Chris Garrison, Marq Mang, Jorge Veloz West Valley View is published each Tuesday and Friday by West Valley View Inc.
Vista is published semi-annually by West Valley View Inc.
Subscriptions: Home delivery of West Valley View is free upon request within western Maricopa County west of State Route 101 and south of Northern Ave. as well as all of the city of Tolleson. Requested mail subscriptions within Maricopa County: $150 per year, $80 for 6 months. Out of county & state: $175 per year, $90 for 6 months.
Copyright: The entire contents Copyright 2012 by West Valley View, Inc.
Vista is printed on 100% recycled paper with soy-based inks. 12-30-2011 • 80,675
Welcome to Vista
Welcome to our 2012 spring/summer Vista magazine, our semi-annual guide to the West Valley.
To commemorate the state’s centennial — Arizona became a state Feb. 14, 1912, 100 years to the day of this Vista’s publication — we chose to look at our rich history out here in the West Valley and share some of the highlights with you as the state marks a very big birthday.
We like to think that 100 years is just the beginning; that this great patchwork of communities will grow and thrive for another hundred years, and even beyond that. But now that we’re at 100, it’s a good time to look back on the people, places and events that shaped
what is now all around us. Our history is infused with pioneers, engineers, entrepreneurs, cowboys, ranchers, farmers and, most of all, dreamers. They came here, saw potential and planted roots. The West Valley would be nothing without them.
One remarkable sidenote: this history is by no means complete. We were constrained to space limitations, so some major pieces of the West Valley’s past had to be left out. Please continue to read the Tuesday and Friday editions of the West Valley View as stories about the centennial and its various celebrations continue throughout the year.
Happy birthday, Arizona.
— Michael Clawson
The cover of this Vista is a montage of historical photos gleaned from the West Valley View archives. Some of the area’s most influential pioneers — Walter Tolleson, Paul W. Litchfield and Billy Moore, as well as World War I Medal of Honor winner Frank Luke Jr., whose name lives on in Luke Air Force Base — are set against a backdrop of Buckeye’s Main Street in the 1930s, a farm worker in an irrigated field and a Buckeye-area resident riding a horseless carriage.
The path to statehood
“Sun-drenched land” has reached history with Mexico, Native Americans
Arizona has plenty of history for people who like to think of the Southwest in terms of gun fights, cattle rustling, outlaws, cowboys and Indian warfare.
Those are the days, of course, before there was an Avondale, Buckeye, Goodyear, Litchfield Park or Tolleson.
History buffs quickly discover that the range of Arizona lore is extensive and that it can be sometimes difficult to find a satisfactory starting point.
Perhaps they may start with the history from the Spanish conquest of Mexico and the advance of priests and explorers into what would become the 48th state.
On the other hand, readers may trace the history from the pioneer prospectors, soldiers, cattlemen, tradesmen and farmers who ventured into the Arizona territory and recorded their adventures.
They also may start with the patchwork quilt of stories involving the earliest inhabitants, including the mysterious Hohokams, who were both agricultural and architectural, leaving behind a system of ruins and irrigation canals.
The focus on other Native Americans may include the Navajo, Apache, Hopi, Pima, Moqui, Tohono O’Odham, Yavapai, Yaqui, Quechan and Hualapai.
Eventually, Arizona was settled and achieved statehood on Feb. 14, 1912, thus becoming the 48th state and ending what historians describe as the end to the colonization of the contiguous states.
At the time of statehood, according to historians, Arizona was the epitome of the American West and was known as the home of the Five C’s — copper, cattle, cotton, citrus and climate.
What is Arizona today? Answers may vary among lifetime residents, new arrivals or the line of immigrants from Mexico and other foreign countries.
Certainly, Arizona will continue to be known for its natural beauty.
To outsiders, Arizona may be a “sun-drenched land, bounded on the north by the Grand Canyon and on the south by Mexico,” according to one historical writer, John Walton Caughey.
It may be viewed as the home of blanket-weaving and silverworking Native Americans plying their trade on reservations between the New Mexico and California borders, Caughey wrote in a scholarly book review in 1951.
And it’s seen as a great destination for tourists, as portrayed by Arizona Highways, or a Mecca for health seekers and winter visitors who quickly relish the state’s glorious sunsets, Caughey wrote in The American Historical Review.
In the final analysis, Arizonans may argue that the state becomes a wonderful place to settle down, get a job, buy a home, raise a family, gain an education and, perhaps, eventually retire.
People familiar with Arizona may discover that the state has a wealth of rich experiences to offer for those who have an eye to the past, an anchor on the present and a focus on the future.
In March 1893, 19 years before statehood, the debate already was raging whether the Arizona territory should be admitted as a full-fledged state.
A woman symbolizing Columbia holds an American flag and star as she faces three men representing New Mexico, left, Arizona, and Oklahoma, who are waiting for statehood, with the U.S. Capitol in the background. This cartoon ran in Puck Magazine July 1902.
That year, John N. Irwin, a former territorial governor in Arizona, published a scholarly article in which he advanced his arguments for statehood.
“In intelligence and education the people of Arizona will compare favorably with those of any State in the Union,” Irwin wrote in “Claims to Statehood,” an essay in The North American Review. Irwin also praised the territory’s government system and public schools, adding that Arizona “has a fine asylum for the insane and a penitentiary, both built and maintained by territorial funds.”
The former governor added, “Its superb winter climate has induced many northern and eastern people who are in search of mild winters to settle in its valleys, while the development of its mines and its adaptability for grazing, farming and fruit culture have been factors in bringing many people to make their homes within its borders.”
Today, 119 years later, many of the same arguments can be made about Arizona and the state’s future prospects.
For example, Coldwater, which later would become Avondale, served as a dusty stagecoach stop when it was founded in 1896 by people settling along the banks of the Agua Fria River.
The roots of Coldwater are traced to Billy Moore, a former blacksmith and reputed outlaw, who operated a freight station on the west side of the river.
As the agricultural and water resources of the region became known, more settlers arrived. The post office at Coldwater was twice discontinued before it was renamed Avondale in 1911, just a year before Arizona statehood.
