an irrigation and canal company near Phoenix in 1867?

He was prospecting at Wickenburg and saw the valley could grow food for the mining town.

Which ancient people dug roughly 135 miles of irrigation canals in the Phoenix area?

Their canal paths were later reused for the Arizona Canal and the Central Arizona Project Canal.

Cotton, cattle, citrus and climate were four of the Five C's; what was the fifth?

The Five C's drove the economy until high-tech firms arrived after World War II.

What nickname for the Phoenix area began as a 1930s tourism slogan?

The metro area sits in the Salt River Valley.

Which waterway runs westward through Phoenix, though its bed is often dry?

Large irrigation diversions leave it with little water most of the year.

Phoenix became a state capital when Arizona joined the Union in which year?

Taft had vetoed statehood six months earlier over the state constitution's stance on recalling judges.

What is the name of Phoenix's main international airport?

It opened in 1929 under Scenic Airways and the city bought it in 1935.

What all-time record high did Phoenix reach on June 26, 1990?

On average the city tops 110 °F on 21 days a year.

In which month did Phoenix become the first major US city to average over 100 °F?

The mean was 102.7 °F, during a streak of 31 straight days at 110 °F or more.

Which company brought high-tech industry to Phoenix in 1948 with a military electronics centre?

Intel and McDonnell Douglas followed, drawn by the same labour pool.

What was Phoenix's first skyscraper, built in 1920?

It stayed the tallest building in Arizona until the Luhrs Building went up in 1924.

What was the city's second-tallest mountain called before it was renamed for Lori Piestewa in 2008?

It honours Lori Ann Piestewa, the first Native American woman to die in combat for the US military.

Which Phoenix resident became the first woman on the US Supreme Court in 1981?

ASU's law school in downtown Phoenix now carries her name.

Like most of Arizona, Phoenix does not observe what?

Governor Jack Williams told Congress in 1973 it would send children to school in the dark.

Into how many urban villages is the city of Phoenix divided?

The Phoenix Concept 2000 plan started with nine villages in 1979, each with its own planning committee.

Greater Phoenix has the only thriving US feral population of which pet bird?

Escaped pets were first seen in 1987; they nest under untrimmed dead palm fronds in older neighbourhoods.

The Arizona Diamondbacks play at which downtown ballpark, famous for its outfield pool?

It is the second-highest stadium in the US after Coors Field in Denver.

Which team did the Diamondbacks beat in the 2001 World Series?

At four seasons old they were the fastest expansion team ever to win the title.

The Arizona Cardinals moved to Phoenix in 1988 from which city?

Founded in Chicago in 1898, they are the oldest continuously run pro football franchise in the nation.

Which Tempe venue hosted Super Bowl XXX in 1996?

The Cardinals played there until their move to Glendale in 2006.

How many WNBA titles had the Phoenix Mercury won by the end of the 2025 season?

They won in 2007, 2009 and 2014 and are one of the league's eight founding franchises.

The Arizona Coyotes arrived in 1996 as the relocated version of which NHL team?

After losing their Glendale lease they played at ASU's Mullett Arena before the franchise was deactivated.

Which Phoenix park is the world's largest municipal park at 16,500 acres?

The city's 182 parks together form the largest municipal park system in the country.

Papago Park is home to the Phoenix Zoo and which attraction opened in 1939?

It is one of the few public gardens in the country devoted to desert plants.

The Phoenix Art Museum's architect Alden B. Dow was a student of which famous figure?

The museum went up in a single year and opened in November 1959.

The Heard Museum's Barry Goldwater Collection consists of 437 what?

The museum also displays a full Navajo hogan and draws about 250,000 visitors a year.

The 1953 Phoenix McDonald's franchise was the first location to feature what?

Neil Fox paid the McDonald brothers $1,000 for the rights, two years before Ray Kroc bought the company.

Who was elected Phoenix's first female mayor in 1975?

The city has trended Democratic in recent years, though Hispanic voters shifted right in 2024.

Which Arizona Republic reporter was killed by a car bomb in 1976?

He remains the only major-newspaper reporter murdered on US soil because of a story he covered.

Which Hitchcock film's opening sequence is set in Phoenix?

The aliens' night attack in the 1953 War of the Worlds was also shot there.

Which sitcom that ran from 1976 to 1985 was set in Phoenix?

The 2000s paranormal drama Medium was also set in the city.

Which pet retailer is among the Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Phoenix?

Avnet, Freeport-McMoRan and Republic Services are also based in the city.

Phoenix signed its first sister city agreement in 1976 with which Mexican city?

Phoenix now has eleven sister cities, including Prague since 2013.

What was the name of Phoenix's first newspaper, established in 1878?

It changed its name to the Phoenix Herald the following year.

Rampant land fraud once led newspapers to call Phoenix what?

The scandals led to the 1976 car-bomb murder of a reporter investigating them.

Who was elected the county's first sheriff in 1871?

He ran unopposed after his two rivals fought a duel in which one killed the other.

Which president issued a land patent for the site of Phoenix in 1874?

By 1875 the town had a telegraph office, 16 saloons and four dance halls.

Which territorial governor signed the 1881 bill incorporating Phoenix as a city?

The famous explorer was serving as Arizona's territorial governor at the time.

Which president attended the 1911 dedication of the dam east of Phoenix later renamed for him?

It was the first multi-purpose dam and the largest masonry dam in the world at the time.

Which humorist quipped "If that was my lake, I'd mow it" at a 1930 dam dedication near Phoenix?

Drought had left the reservoir behind the new Coolidge Dam virtually dry.

In 1913 Phoenix became one of the first US cities to adopt which form of government?

A city manager runs the departments and carries out the council's policies.

Which Phoenix-area development, opened in 1960, became the template for US retirement communities?

It grew out of the post-war construction boom that reshaped the valley.

What is the mean elevation of Phoenix?

The valley floor is flat enough that the main streets run on a precise grid.

Which pope created the Diocese of Phoenix in 1969?

It was split from the Archdiocese of Tucson, with Edward A. McCarthy as first bishop.