Mesa, Arizona, United States

🇺🇸 Mesa is a city in Maricopa County, in the U.S. state of Arizona. It is a suburb east of Phoenix in the East Valley section of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area.

Mesa is the largest suburban city by population in the United States, the third-largest city in Arizona. Mesa is home to numerous higher education facilities including the Polytechnic campus of Arizona State University. It is also home to the largest relief airport in the Phoenix area, Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, which is in the south-eastern corner of the city.

History The history of Mesa dates back at least 2,000 years to the arrival of the Hohokam people. The Hohokam, whose name means "All Used Up" or "The Departed Ones", built the original canal system. The canals were the largest and most sophisticated in the prehistoric New World. Some were up to 90 feet (27 m) wide and 10 feet (3.0 m) deep at their head gates, extending for as far as 16 miles (26 km) across the desert. By AD 1100 water could be delivered to an area over 110,000 acres (450 km²), transforming the Sonoran Desert into an agricultural oasis. By 1450, the Hohokam had constructed hundreds of miles of canals, many of which are still in use.

After the disappearance of the Hohokam and before the arrival of the early settlers, little is known; explorers did not venture into this area. By the late 19th century near present-day Mesa, U.S. Army troops relocated the Apache, opening the way for settlement.

Mormon pioneer Daniel Webster Jones, with Henry Clay Rogers as his right-hand man, left St. George, Utah, in March 1877. Jones had been asked by Mormon officials to direct a party of people in establishing a settlement in Arizona. They traveled south and settled on the north side of the present Mesa area. This settlement was initially known as Fort Utah and later as Jonesville. It was located near Lehi Road. In 1883 it was named Lehi at the suggestion of Brigham Young, Jr.

About this same time, another group dubbed the First Mesa Company arrived from Utah and Idaho. Their leaders were Francis Martin Pomeroy, Charles Crismon, George Warren Sirrine and Charles I. Robson. Rather than accepting an invitation to settle at Jones's Lehi settlement, they moved up onto the mesa that serves as the city's namesake. They dug irrigation canals and used some of the original Hohokam canals. By April 1878, water was flowing through them. The Second Mesa Company arrived in 1879 and settled to the west of the First Mesa Company because of more available farmland. This settlement was originally called Alma and later Stringtown. It was located near where Alma School Road.

On July 17, 1878, Mesa City was registered as a 1-square-mile (2.6 km²) townsite. The first school was built in 1879. In 1883, Mesa City was incorporated with a population of 300 people. Dr. A. J. Chandler, who would later go on to found the city of Chandler, worked on widening the Mesa Canal in 1895 to allow for enough flow to build a power plant. In 1917, the city of Mesa purchased this utility company. The revenues from the company provided enough for capital expenditures until the 1960s. During the Great Depression, WPA funds provided paved streets, a new hospital, a new town hall and a library.

After the founding of the city the elected official that most impacted the municipality was George Nicholas Goodman. He was mayor five different times during three different decades. As mayor he was directly involved in the process of acquiring land for both Falcon Field and Williams Field.

With the opening of Falcon Field and Williams Field in the early 1940s, more military personnel began to move into the Mesa area. With the advent of air conditioning and the rise of tourism, population growth exploded in Mesa as well as the rest of the Phoenix area. Industry—especially early aerospace companies—grew in the 1950s and 1960s. As late as 1960, half of the residents of Mesa made a living with agriculture, but that number declined substantially as Mesa's suburban growth continued on track with the rest of the Phoenix metro area.

Geography Due to Mesa's long east to west travel distance, in excess of 18 miles (29 km) and large land area 133.13 square miles (344.8 km²), locations in Mesa are often referred to as residing within either West Mesa or East Mesa.

Mesa employs a grid system for street numbering that is different from that used in Phoenix and other portions of the metropolitan area. Center Street, running north to south, bisects Mesa into eastern and western halves and serves as the east and west numbering point of origin within Mesa. Streets west of Center St., such as W. University Drive or W. Main St. are considered to be in West Mesa, whereas streets east of Center St., such as E. University or E. Main St., are considered to be in East Mesa.

Mesa Drive, running north to south and bisecting Mesa into east and west sections, is located 0.5 miles (800 m) east of Center Street, and serves as the zip code boundary between the 85281, 85201, 85202, and 85210 zip codes of Western Mesa and the 85203, 85204, 85205, 85206, 85207, 85208, 85209, 85212, 85213, 85215, 85220, and 85242 zip codes of Eastern Mesa.

Economy: Top employers According to a recent Financial Report, the top employers in the city include: 1 Banner Health System; 2 Mesa Public Schools; 3 The Boeing Company; 4 City of Mesa; 5 Wal-Mart; 6 Drivetime Automotive Group Inc; 7 24-7 Intouch; 8 Frys Food Stores; 9 AT&T; 10 The Home Depot.