During the past 100 years, the area has continued to mush-
What was once a vast open desert is now one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United States. Long before urban sprawl transformed the landscape, farmers tamed the land one field at a time. Back then, Arizona was very much in the Old West, with cowboys, stagecoaches and steam locomotives.
room with the arrival of more residents. In the 2010 census, the Avondale population was set at 76,238.
Now, Avondale and surrounding cities are thoroughly modern communities in the Phoenix metropolitan area and all with an eye to a very promising future.
—
Brent Whiting
A Native American farmer works on a field near what is now the Gila River Indian Community southeast of Goodyear and Avondale. The photo was taken sometime between 1918 and 1928.
Library of Congress photo
ARIZONA from V5
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West Valley school districts see big changes over last decade
The West Valley’s educational history is rife with stories about schools for sale and pioneering desegregation rulings.
Probably the most intriguing tale from the area is the stolen schoolhouse saga, which was a battle between the Arlington and Palo Verde elementary districts.
In 1896, a shared building called Powers Butte School sat on the west side of the Hassayampa River, even though more pupils lived on the east side.
In the middle of the night, Palo Verde farmers loaded the 14-foot-by-16-foot room onto a wagon and moved it five miles to the corner of Palo Verde Road and Highway 80, where the building stood for several years.
Verlyne Meck, 71, longtime instructor for the Buckeye Union High School District, wrote about the event and other historical highlights in her book, Buckeye.
“I heard that story and got information, and there are pictures of it and different things,” she said. “It’s the truth; it’s not a legend.”
Days of Little House on the Prairie one-room schoolhouses are long gone, but it wasn’t too many years ago that plenty of districts still had only one school.
The area’s 14 districts are all decades old, but many didn’t start to see major growth until the year 2000. In the last 12 years, the number of schools in the West Valley went from 24 to 67.
The Buckeye Elementary District had just one site for 113 years, from 1890 to 2003. Enrollment more than quadrupled in the last decade, causing it to need six campuses.
According to records, the Pendergast Elementary District was the first to be established in the West Valley in 1886. The original wood school building burned down in 1900, and the Pendergast family donated land for a new two-room brick building that still stands, Superintendent Ron Richards said.
The oldest school structure in Arizona still in use on its original site is in the Liberty Elementary District in Buckeye. The Cottonwood Log School was built in 1887 and later restored in 1993.
Meck attended school in the historical building during first grade.
“I’m proud, but it does make me an antique. I like to use the word, ‘vintage,’” she said. “I really enjoyed my years at Liberty School. I felt like I got a very good education.”
In Litchfield Park, the first school was started in 1917 in an old cook shack with wooden floors and canvas side flaps.
Eleven pupils were enrolled in the beginning, but it increased daily and had 80 children by the following year. Mable Padgett was the district’s first teacher, and she was honored in 2010 when the district named a school after her.
To the southwest, the Tolleson Union High School District was organized on Jan. 24, 1914, but the first class of students didn’t start until 1920 in a small wooden building divided into two classrooms and a small office inside Pendergast Elementary.
Students could only attend the first two years of high school in the district and then had to transfer to either Glendale Union High School or Phoenix Union High School.
About 1972, Juan de Baustista DeAnza High School was built at the corner of 91st and Campbell avenues as a ninth- and 10th-grade high school, and Tolleson became the site for 11thand 12th-graders.
In 1981, DeAnza was sold to the Pendergast Elementary District, which took special legislation. It was the only time in the United States that a school was sold to another district, Tolleson spokeswoman Karyn Eubanks said.
The Tolleson Elementary District boasts the first desegregation case in the state. Before 1951, its white and Hispanic pupils attended class separately.
Children of migratory laborers living at a labor camp board a school bus in Avondale in a 1940 photograph. Many things have changed in the 72 years since this photo was taken, namely all the labor camps have long-since disappeared.
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The policy changed when a group of citizens determined segregation had no place in their community.
A preliminary injunction from the U.S. District Court in 1951 directed the school to integrate immediately. It was the first such lawsuit entered in Arizona — three years before the famous Supreme Court case Brown vs. Board of Education.
One of the district’s elementary schools was named after Porfirio Gonzales, who was the lead plaintiff in the case. Now, a tribute panel sits in front of the campus to honor everyone involved. Part of it reads:
“This memorial is dedicated to all the brave individuals that fought with great courage and humility to bring an end to the segregation of the Tolleson Elementary Schools. They believed in the spirit of the United States Constitution, that all children will be afforded the right to a truly equal education. Their legacy is a fi rm reminder that the fi ght for social justice continues.”
— Emily McCann
EDUCATION from V8
An undated photo from sometime between 1910 and 1920 shows Liberty schoolchildren outside the Liberty Elementary School. The photo is being held up in front of the 102-year-old building that still stands in Buckeye.
Students from the Palo Verde School stand in front of their school bus in an undated photo from sometime between 1910 and 1920.
Then and now
The following is a timeline of when each West Valley school district was established and how it looks today.
• 1886 — Pendergast Elementary District. Now has 14 schools and 9,300 pupils.
• 1889 — Buckeye Elementary District. Now has six schools and 4,500 pupils.
• 1894 — Arlington Elementary District. Now has one school and 284 pupils.
• 1894 — Avondale Elementary District. Now has eight schools and 5,710 pupils.
• 1899 — Union Elementary District. Now has two schools and 1,756 pupils.
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• 1910 — Liberty Elementary District. Now has five schools and 3,302 pupils.
• 1910 — Palo Verde Elementary District. Now has one school and 440 pupils.
• 1912 — Littleton Elementary District. Now has seven schools and 5,169 pupils.
• 1914 — Tolleson Union High School District. Now has six schools and 9,621 students.
• 1917 Litchfield Elementary District. Now has 14 schools and 10,233 pupils.
• 1920 — Buckeye Union High School District. Now has three schools and 3,663 students.
• 1929 — Tolleson Elementary District. Now has four schools and 2,720 pupils.
• 1930 — Saddle Mountain Unified District. Now has three schools and 1,390 pupils.
• 1955 — Agua Fria Union High School District. Now has four schools and 6,750 students.
Litchfield Elementary School students, 1917
Famous faces
History-makers who have called the West Valley home
Notable people have had a connection to the Southwest Valley since before Arizona attained statehood in 1912; some of them through living or working here, and others through having landmarks named for them.
