When was the city of Phoenix started?

Answer 1

Settled in 1867 as an agricultural community near the confluence of the Salt and Gila Rivers, Phoenix incorporated as a city in 1881.

Answer 2

Phoenix was established as a city on February 25, 1881. But the city had it's modern day beginnings 14 years earlier. In 1867, Jack Swilling stopped to rest his horse at the foot of the north slopes of the White Tank Mountains. In this soil, he saw farmland, free of rocks and in a place beyond the reach of frost or heavy snows. Swilling organized the Swilling Irrigation Canal Company and moved into the Valley and by 1868, water flowed through the canal, and a few members of the company were able to raise meager crops that summer. It was Darrell Duppa who suggested the name Phoenix, because the new town had sprung up from the ruins of a former civilization - the Hohokam This name caught on and was officially recognized on May 4, 1868 by the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors. On October 20, 1870, a meeting was held at the home of John Moore to select a town site. The site that was selected encompassed what today is bounded on the north by Van Buren Street, on the south by Jackson Street, on the east by Seventh Street and on the west by Seventh Avenue. By 1881, Phoenix had grown too large to be a "town" run by village trustees. So The Phoenix Charter Bill was passed by the 11th Territorial Legislature which made Phoenix an incorporated city and provided for a government consisting of a mayor and four council members. It was signed by Governor John C. Fremont on Feb. 25, 1881. On May 3, 1881, the first election was held in the newly incorporated city with a population of approximately 2,500.

Answer 3

Phooenix became the Territorial Capital in 1899.