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    Buckeye
    Buckeye
    Buckeye
    Ebook141 pages42 minutes

    Buckeye

    By Verlyne Meck

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    About this ebook

    With a population of more than 48,000, Buckeye is the ninth-fastest growing municipality in the United States. The town s rapid growth has left many longtime residents wondering what happened to the place where they grew up. Originally an agricultural community, Buckeye has embraced the 21st century, becoming a hub for the affordable housing market in the Valley of the Sun. Buckeye s colorful history is told by an Arizona Culture Keeper and lifelong resident of the Buckeye Valley, Verlyne Meck, who has woven a tapestry of words and images that tell the unique story of the Buckeye Valley.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateJul 26, 2010
    ISBN9781439624685
    Buckeye
    Author

    Verlyne Meck

    In Legendary Locals of Buckeye, author and Buckeye native Verlyne Meck weaves a tapestry of words and images to tell the unique stories of the people of Buckeye. This is her third volume on her hometown, as she previously authored Images of America: Buckeye and Then & Now: Buckeye.

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      Book preview

      Buckeye - Verlyne Meck

      INTRODUCTION

      Maricopa County in the Territory of Arizona was created in 1871, and during the late 1870s and 1880s, the Salt River Valley began its agricultural boom. The search for new agricultural lands extended beyond the Salt River. In May 1885, Malie Monroe Jackson and Joshua Spain located an irrigation ditch near the mouth of the Aqua Fria River at its junction with the Gila River. By September, the Buckeye Canal Company, so-called in honor of Jackson’s home state of Ohio, had filed its articles of incorporation with the territorial secretary. By 1886, of that same year, water was turned into the canal and the historic settlement of the Buckeye Valley truly began. Within a few years of the completion of the canal, 16,000 acres of farmland began to be developed.

      The crop that supported this first generation of Buckeye Valley farmers was alfalfa. Alfalfa was a great crop for the valley because it could be stored for long periods and required little water. This was important, as the valley was isolated. The market for alfalfa seed was strong. Alfalfa was a crop that gave local farmers and beekeepers several ways to make money. First from the honey produced by the bees, second from the bee-pollinated alfalfa seed, third from the alfalfa plant as livestock feed, fourth as grazing areas for sheep, and fifth from the wool grown on the sheep. It is no wonder that the Buckeye Valley became known as a prime agricultural area.

      The attraction of new lands for farming drew settlers to the valley. By 1890, there were thriving communities at Liberty, Palo Verde, and Sidney (later to be called Buckeye). A decade later, in 1899, the development of the Arlington Canal to the west resulted in another vital and growing community called Arlington. Adjoining valley areas that became inhabited were Harquahala Valley to the northwest and Rainbow Valley to the southeast of the Buckeye Valley.

      Liberty, Palo Verde, and Arlington were loose collections of farms and ranches connected by common schools, a post office, stores, and churches. Activities associated with schools and churches brought the local people together for work and socializing. The local general stores and post offices also served as informal gathering places. The post office named Buckeye was established on March 10,1888. Established post office dates for surrounding areas were Liberty in 1901, Arlington around 1907, and Palo Verde in 1910.

      Sidney (later Buckeye) became a true town when two men, Thomas Newton Clanton and Oscar L. Mahoney, subdivided 1 square mile (640 acres) of land in September 1888 at the center of the Buckeye Canal with the intention of selling lots. They named the town Sidney. Why that name was chosen is unclear to this day. All other homesteaded lands in the area were used as farms and ranches. Sidney was the only place under the canal where an individual did not have to own a farm or ranch to own land. This presented the opportunity for shopkeepers and other trades people to start businesses to serve the valley and limit travel to Phoenix to obtain

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