Luminaries have been from all realms, including arts, education, politics and sports.
Entrepreneur Billy Moore was instrumental in the establishment of the community of Coldwater, which later became Avondale.
He settled the area in 1895 and established a stage coach stop and built a saloon and a general store. Moore was the initial Coldwater postmaster.
The city used to honor its founder with an annual Billy Moore Heritage Days celebration.
William “Buckey” O’Neill once owned the Buckeye Irrigation Co. and extended the canal to Arlington Valley.
O’Neill went on to gain fame as one of Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders during the Spanish-American War. O’Neill was killed in battle during the charge up San Juan Hill in Cuba.
Since those pre-statehood days, numerous luminaries have been associated with the area.
Arts
Famed author Upton Sinclair once lived in Buckeye. It is not certain exactly when Sinclair moved to Buckeye. Anthony Arthur’s biography Radical Innocent: Upton Sinclair (2006, Random House) states that Sinclair “bought a tiny house in ... Buckeye” in 1950. He was still living there a decade later as certified by several letters to the editor published in 1959 and 1960 issues of Time magazine that were signed “Upton Sinclair, Buckeye, Ariz.”
Sinclair is best known for The Jungle, a book exposing unsanitary conditions in Chicago’s meatpacking plants.
His exposé created a public outcry that paved the way for the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat inspection Act in 1906, which required the federal inspection of meat products.
The 2007 Academy Award-nominated motion picture There Will Be Blood was based on Sinclair’s 1927 novel Oil!
Aviation
Astronaut Frank Borman, commander of Apollo 8, lived in Goodyear in the mid-1950s and was a flight instructor at Luke Air Force Base in nearby Glendale
Luke Air Force Base is named for Frank Luke Jr., the first aviator to be awarded a Medal of Honor.
The Wigwam resort in Litchfield Park recently named the first hole of its Patriots Course in honor of Luke.
Education
Lattie Coor was a graduate of Litchfield High School, which was replaced in 1955 by Agua Fria Union High School.
Coor was president of ASU from 1990 to 2002.
Lattie Coor Elementary School in Avondale is named for Coor’s father.
Cindy McCain, wife of Arizona senator and former presidential candidate John McCain, taught special education at Agua Fria High School in the late 1970s.
Michael Anderson School in Avondale is named for the NASA
Lt. Frank Luke Jr., the first U.S. aviator to be awarded a Medal of Honor, stands next to his plane in an undated photo. Luke Air Force Base was named in his honor.
History keepers
Historians focus on accuracy to create a picture of the past
Uncovering the West Valley’s rich heritage is like putting together a jigsaw puzzle.
A single jagged piece connects to a hundred others to tell a story bigger than the sum of its parts.
Much of the West Valley’s historical roots began in Litchfield Park, which was established in the early 1900s after William Kriegbaum of Riverside, Calif., claimed 640 acres.
In 1916, Akron, Ohio-based Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. sent Paul W. Litchfield, then a junior executive with the company, to purchase 16,000 acres, which included the land claims of the original settlers. They needed to grow Egyptian long-staple cotton for tire manufacturing.
Although the tire company provided detailed accounts of the area’s history, other sources such as a thesis by a second-grade teacher at Litchfield School, helped historians learn about the city’s past, said Celeste Crouch, an area historian.
“When I started the Litchfield Park Historical Society, I took that thesis and made copies of it. I handed it out to the City Council, the West Valley View, anyone who might connect back to us as a historical site,” she said. “That thesis was a real key on where to go to get history and how to find people.”
History in pieces
Word soon traveled and history started to come to the historian, Crouch said.
“It’s surprisingly interesting to find people will find you once you start,” she said. “People will come to you if you let them know you’re available.”
For Tolleson historians Jimmy Ruiz and Jim Green, learning the stories of the past began with hundreds of photographs.
The two were approached by Arcadia Publishing to chronicle Tolleson’s history in a book, which featured mostly old photographs. Ruiz had collected hundreds of photos over the years and they served as the book’s starting point.
“We began to look at his photos and support those … we began to make contacts with the citizens in the community who
To Egypt and back again
Judy Cook shows a 1920 photo of Kenneth McMicken, a cousin of Litchfield Park founder Paul Litchfield, as he sits in front of the Egyptian pyramids. McMicken traveled to Egypt in 1920 to learn how the Egyptians grew cotton and to bring farming tips back to West Valley cotton growers. A record of McMicken’s trip is preserved in a scrapbook he kept complete with illustrated farming diagrams and photographs he took at cotton facilities throughout Egypt. The scrapbook was donated to the Litchfield Park Historical Society.
would have some reason to have older photographs,” Green said. “We wanted a historical perspective on how things began
Litchfield Park historian Judy Cook shows off artifacts in the archive room at the Litchfield Park Historical Society in Litchfield Park. The Society is researching thousands of photos and documents in hopes they will eventually go on display to the public.
in Tolleson. We wanted to talk about the people and the families that built this part of the community.”
Listening to the peoples’ history meant deciphering memories, which weren’t always crystal clear, Green said.
“The difficulty for us was that once you began to talk to elderly people and people who remembered their great-grandparents, as we did, then each photo had an entire story behind it,” he said. “Some things we didn’t remember how it happened; the people would tell us what happened and how it came about.”
Memories and stories were then double or triple checked through other sources of information.
“Every small community always has some major historical controversies and conflicts. When we came to an area like that, we made sure we had historically verified material,” Green said. “There are two sides to every story and when you take that approach and delve into one side, you’re going to alienate the other side and that wasn’t our intent.”
Crouch said being historically accurate has a lot to do with following a trail.
“I think it’s just a matter of putting people together, asking questions and going to the right situation,” she said, “finding a pattern and following it with people. You learn one thing and you go search it out. When you search it out, you find more. It’s a puzzle.”
History for the future
Building that puzzle allows generations of people to discover their past, said Judy Cook, president of the Litchfield Park Historical Society.
The society has collected numerous artifacts as well as oral histories of the area. Some items include old dictionaries, journals and postcards along with medical and dental equipment.
“I think the things that we have, probably give a really good picture of what life was like from 1916 until now in Litchfield Park because that was the hub of the development in the West Valley,” Cook said. “When you look through all those records and the things that happened, you can see how the West Valley grew from that hub.”
