History

Scottsdale was originally inhabited by the ancient civilizations of the Hohokam and the Anasazi, descendents from the ancient Mesoamerican civilizations of the Mayans and the Aztec. From cerca 300 BC to 1400 AD, these ancient civilizations farmed the area and built some of the most ingenious irrigation canals the world has ever known. The name Hohokam translates as "vanished," for one day they mysteriously disappeared without a trace.
The Hohokam's unbelievable legacy was in their creation of more than 125 miles (200 km) of canals to provide water for their agricultural needs. The remnants of this ancient irrigation system were adapted and improved upon in 1868 by the first Anglo company to stake a claim in the Valley of the Sun, when Jack Swilling set up the Swilling Irrigation Canal Company.
Twenty years later Scottsdale's future would turn sharply upwards, when a U.S. Army Chaplain, Winfield Scott, paid the paltry sum of $2.50 an acre for a 640 stretch of land where the city is now located. Winfield's brother, George Washington Scott, was the first resident of the town that was then known as Orangedale and later changed to Scottsdale in 1894.
In 1951 the Town of Scottsdale was officially incorporated with a population of 2000. Since then it has grown to a 2004 Census estimation of 220,000. It has grown to become Arizona's fifth-largest city, and one of its most celebrated. Today, Scottsdale is routinely defined by its high quality of life, and was named the "Most Livable City" in the United States by the United States Conference of Mayors. It is continually ranked as one of the premier golf and resort destinations in the world, with a sizable portion of tax revenue being derived from tourism. It is also home to the Phoenix Open Golf Tournament held at the Tournament Players Club, which carries the distinction of the best-attended event on the PGA Tour. It is also home to Taliesin West, the summer campus of world renowed architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The city continues to see rapid growth, mainly in the northern areas of the city.