Cultural attractions • HoHoKam Park of the Cactus League, home of the Oakland Athletics and former home of the Chicago Cubs during spring training, the WAC baseball tournament and former summer home to the now defunct Mesa Miners professional baseball team of the Golden Baseball League • Sloan Park, opened in 2014 as the new Cactus League spring training home of the Chicago Cubs • Mesa Arts Center • Mesa Amphitheater • Museums ◦ I.d.e.a. Museum ◦ Commemorative Air Force Arizona Wing Aircraft Museum, located at Falcon Field – B-17 Sentimental Journey ◦ Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, Mesa Arts Center

▪ Mesa Historical Museum

▪ Arizona Museum of Natural History • Archeological sites ◦ Mesa Grande Ruins ◦ Park of the Canals • Public libraries ◦ Main Library (MN) ◦ Dobson Ranch Branch (DR) ◦ Mesa Express Library (MEL) ◦ Red Mountain Branch (RM) • Water parks ◦ Golfland Sunsplash waterpark on U.S. 60 • The only highrise in Mesa is the Bank of America (formerly Western Savings) building near Fiesta Mall. • Organ Stop Pizza, containing the world's largest Wurlitzer organ • Bell Bank Park a 320-acre sports and recreation complex

Historic properties in Mesa Numerous properties in the city are considered to be historical and have been included either in the National Register of Historic Places or the listings of the Mesa Historic Properties.

Parks and recreation Mesa has over 2,280 acres of parkland in the city limits. Its largest is Red Mountain Park which spans 1,146 acres. It includes a lake, playgrounds, a basketball court and a cement volleyball court.

Golf Mesa is home to numerous championship golf courses, including the original course in town, Mesa Country Club. This course was founded in the late 1940s by the original leaders of the town, and "Country Club Drive", the most prominent street in Mesa, was at one point the modest entrance to the club.

West Mesa The abandoned Fiesta Mall is located in West Mesa, and owned by Westcor. Its anchors were Sears and Best Buy. It is located near several shopping centres, Mesa's Bank of America, and other retail stores, banks, and restaurants. Though deserted, a refurbishment and expansion of the mall has been planned.

Mesa Riverview is a new outdoor destination retail centre in the north-western corner of the city, near Loop 202 and Dobson Road. At build-out the centre will include 1,300,000 square feet (120,000 m²) of retail space. Its anchors include Bass Pro Shops, Cinemark Theaters, Wal-Mart, and Home Depot.

East Mesa Located in East Mesa is Superstition Springs Business Park. It includes the Superstition Springs Center, a shopping mall owned by Macerich. It features an outdoor amphitheatre and fountain which convert to a stage. Anchor stores at the mall are Dillard's, JCPenney, and Macy's. Mission Community Church, previously known as Superstition Springs Community Church, was initially named after this business park.

Education Almost all of the city of Mesa is served by public schools operated by Mesa Public Schools; however, a small southern portion is served by the Gilbert Public Schools and the Queen Creek Unified School District, and a small western portion is served by the Tempe Elementary School District and the Tempe Union High School District.

Pilgrim Lutheran School is a Christian Pre-K-8 school of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod in Mesa.

More than 40,000 students are enrolled in more than 10 colleges and universities located in Mesa. Mesa is home to Mesa Community College, the largest of the Maricopa Community Colleges, which enrolls over 24,000 full and part-time students, and Chandler–Gilbert Community College. The Polytechnic campus of Arizona State University lies in south-east Mesa. This satellite campus enrolls over 6,000 undergraduate and graduate students in scientific and engineering fields. A. T. Still University operates an Osteopathic Medical School in Mesa.

Private for-profit institutions include Arizona College, Carrington College, DeVry University, Pima Medical Institute, and CAE Global Academy Phoenix. Arizona State University opened ASU at Mesa City Center in 2022, offering programs from the Herberger Institute for Design and Arts including a film school with media production facilities and a theater.

After launching a higher education initiative in 2012, Mesa became home to branch campuses of five private, liberal arts institutions: Albright College, Westminster College, Benedictine University, Upper Iowa University and Wilkes University. Two have since left (Albright College and Westminster College), while a third, Wilkes University, recently announced it would move entirely online.

Transport Several area freeways serve the Mesa area, such as U.S. Route 60, locally known as the Superstition Freeway, which runs between Apache Junction and Phoenix. It is also served by SR 87 and bypass loops Loop 101, which skirts the western city limits as the Price Freeway, and Loop 202, which bypasses the city on the north and east. The main east–west arterial road in Mesa is Main Street (former US 60/70/80/89), serving Downtown Mesa. The primary north–south arterials include Country Club Drive, Gilbert Road, and Power Road.

Public transportation in Mesa is provided by Valley Metro via bus and light rail (Valley Metro Rail). The light rail section in Mesa spans about four miles from Sycamore/Main St in the west of the city, through downtown to Mesa Dr/Main St. Until July 2008, Mesa was the largest U.S. city with no public transit service on Sundays, but now has Sunday service available on Routes 40-Apache/Main, 61-Southern, 96-Dobson, 108-Elliot, 112-Country Club/Arizona, 156-Chandler/Williams Field, and 184-Power. Up to the final years of Southern Pacific passenger railroad service, the Sunset Limited passenger train used to make stops in Mesa.

Air service in the city is provided by two airports. Falcon Field, located in the north-eastern part of the area, was established as a training field for British RAF pilots during World War II and was transferred to the city at the end of the war. Falcon Field has 605 aircraft based there. Boeing builds the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter at a facility adjoining Falcon Field. Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport is located in the far south-eastern area of the city, and provides alternate but limited air service when compared to Sky Harbor International Airport. Phoenix-Mesa Gateway was formerly Williams Gateway Airport, and before that, Williams Air Force Base, which closed in 1993. Williams Gateway was announced as a new Focus City for Allegiant Air. Service started October 25, 2007.

Healthcare The public hospital system, Valleywise Health (formerly Maricopa Integrated Health System), operates Valleywise Community Health Center – Mesa and Valleywise Behavioral Health Center – Mesa. Its sole hospital, Valleywise Health Medical Center, is in Phoenix.