History also gives perspective on how society has advanced, she said.
“An awful lot can be shown from that time period that is different from our time today. Kids today often think everyone has a cell phone and a computer, but that’s really new. They don’t remember card catalogs, old medical equipment, old types of medications; they don’t understand how basic the healthcare was compared to what you can get today,” Cook said.
In general, it’s the older generations who appreciate the work of a historian, Green said.
“You have to grow old into it to realize the value of your history,” he said. “Youth and nostalgia don’t go back very far. Part of the human psyche is to know where your heritage came from. We have to rely on the people who really value it to be the leaders.”
— Sara Clawson
Historians Jim Green, left, and Jimmy Ruiz look through old photos in Ruiz’s Tolleson home in 2008. The two collaborated on a book of their collected photos called “Images of America: Tolleson.”
HISTORIANS from V15
History starts at founders
Many West Valley historians have begun researching their cities by starting with the founders, who include Billy Moore, left, who settled in Avondale; Rough Rider William “Buckey” O’Neill, one of Buckeye’s founders who extended canals into the area; Paul Litchfield, who made his home in what is now Litchfield Park; and farmer Walter Tolleson, who, according to some records, may have planted Tolleson’s famous pecan trees.
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Building a Brighter Future
In a collaborative, forward-looking approach to education, the Avondale Elementary School District has adopted TAP, a proven system developed by the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching.
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Since teacher quality is the single most important school-related factor for student achievement, the improved teacher performance facilitated by the TAP system means dramatic increases in student academic growth. And that means a brighter future for our children.
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The cotton club
The West Valley was forever changed by a now-obsolete type of tire
Since statehood, cotton has been one of the state’s Five C’s — cattle, cotton, copper, citrus and climate, — the elements that help keep Arizona’s economy strong.
Residents living in Southwest Valley cities of Goodyear, Litchfield Park and Avondale can thank the soft, white fibrous substance for much of what they see today.
If it weren’t for the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.’s need to grow strong-fiber cotton, who knows what the Southwest Valley would look like today?
Cotton was used to build cord truck tires. However, World War I interrupted the flow of the long-staple variety need for the tires that was being produced in Egypt’s Nile Valley. At the same time, the boll weevil insect was devastating the same variety of cotton being grown on the Sea Islands off the coast of Georgia and the Carolinas.
So, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. sent a young executive by the name of Paul Weeks Litchfield to Arizona in 1916 in hopes he could convince farmers to start growing cotton. Litchfield knew the U.S. Department of Agriculture had conducted successful experiments growing cotton in the Salt River Valley of Arizona.
Yet, he was unable to sway farmers in converting land to cotton fields, so the company decided to purchase its own land and formed the Southwest Cotton Co. The company bought about 8,000 acres of land near Chandler and another 30,000 where Litchfield Park, Goodyear, Avondale and Sun City now stand.
“Almost overnight an army of men started moving in, hundreds of Mexicans who threw up brushwood and adobe shelters, and still larger force of adventurers, drawn from all over the
See TIRES on V19
A farm worker picks cotton in a Goodyear field in this 1941 photograph. Before steel belting, tires were made with cotton belting. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. grew much of its cotton in the West Valley — including in the city it would help create — Goodyear.
One of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.’s blimps flies high over the West Valley in this 2006 West Valley View file photo. Decades ago, the blimps were assembled in the West Valley. Now they’re made and operated out of Orlando, Fla. The current fleet has three blimps. In any given year the blimps will make several trips to or over the Phoenix area.
TIRES from V18
West by the lure of good pay, men who went from one big construction job to the next,” Litchfield wrote in his autobiography, Industrial Voyage. “We soon had 2,000 men on the job — and 1,200 mules at the peak, more than half the mule population of the state.
First, the land had to be cleared of cactuses, brush and trees.
“Big Caterpillar tractors rumbled in from the coast, were hooked up in tandem with a length of railroad steel between them, set off across the desert,” he said. “Other gangs were drilling wells, putting in pumps, building power lines, laying out a network of concrete canals and irrigation ditches, building highways, town sites, even a railroad. The property was so large and the roads so bad that we had to buy an airplane to get over it.”
Litchfield’s success in Arizona prompted Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.’s founder, Frank Seiberling, to proclaim that his men made the desert “blossom like a garden” in a December 1917 letter to stockholders.
More than 4,000 acres of cotton had been produced by the Southwest Cotton Co. in 1917, and from 1918 to 1919, more than 6.7 million pounds of cotton were picked on the company’s Arizona land.
Paul Litchfield eventually became president of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and was featured on the cover of Time magazine on Aug. 10, 1931.
— Rich Ott
School Open House: Tues., Feb. 21 8:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m. Pre-school thru 8th Grade (1 year - 8th Grade) 830 Plaza Circle, Litchfield Park 623-935-4690 School.TrinityLCS.org
A member of the Litchfield Park Historical Society holds up an undated photo of a worker moving cotton-belted tires off of a manufacturing line at a Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. plant in Michigan. The tire manufacturer used West Valley cotton to make most of its tires before switching to metal belting.
Statehood connections
Litchfield Park woman’s ancestor helped create state Constitution
For Litchfield Park resident Margaret Truman Baker, the 100th anniversary of Arizona’s statehood has special meaning — it also marks more than 100 years of her family’s history in the region.
Deep roots in the Southwest
Baker has traced her family tree all the way back to the early 1700s when her father’s grandmother’s family was living in Sonora, Mexico.
By the late 1800s, some of her relatives had moved north and become key figures in the history of Pinal County.
“My father’s maternal grandfather’s name was Collingwood, and he’s one of the founders of Pinal County and of Florence,” Baker said. “There’s documentation that he helped name Florence after his birthplace of Florence, Ohio.”
In 1910, her granduncle William Charles Truman was sergeant of arms at the 1910 Arizona Constitutional Convention. He also served several terms as sheriff of Pinal County and was famous for his capture of Pearl Hart, Baker said.
Her grandfather, George Eggleston Truman, was the only individual from Pinal County to serve in the Spanish-American War and be part of Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders. He also served as a Democrat senator for his county until his death in 1929.
