Scottsdale

Sister cities

• Interlaken

History

Scottsdale was originally an Akimel O'odham village known as , meaning . Some Akimel O'odham remain there today. Until the late 1960s, there was a still-occupied traditional dwelling on the southeast corner of Indian Bend Road and Hayden Road. The Akimel O'odham who live in Scottsdale today reside in modern houses, not traditional dwellings. Many Akimel O'odham and Maricopa people live in the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, which borders Scottsdale to the south and east. In the early to mid-1880s, U.S. Army Chaplain Winfield Scott visited the Salt River Valley and was impressed with it and its potential for agriculture. Returning in 1888 with his wife, Helen, he purchased where historic Old Town is now, for $3.50 an acre ( as of 2025). Another landowner in the Southern part of town, Albert G. Utley, filed plans with Maricopa County for a city named "Orangedale", using Scott's Field as a border. When the newspaper, then called the Arizona Republican, published an article about the plan, they erroneously called the town "Scottsdale". The article drew some publicity for the town, and ultimately this convinced Utley to change his filing and officially name the town "Scottsdale". In 1896, the Scottsdale Public School system was established, In the early 1900s the community supported an artists' and writers' culture, Also in 1909, Cavalliere's Blacksmith Shop opened in downtown Scottsdale, and the original schoolhouse was replaced by the much more expansive Little Red Schoolhouse, which stands to this day. While not in its original building, Cavalliere's has been in continuous operation since that time. In 1912, both the Phoenix Street Railway Company and a competitor, the Salt River Valley Electric Railway Company, proposed building streetcar lines to…

Geography

The city is in the Salt River Valley, or the "Valley of the Sun", in the northern reaches of the Sonoran Desert. Scottsdale, long and wide at its widest point, shares boundaries with many other municipalities and entities. On the west, Scottsdale is bordered by Phoenix, Paradise Valley and unincorporated Maricopa County land. Carefree is along the eastern boundary, as well as sharing Scottsdale's northern boundary with the Tonto National Forest. To the south Scottsdale is bordered by Tempe. The southern boundary is also occupied by the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, which extends along the eastern boundary, which also borders Fountain Hills, the McDowell Mountain Regional Park and more unincorporated Maricopa County land. The highest point is Butte Peak at an elevation of . According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of , of which , or 0.24%, are water. In 1981, TCE began to show up in two Scottsdale drinking wells, and in 1983, the Indian Bend Wash superfund site was listed on the Environmental Protection Agency's National Priorities List. The city is loosely divided into four areas: South Scottsdale (McKellips Road north to Thomas Road), Old Town (Downtown) Scottsdale, Central Scottsdale (also known as the Shea Corridor, extending from Camelback Road north to Shea Boulevard), and North Scottsdale. South Scottsdale has for many years been the working-class neighborhood. The median resale home price is US$291,500, compared to $667,450 in North Scottsdale. Part of McDowell Road in South Scottsdale used to be known as Motor Mile, having at one time 31 dealerships on the street. The strip at one time generated over $10 million in sales tax revenue each year and was one of the most profitable auto-miles in the United States. In…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  21,486
• Gila Woodpecker

  Melanerpes uropygialis (S.F.Baird, 1854) · Aves
  20,988
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  18,925
• Verdin

  Auriparus flaviceps (Sundevall, 1850) · Aves
  17,598
• Curve-billed Thrasher

  Toxostoma curvirostre (Swainson, 1827) · Aves
  17,502
• Gambel's Quail

  Callipepla gambelii (Gambel, 1843) · Aves
  16,929
• Anna's Hummingbird

  Calypte anna (R.Lesson, 1829) · Aves
  14,517
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  14,148

Most recent

• M 2.6 — 2022-02-25
  1 km S of Roosevelt, Arizona
• M 2.5 — 2022-02-15
  6 km S of Roosevelt, Arizona
• M 2.5 — 2022-02-12
  2 km ESE of Roosevelt, Arizona
• M 2.6 — 2020-06-06
  5 km NW of New River, Arizona
• M 3.2 — 2016-12-10
  11 km ENE of Rio Verde, Arizona
• M 3.6 — 2015-11-02
  4 km NNE of Black Canyon City, Arizona