Please add profiles of those who were born, lived or died in Mesa, Maricopa County, Arizona.

Official Website

Historical Timeline

• 1878 – Mormon settlers arrive
• 1883 - Mesa City incorporated. The townsite's bounded by Broadway Road on the south, Mesa Drive on the east, University Drive on the north, & Country Club Drive on the west; Alexander Findlay Macdonald becomes mayor
• 1892 – Mesa Free Press newspaper begins publication
• 1896 – Sirrine House built
• 1902 – Evans School for Boys opens; later renamed Mesa Ranch School
• 1908 – Granite Reef Diversion Dam is completed; the Salt River Valley Water Users' Association permanently provides water for irrigation canals in Mesa from this point, replacing the earlier Mormon-lead efforts
• 1909 – The original "Old Main" campus of Mesa High School opens; Mesa installs potable waterworks system
• 1911 – Roosevelt Dam is completed, regulating the flow of the Salt River for the first time, and providing cheap electrical power to parts of Mesa; Mesa takes over irrigation system operation within incorporated city limits
• 1915 – Mesa installs sanitary sewer system and septic tank tract at Riverview
• 1917 – Mesa purchases existing gas and electric utilities from Dr. A.J. Chandler
• 1921 – Mesa Welfare League founded.
• 1923 – Mesa Tribune newspaper begins publication
• 1927 – Mesa Arizona Temple dedicated (first time)
• 1928 – First production of the Mesa Arizona Easter Pageant
• 1931 – Town area expanded
• 1937 – City Hall built
• 1941 - U.S. Williams Air Force Base established; British Flying Training School at Falcon Field active near Mesa
• 1948 - Mesa Country Club established; Falcon Field becomes part of Mesa
• 1949 – Modern wastewater treatment plant built at Riverview
• 1950 - KTYL-FM radio begins broadcasting.
• 1953 – General Motors Desert Proving Grounds opens; KTYL-TV (channel 12; the current day KPNX) launches; Mesa celebrates 75th anniversary Diamond Jubilee; 10 million gallon Pasadena city reservoir completed
• 1962 – Westwood High School opens
• 1965 – Mesa Community College, and Adelante con Mesa established.
• 1967 - Regional Maricopa Association of Governments established; Original "Old Main" building of Mesa High School burns to the ground
• 1968 - Tri City Mall in business; KMND radio begins broadcasting; City of Mesa takes over operations of Falcon Field
• 1970 - Lehi becomes part of city
• 1972 – Mesa High School reopens at a new location (farther east and south); Mesa Central High School opens at site of original Mesa High campus
• 1973 – Dobson Ranch planned community began selling homes in the first phase of its 26-year development
• 1975 - After extensive renovations, the Mesa Arizona Temple is rededicated; The Park of the Canals is added to the National Register of Historic Places; work then commences for developing park facilities and later the botanical garden
• 1976 – Mountain View High School opens
• 1977 - Mesa Southwest Museum (later renamed the Arizona Museum of Natural History) founded; the original Hohokam Park opens
• 1978 – Western Design Center is founded by Bill Mensch; Mesa celebrates 100-year Centennial
• 1979 - Fiesta Mall in business; Mesa Amphitheatre built; Mesa Weekly News begins publication
• 1983 - Dobson High School opens; Mesa Golfland opens
• 1984 – Al Brooks becomes mayor.
• 1987 - Mesa Historical Museum opens; Living Word Bible Church active
• 1988 - Peggy Rubach becomes mayor; Red Mountain High School opens
• 1990 - Superstition Springs Center opens; first section of Arizona State Route 202 opens; downtown Lehi was removed to make way for it
• 1991 - East Valley Institute of Technology Main campus opens; Mesa Community Action Network active
• 1992 - Willie Wong becomes mayor; Mesa Solar Sox is founded
• 1993 - Williams Air Force Base closes, begins transition to Williams Gateway Airport
• 1994 - Williams Gateway Airport opens; Paz De Cristo Community Center opens
• 1995 - .T. Still University's Arizona School of Health Sciences opens; Heritage Academy (Arizona) opens
• 1996 - City website online; Wayne Brown becomes mayor; Arizona State University at the Polytechnic campus opens on the former Williams Air Force Base; Sun Valley High School opens
• 1997 - Harkins Superstition Springs cinema in business; Noah Webster School opens; the new HoHoKam Stadium opens
• 1998 – Tri City Mall closes, all existing buildings demolished except for former site of JCPenney store, which remains standing until 2006
• 1999 - Skyline High School opens; AMC Mesa Grand 24 cinema in business; Saint Ignatius of Antioch Church active
• 2000 - Keno Hawker becomes mayor.
• 2002 – Desert Ridge High School opens
• 2003 -Arizona School of Dentistry and Oral Health opens at A.T. Still University's Mesa campus; Champlin Fighter Museum closed
• 2005 - Mesa Arts Center built; Mesa Miners is founded; Mesa adopts city flag
• 2006 – Mesa Preparatory Academy opens
• 2007 - Mesa Riverview opens; Gateway 12/IMAX Theatre (cinema) in business; A.T. Still University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona opens at A.T. Still University's Mesa campus
• 2008 - Immigration raid by Maricopa County Sheriff; Sycamore Drive and Main Street Valley Metro Rail station opens, in front of the former Tri City Mall location; it is the first Metro Light Rail station in Mesa, and is the eastern terminator until future expansions are completed; Scott Smith becomes mayor
• 2009 - closure of the General Motors Desert Proving Grounds is completed; East Valley Mormon Choral Organization established, as part of the Millennial Choirs and Orchestras
• 2010 - United Food Bank active
• 2011 - East Valley Institute of Technology East campus opened, adjacent to ASU Polytechnic; Humanist Society of Greater Phoenix active
• 2012 - Republican Party presidential primaries debate held; Alexander murder trial begins.
• 2013 - Mesa Grande Cultural Park opens; the inaugural Visit Mesa Gateway Classic annual golf tournament is held
• 2014 - Cubs Park opens
• 2015 - SWAT team takes suspect into custody after shooting rampage

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Arizona

Links

Wikipedia