“My mother’s parents came to Phoenix before statehood also. Her family came all the the way from Alabama, so all my grandparents were here before statehood and most of my great-grandparents,” she said. “I enjoy knowing that my family was involved in the earliest development of the state during the really rough and tumble pioneer period.”
At home in the West Valley
Baker’s family lineage started in the West Valley after her family moved to Waddell in 1947.
“My parents bought the Bard Ranch on the corner of Waddell Road and Cotton Lane,” she said. “It was a farming community named Waddell and there was a post office there, as well as
Litchfield Park resident Margaret Truman Baker holds up photos of her grandfather, Rough Rider George Eggleston Truman, left, and his brother William Charles Truman, Margaret’s great uncle. Both men were present at the Arizona statehood ceremony Feb. 14, 1912, and both served afterward in state positions.
the Waddell Ranch headquarters. It was a big citrus area in the 1940s.”
Baker and her 11 siblings all attended school in the Dysart School District. She met her husband, Larry, at Litchfield High School in 1955 and they were married just a few years later.
After spending seven years in California for her husband’s banking job, the couple moved back to the West Valley.
They have lived in Litchfield Park since 1984.
“We really enjoy living in the West Valley and Litchfield Park because we still see a lot of the families that we knew growing up,” Baker said. “It’s really just a pleasure to connect with other people who have lived in the West Valley for 50 years or so.”
Passion for preservation
In addition to researching her own family’s genealogy for the past 30 years, Baker has also involved herself in various organizations such as the Arizona, Pinal County, Litchfield Park and Three Rivers historical societies to help preserve the history of the state.
She has also been on the board of directors of the Historical League for 15 years and spent six years on the board of directors for Friends of Arizona Archives, helping build a new state archive that was completed in 2009.
“Public service is a tradition in our family, considering my family history,” she said. “And historical preservation is also a real passion of mine. I’ve been really, really pleased with what the cities and organizations have tried to do to preserve our history and heritage. I know a lot of people have worked hard to preserve the character of our towns.”
— Rachel Trott
A bridge crosses the mostly-dry riverbottom of the Gila River. Before the bridge was built, a road ran through the riverbottom that was susceptible to flooding.
X marks the spot
Hill served as survey point for entire Valley in 1851
Monument Hill not only offers a spectacular view of the Southwest Valley, but also serves as a reminder of a past that continues to shape Arizona today.
Since 1851, 61 years before statehood on Feb. 14, 1912, the steep knoll just east of Phoenix International Raceway has remained as an important landmark.
The rugged and strategic high spot, which overlooks the confluence of the Gila and Salt rivers, has been the starting point for most Arizona surveys.
Today, hikers can enjoy the vista by inching their way to the top of the 150foot summit, about a 10-minute climb.
From there, they can catch a great panoramic view of the Valley and try to imagine the Arizona of yesteryear.
They might envision the Hokokams, who had a thriving Sonoran Desert agricultural society, complete with irrigation
A concrete monument marks the top of Monument Hill, the site of a survey that would lead to the grid layout of the entire Valley.
canals, before abandoning their settlements by the late 1300s.
They might imagine what it was like for the first Europeans who began venturing into Arizona in the 1500s, including Coronado and Marcos de Niza.
Also, they may feel a kinship with the first territorial settlers, including outlaw Billy Moore, who established Coldwater in 1880, a freight station that later was renamed Avondale in 1911.
And, finally, hikers may contemplate other settlers who arrived, especially during World War II, laying the foundation for today’s diverse society.
On the other hand, hikers simply may gaze at the 360-degree view that includes much more than the two rivers.
The panorama also takes in Avondale Boulevard to the north, the racetrack to the west, the Estrella Mountains to the south and the tall buildings of downtown
Phoenix to the northeast.
However, some of those sites are a far cry from 1851 when John R. Bartlett, a government official, selected the hilltop for a reconnaissance survey of the United States-Mexico boundary.
In 1865, John A. Clark, a surveyor for Arizona and New Mexico, picked the site as the starting point for the initial survey of Arizona.
Today, two imaginary lines bisect a concrete monument atop the hill.
One is a north-south line, the Gila and Salt River Base Line and Meridian. It divides Arizona into east and west.
The other is an east-west line, called the base line, which divides Arizona into north and south. That is how Baseline Road of today got its name.
During territorial days, the lines were the point from which Arizona was surveyed, mapped and parceled out into the
The Gila River snakes west through Avondale. A recent effort to clean up and clear the banks of the river can be seen from Monument Hill.
Monument Hill provides a birds-eye view of Phoenix International Raceway to the west. PIR has incorporated the hill into its seating arrangement.
On a clear day, downtown Phoenix and its many tall buildings
the northeast,
Baseline Road, the second of two roads mapped during the original 1851 survey, can be seen stretching east into Phoenix and beyond.
The rugged and strategic high spot, which overlooks the confluence of the Gila and Salt rivers, has been the starting point for most Arizona surveys.
first homesteads, railroads and schools for the state’s first settlers.
From the hilltop marker, Arizona land is divided into six-square-mile townships that, in turn, are subdivided into 36 sections. Each township is described relative to the initial point.
Thus, the first township southwest of the initial point would be described on legal documents as Township 1 South, Range 1 West, or T1S, R1W.
Experts say the latitude for the starting point is 33 degrees, 22 minutes and 40
seconds north; and the longitude is 112 degrees, 17 minutes and 25 seconds west.
That is not the geographical center of Arizona. Experts place that spot east of Cordes Junction in Yavapai County, but the exact site is the subject of debate.
In 2006, a concrete monument that marked the starting point atop the hill got a much-needed facelift.
Volunteers, along with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and Arizona Professional Land Surveyors Association, scrubbed off graffiti and removed broken
tiles, replacing them with a mosaic inlay.
Green, tan and orange tiles fill the north-south line on the monument representing the desert.
Tiles on the west line are blue and white to symbolize the Gila and Salt rivers that are near the marker.
The original survey marker has been lost for many years, but the restored monument serves as a vivid reminder of Arizona’s past and future.
— Brent Whiting
above
At the extreme left is PIR to the west and to the extreme right is Baseline Road to the east. From the top, many landmarks in the Valley can be seen.
The original survey began with two streets: 115th Avenue (now Avondale Blvd.), pictured here, and Baseline Road to the east and west.
