Jay Datus was only 23 when he got the opportunity of a lifetime: to paint murals inside the Arizona State Library in the 1930s. It was an important milestone in the career of Datus, who was born in Michigan in 1914 and became known as an “Arizona muralist” for his vivid depictions of the state’s history and culture.
In a city that’s seen so many changes over the years, it’s hard to say what part of town has changed the most. South Phoenix would be on the list. In the 1950s, the landscape down there looked dramatically
different, including the stretch of Baseline Road between 32nd and 48th streets, which was lined with flower farms owned by Japanese-American families who had purchased the land after World War II. Seven families operated what were known as the “Japanese flower farms.” Today, only one family remains: the Nakagawas.
Picture this: An elaborate, expensive tramway is built across the Grand Canyon, allowing a rare resource to be harvested from a remote cave below the North Rim. The resource? A nitrogen-rich animal byproduct: guano. Today, the idea sounds bat-dung crazy. But in the mid-20th century, when this ambitious scheme unfolded (and then folded), guano was highly sought for use as fertilizer. So, after the cave was discovered 650 feet above the Colorado River in the 1930s, attempts to harvest the guano began.
From showers and baths to sinks and dishwashers, water is something we often take for granted. But the challenges of maintaining a feasible water supply in Arizona’s desert landscape have existed since people started living here. The Hohokam people were the first to design and build irrigation systems in the area, starting as far back as A.D. 200, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. That tradition continues today with the Central Arizona Project, which delivers water to more than 80 percent of the state’s population.
Even if you’re new to the state, you’ve probably heard of Wallace and Ladmo, the beloved characters of the long-running TV show that bore their names. But long before Wallace Snead made his broadcast debut, Lew King was engaging and inspiring Arizona’s kids.
These days, a road trip from Los Angeles to Phoenix is routine, but in the infancy of car travel, driving that distance was an accomplishment. Thus, the Cactus Derby, which debuted in November 1908 and covered what then was a route of more than 500 miles. According to a June 1969 Arizona Highways story, the winner of that race was Colonel F.C. Fenner, who was driving a White steamer that averaged a blistering 17.6 miles per hour.
Arizona history is full of swindlers, but few were as brazen as Richard C. Flower, who advertised his con right in the name of the operation. As the story goes, in the late 1890s, Flower was seeking to incorporate his mining company and was asked what he wanted to name it. He replied, “Any name that will cause them to spend their mazuma” (a Yiddish-derived slang term for money). And Spenazuma was born.
On a bright afternoon in May 1972, Mrs. Molera led some of her Nogales third-grade students on a walk from A.J. Mitchell Elementary School up the hill to a new art gallery. The children were there to see their classroom artwork, posters in a “primavera” theme, displayed for the public. Alma Chavarria, age 7, was among the budding artists, and her experience that day was the start of a lifelong connection to Hilltop Gallery.
The Murphy family made many contributions to the development of Phoenix. Among other things, the family built part of the Arizona Canal, helped found the city of Glendale and planted some of the state’s first citrus trees. And, in 1909, they opened the Ingleside Club, a private club near Indian School Road and 60th Street in present-day Scottsdale.
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP) dates to 1833, when French law student Frédéric Ozanam started the Conference of Charity to help impoverished communities in Paris. But the charitable organization’s history in the Valley of the Sun began more than a century later, when its Phoenix chapter opened in April 1946. Based inside what now is St. Mary’s Basilica, the local chapter was the work of five men who wanted to find a solution to increasing poverty in Arizona after World War II. With the help of donations, members started feeding those in need.
