Peoria Arizona History & Facts

Peoria is a city in Maricopa and Yavapai counties in the state of Arizona. Most of the city is located in Maricopa County while a tiny portion in the north is in Yavapai County. It is a major suburb of Phoenix. According to 2019 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 175,961. Peoria is currently the sixth-largest city in Arizona in land area and the ninth-largest in population. It was named after Peoria, Illinois. The word peoria is a corruption of the Miami-Illinois word for 'prairie fire'. It is the spring training home of the San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners, who share the Peoria Sports Complex.

Peoria sits in the Salt River Valley, and extends into the foothills of the mountains to the north. William John Murphy, who had worked on the Arizona Canal, recruited settlers to begin a community in Arizona, many of them from Peoria, Illinois. Albert J. and Elizabeth Straw were the first to establish residency in November 1886. They were followed by William T. and Sylvia Hanna, James M. and Clara Copes, and James and Ella McMillan, all from Peoria, Illinois. An old desert road connecting Phoenix to the Hassayampa River near present-day Wickenburg was the only major transportation route in the area until 1887, when a new road was laid out. Named Grand Avenue, this road angled through the newly designed town sites of Alhambra, Glendale, and Peoria and became the main route from Phoenix to Vulture Mine. The settlers filed Peoria's plot map with the Maricopa County recorder on May 24, 1897, naming the settlement after their hometown.

The original plot map of Peoria included east and west streets (from south to north) Monroe, Madison, Jefferson, Washington, Jackson, Lincoln, Grant, and Van Buren. Streets going north and south were (from west to east) Almond (present-day 85th Avenue), Peach (present-day 84th Avenue), Orange (present-day 83rd Avenue), Vine (present-day 82nd Avenue), Walnut (present-day 81st Avenue), the plot was roughly from present-day Peoria and 85th avenues to Monroe Street and 85th Avenue to Monroe Street and 81st Avenue to 81st Avenue and south of the Desert Cove alignment. On August 4, 1888, the Territory of Peoria, Arizona was granted a post office in its name and served a population of 27. Maricopa County supervisors defined the boundaries for School District Eleven, comprising forty-nine square miles, and the first class took place in an unoccupied brick store that faced north on Washington Street until Peoria's first school building, a one-room structure completed in 1891.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 141.7 square miles (367 km2), of which 138.2 square miles (358 km2) is land and 3.5 square miles (9.1 km2) (2.44%) is water.

Peoria has annexed over 170 square miles (440 km2) and is in two counties: Maricopa County and Yavapai County. It is technically the largest incorporated city in Yavapai County, even though almost all of Peoria's current population resides on the Maricopa County side.

The Agua Fria River and New River are the only rivers that flow through Peoria. The Agua Fria River is usually dry due to the New Waddell Dam that holds back Lake Pleasant in the northern end of the city. The New River is usually dry due to flood control measures and New River Dam. There are multiple washes and creeks that flow through the city as well, one of the most significant being the Skunk Creek, due to its trails and connectivity with nearby Glendale.

Peoria has many mountains and hills at its northern end. Some include Sunrise Mountain, West Wing Mountain, East Wing Mountain, Calderwood Butte, Cholla Mountain, White Peak, Hieroglyphic Mountains, and Twin Buttes.

Famous Peoples From Peoria Arizona

Noah Beck

Noah Timothy Beck (born May 4, 2001) is an American social media personality most known for his content on TikTok. In 2019, Beck was a midfielder for the Portland Pilots men's soccer.

Beck was born on May 4, 2001, and is from Peoria, Arizona. He attended Ironwood High School. Beck played for the SC del Sol club soccer team in Phoenix. In Arizona, he was a team captain in the U.S. Youth Soccer Olympic Development Program from 2014 to 2017. He moved to Utah during his last two years of high school where he played for the Real Salt Lake Academy. Starting in 2019, Beck attended University of Portland where he had a full-ride scholarship. Beck was a midfielder on the Portland Pilots men's soccer. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Portland, Oregon, Beck completed his second semester of freshman year online before dropping out.

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