To
University of Phoenix Stadium and its surrounding shopping district Westgate can be seen.
can be seen through the haze. It is framed by Four Peaks in the Tonto National Forest.
The
panoramic photo by Michael Clawson was taken on top of Monument Hill.
Assisted Living
Palm Valley Rehabilitation
13575 W. McDowell Rd. Goodyear (623) 536-9911
Cardiologists
Heart & Vascular Center of Arizona
9305 W. Thomas Rd., #270
20940 N. Tatum Blvd., #325 1331 N. 7th St., #375 (602) 307-0070
Chiropractic
Goodyear Chiropractic 11 W. Van Buren St. Avondale (623) 932-4060
Dentists
Palo Verde Dentistry
3400 N Dysart Rd., Unit G-125 Avondale (623) 322-9215
Patrick Martin, D.D.S.
Gary R. Gibbs, D.D.S.
14044 W. Camelback #200 Litchfield Park (623) 535-5488
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Estrella Womens Health Ctr.
10240 W. Indian Sch. Bldg. 2
Phoenix (623) 846-7558
Palm Valley Women’s Care
Miles W. Howard, M.D., F.A.C.O.G.
William Sun, M.D., F.A.C.O.G.
Thylma Sta. Maria, M.D., F.A.C.O.G.
Erica Takimoto, D.O.
10815 W. McDowell, #301
Avondale (623) 433-0106
13555 W. McDowell #204
Goodyear (623) 535-0740
West Valley Women’s Care
Mystie L. Johnson, M.D.
James M. Johnson, M.D.
Raymond D. Suarez, M.D.
Gema Fernandez, M.D.
Corinne Bell, D.O.
Dr. Phillip M. Harmon, M.D.
Maria R. DiLeo, M.D.
Kim Roberts, W.H.N.P.
Meaza Ejigu, W.H.N.P.
Christy Brown, F.N.P.
9305 W. Thomas Rd. #155
Phoenix (623) 936-1780
Optometrists
West Valley Vision Center
Christopher Furey, O.D., P.L.C.
Brent Wilson, O.D.
Steven Holt, O.D.
Stacee Burson, O.D.
Elesha Starkey, O.D. 2580 N. Litchfield Rd. Goodyear (623) 932-2020
C. Jason Vastine, F.N.P. 10815 W. McDowell Rd. #304 Avondale (623) 433-0100
IMS - Integrated Medical Services
See ad on pg. 28 for doctors or visit website www.imsaz.org
Fitness
Eleutheria Wellness Center
Goodyear (623) 986-5110 www.youreleutheria.com
Southwest Valley Family YMCA 2919 N. Litchfield Rd. Goodyear (623) 935-5193
“We’re for Youth Development, Healthy Living and Social Responsibility”
Medical Facilities
Banner Estrella Medical Center 9201 W. Thomas Rd. Phoenix (623) 327-4000 www.BannerHealth.com/Estrella
West Valley Health Care Directory West Valley Women’s Care Care
NATHAN LAUFER, M.D. Medical Director ASHISH PERSHAD, M.D. Interventional Cardiology
ADAM BRODSKY, M.D. Interventional Cardiology
ALAN GROSSMAN, M.D. Noninvasive Cardiology
PARMINDER SINGH, M.D. Interventional Cardiology
JASON KLEIN, M.D. Noninvasive Cardiology ASHISH SADHU, M.D. Electrophysiology
Medi Spas
Banner Thunderbird
Medical Center
5555 W. Thunderbird Rd. Glendale (602) 865-5555 www.BannerHealth.com/Thunderbird
Golden Apple® Skin Laser & Veins 2970 N. Litchfield Rd., Ste. 110 Goodyear (623) 535-0504 www.goldenapplemedicine.com
Retirement Living
La Loma Village 14154 Denny Blvd. Litchfield Park (623) 537-7500
Urgent Care
Good Night Pediatrics
10320 W. McDowell Rd. Bldg. L Avondale (623) 643-9233 8801 W. Union Hills Dr. Peoria (623) 241-9026 www.goodnightpeds.com
Survey Rating and 5 Star Quality Rating
Palm
Former Agua Fria football player, and current college and NFL hall of fame inductee, Randall McDaniel encourages young people to sing loudly at the opening of the Randall McDaniel Sports Complex in Avondale in 2010. McDaniel is one of the more famous athletes to come out of the West Valley.
Estrella Women’s Health Center
Fred
Accepting
Good Night Pediatrics
Urgent Care for Kids
When your child is ill after hours, a long wait in the ER isn’t necessary. Our Pediatricians will take care of your child, newborns thru 18 years. Open 5:00pm to 5:00am every night of the year. Most insurance accepted. All AHCCCS accepted. We attend to these and much more: Asthma • Pneumonia • Earache • Flu symptoms Cough
astronaut, who perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart 230,000 feet above the Earth on Feb. 1, 2003.
Some of Anderson’s family members still live in Avondale.
Entertainment
Jacque Mercer from Litchfield Park was Miss America in 1949.
Eric Hamelin, concert pianist and protégé of Liberace, is a graduate of Tolleson Union High School.
Politics
Bob Stump, who served 26 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, was a graduate of Tolleson Union High School. He owned a cotton and grain farm in Tolleson for many years.
Sports
Perhaps the field with the greatest representation among prominent local residents is sports.
Agua Fria High School in particular has produced a number of professional athletes, foremost among them being Randall McDaniel.
McDaniel, a three-sport star at Agua Fria, is among the few football players enshrined in High School, College and Pro Football halls of fame. He also has been inducted in the Arizona State University Ring of Fame. He was a two-time All-American at ASU. He went on to a 14-year career in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings and Tampa Bay Buccaneers and made 12 Pro Bowl appearances.
In the early 1960s, Agua Fria had the distinction of having three players who would go on to professional football careers in brothers Bill and Bob Lueck and Rusty Tillman.
Bill Lueck, an offensive guard, played seven seasons with the Green Bay Packers and one with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Bob Lueck, also an offensive guard, played seven years in the Canadian Football League with the Calgary Stampeders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He also was a successful professional wrestler and is credited with getting ‘Superstar’ Billy Graham started in the ring. Graham was Lueck’s tag-team partner.
Tillman was a linebacker and special-team player in the NFL for eight years. After retiring as a player, Tillman served as an assistant coach with the Seattle Seahawks for 16 seasons.
Everson Griffen plays defensive end for the Minnesota Vikings. He was the Vikings’ fourth-round draft pick out of the University of Southern California in 2010.
On the diamond, among the former Owls to reach the major leagues are pitcher Cardell Camper, Cleveland Indians, and shortstop Shawn Gilbert, St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets.
Two former Owls are currently working their way through the minor leagues.
Pitcher Sammy Solis was the second-round draft choice of the Washington Nationals in 2010 and he spent this season pitching at two levels of Class A.
Westview has produced several professional football players.
Nick Harris is currently in his 11th season in the NFL, punting for the Jacksonville Jaguars. He also has played for the Detroit Lions and Cincinnati Bengals.
Shelley Smith was a sixth-round draft pick of the Houston Texans in 2010. He is currently on injured reserve.
Wide receiver Andrae Thurman has played for the Green Bay Packers and Tennessee Titans of the NFL, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the CFL, the Dallas Desperadoes of the Arena Football League and is currently on the roster of the Las Vegas Locomotive of the United Football League.
Another wide receiver, Dristan James, one of Boise State’s heroes in its dramatic win over Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, played two seasons with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL.
Tolleson Union High School also has produced several out-
One-time Avondale resident and astronaut Michael P. Anderson, STS-107 payload commander, is pictured Jan. 18, 2003, on the aft flight deck of the Earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Columbia. This photo was taken less than two weeks before Columbia broke apart on re-entry, killing all on board. Anderson's legacy of science and exploration lives on in the West Valley, especially at Michael Anderson Elementary School, which was renamed in his honor.
standing athletes.
Nick Hysong won the 2000 Olympic pole vaulting gold medal. Running backs Mike Bell and Marcus Thomas have played in the NFL.
Bell, currently a free agent, spent six years in the NFL with the Denver Broncos, New Orleans Saints, Philadelphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns. He was a member of the Saints’ 2010 Super Bowl champions.
Thomas, who held many of the state’s high school rushing and scoring records when he graduated from Tolleson, played with the Detroit Lions.
Clancy Pendergast, former defensive coordinator for the Arizona Cardinals and Kansas City Chiefs, is a Tolleson alumnus. He is the grandson of Charles Pendergast, for whom the Pendergast Elementary School District is named.
Professional bowler Stephen Black is also a graduate of Tolleson.
Kole Calhoun, a graduate of Buckeye Union High School, was a seventh-round draft selection of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He spent the 2011 season with the Inland Empire 66ers of the Class A California League, where he was an all-star and was named the Angels’ Minor League Player of the Year
Several other sports figures have called the Southwest Valley home.
Left-handed pitcher Larry Gura, who spent 16 seasons in the major leagues with the Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals, lives in Litchfield Park.
Gura twice won 18 games in a season for the Royals and three times finished in the top 10 in Cy Young voting.
Litchfield Park resident Ray King spent 10 seasons in the major leagues with the Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers, Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals, Colorado Rockies and Washington Nationals. He was a member of the Cardinals’ 2005 World Series champions.
A pair of off-road racers calls the area home.
Jesse Jones is a Litchfield Park resident and Nick Vanderway is from Buckeye.
Vince Tobin, former head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, lived in Goodyear.
There may be other notables with connections to the Southwest Valley, and the View is sorry for any oversights.
— Mike Russo
NASA photo
True to her roots
mayor recalls her time in fields
Avondale Mayor Marie Lopez Rogers was born in Southwest Cotton Co., also called Goodyear Farms, Camp No. 50, which was basically on the northeast corner of Indian School and Dysart roads, where the Albertson’s shopping center now stands.
Her parents worked the fields, harvesting cotton, melons, fruit, corn or beets.
“It was all agricultural,” Lopez Rogers said. “Wherever they needed the workers, that is where we’d go if we weren’t in school.”
Lopez Rogers, 63, grew up in the fields with her brother and sister from 1948 to 1957. She recalls helping her parents carry sacks that were 6 feet tall, as well as picking the crops.
“[Cotton] was very scratchy,” Lopez Rogers said. “It scratched all of your hands. It was very hard work and it was hot.”
The cotton the family picked was used for making military aircraft tires, she said.
Life back then was “very simple but meaningful,” she said.
“We didn’t realize how poor we were.”
Lopez Rogers helped her family work the fields through her high school years at Agua Fria Union High School.
“It all went to the family; that is what it was about,” she said. “We all helped each other out.”
The Avondale mayor recalls helping out her grandmothers, too — both of her grandfathers died before she was born; and both perished in accidents while working at Goodyear Farms.
One of her grandmothers did laundry for the Wigwam at her house, Lopez Rogers said.
Doing laundry back then consisted of big tubs filled with sheets, towels and such that were rotated over an open fire.
“Everyone who lived there took care of each other. You know the old adage, ‘It takes a village to raise a child?’ Well that was true there.”
Marie
Lopez Rogers Avondale Mayor
“’Til this day, if I smell salt cedar burning, it reminds me of her doing the laundry,” she said.
All of the homes at the camps were very basic, either adobe or lumber, some even having dirt floors, she said.
All of the roads in the area were dirt, too. The biggest shopping hub for people was the roundabout — which today sits in Litchfield Park at Old Litchfield Road and Wigwam Boulevard — and a night out was going to the Wigwam for special events, she said.
One thing that has stuck with the mayor is how the residents of the camps looked after each other.
“We were a family,” she said of fellow campers. “Everyone who lived there took care of each other. You know the old adage, ‘It takes a village to raise a child?’ Well that was true there.”
— Rich Ott
Avondale
Avondale
Abundant Harvest Church
919 N. Dysart Road, Suite N and O, Avondale 623-810-2355
www.ahconline.org
Avondale Apostolic Church — Truth Tabernacle 825 N. Central Ave., Avondale 623-932-0893
www.avondaleapostolic.com
Avondale Christian Assembly of God
541 E. Main St. (Monday, Wednesday, Sunday evenings) Avondale 623-932-1670
www.avondalechurch.com
Cashion Apostolic Church
11132 W. Joblanca, Avondale 623-936-4480
Christ Community
United Methodist Church
104 W. Western Ave., Avondale 623-932-3480
www.myccumc.com
Christ Gospel Church
16 N. Fifth St., Avondale 623-932-5517
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
10930 W. Garden Lakes Parkway, Avondale 623-772-9275
Church of Zion 10907 W. Hopi St., Avondale 602-936-4637
Coldwater Church 15 N. Fifth St., Avondale 623-249-9694 www.coldwaterchurch.com
Cornerstone Christian Center
11301 W. Indian School Road Avondale 623-877-3220 www.cornerstoneaz.org
Faith Harvest
Corte Sierra Elementary 3300 N. Santa Fe Trail, Avondale 623-444-9762
www.faithharvest.com
First Baptist Church
Garden Lakes
2517 N. 107th Ave. Avondale 623-936-7148
www.gardenlakesbaptist.com
First Southern Baptist Church of Avondale
1001 N. Central Ave., Avondale 623-932-2723 www.fsbca.org
Gateway Baptist Church
12409 W. Indian School Road, Suite C312, Avondale 623-628-8885 www.gatewaybaptistavondale.com
Goodyear Friends Inc.
104 N. Dysart Road, Avondale 623-932-2292
Harvest Outreach Christian Center 715 E. Western Ave., Avondale 623-932-6453 www.harvestoutreachaz.com
Heritage Baptist Church
La Joya Community High School 11650 W. Whyman Ave., Avondale 623-882-2351 www.HeritageBaptistAZ.org
Iglesia Armonia
918 S. Litchfield Road, Goodyear 623-760-2025 www.iglesiaarmonia.com
Iglesia La Luz Del Mundo 7 E. Kinderman Drive, Avondale 623-882-8487
In Him Church
13048 W. Rancho Santa Fe Blvd., Avondale 623-930-0635 www.inhimchurch.org
In His Presence Christian Center
10320 W. McDowell Road, Avondale 623-688-3447 www.ihpcconline.com
Litchfield Park First Baptist Church
901 E. Plaza Circle, Avondale 623-935-3163
La Misión Assembly of God 11147 W. Buckeye Road, Avondale 623-936-3703
Morning Star Baptist Church
500 S. Seventh St., Avondale 623-932-4320
Primera Iglesia Bautista de Ant
12610 W. Whyman St., Avondale 623-932-5723
Rivers of Living Water Ministries
Littleton Elementary School 1252 S. Avondale Blvd., Avondale 623-205-6809
Rose of Sharon World Evangelistic Church 2621 N. 110th Dr., Avondale 602-446-5790 www.wecintl.com
The Rock of Refuge
19 N. Central Ave., Avondale
623-932-1009
The Sanctuary Community Church
Avondale Community Center
1007 S. Third St., Avondale 623-936-6793 www.thesanctuarycc.com
St. Thomas Aquinas
Catholic Church
13720 W. Thomas Road, Avondale 623-935-2151
www.stacc.net
St. William Catholic Church
11001 W. Third St., Avondale
623-936-6115
Temple of Faith
201 E. Main St., Avondale 623-680-6683
Trinity Lutheran Church
830 E. Plaza Circle, Avondale 623-935-4665
Western Avenue Baptist Church
522 E. Western Ave., Avondale
623-925-1246
Word of Life Christian Center
1425 N. Central Ave., Avondale 623-932-2055 www.wordoflifechristiancenter.net
Buckeye
Arlington Baptist Church
32700 W. Arlington Road, Buckeye 623-386-1447
Buckeye Christian Church
214 S. Fifth St., Buckeye 602-386-3513
Buckeye First Assembly
23230 W. Highway 85, Buckeye 623-386-4783
www.buckeyefirstassembly.net
Buckeye Light & Life Church
304 E. Roosevelt Ave., Buckeye 623-386-4759
Buckeye Seventh Day Adventist
501 N. Fourth St., Buckeye 623-386-4588 www.buckeyesda.org
Buckeye Worship Center
104 W. Corona St., Buckeye 623-340-4289
Camino de Santidad
First Assembly of God Church
23230 W. Highway 85, Buckeye 623-386-1376 www.buckeyefirstassembly.net
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
1002 Eason Ave., Buckeye 623-386-4188
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
22487 W. Sundance Parkway, Buckeye 520-421-0322
Community Church of Buckeye 810 Eason Ave., Buckeye 623-386-2674
Crossroad Baptist Church
Verrado Middle School cafeteria 20880 W. Main St., Buckeye 623-341-0490
www.crossroad-az.org
Desert Baptist Church
201 W. Baseline Road, Buckeye 602-386-7636
Desert Hills Baptist Church
Jasinski Elementary School 4280 S. 246th Ave., Buckeye 623-202-2822
www.dhbcb.org
First Southern Baptist Church of Buckeye
405 N. Third St., Buckeye 623-386-5614 www.buckeyebaptist.org
Grace Fellowship Church
1300 N. Miller Road, Buckeye 623-393-8386
www.graceinbuckeye.com
Jehovah’s Witnesses
Buckeye Congregation
23427 W. Pioneer St., Buckeye 623-386-2775
Liberty United Methodist Church
19900 W. Highway 85, Buckeye 623-386-4090
www.libertyunitedmethodist.com
Lifeway Church
18926 W. Latham, Buckeye 623-853-0686
www.lifewaychurchaz.com
Living Water Lutheran Church
The Odyssey Academy
6500 S. Apache Road, Buckeye 623-266-1835 www.livingwateraz.org
Mountain Vista
Community Church
Youngker High School auditorium
3000 S. Apache Road, Buckeye 623-474-5757 www.mtvistaonline.org
Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church
403 N. Fourth St., Buckeye 623-386-6365
New Jerusalem Ministries
508 Clanton, Buckeye 623-386-2714
www.njmonline.net
Our Saviour Lutheran Church
10 N. Apache Road, Buckeye 623-386-6708
Palo Verde Baptist Church
29600 W. Old Highway 80, Palo Verde 623-393-9628
www.paloverdebaptistchurch.org
The River Church
Verrado High School gymnasium
20050 W. Indian School Road, Buckeye 623-262-4969
www.theriverchurchaz.com
St. Henry Catholic Church
Sundance Elementary School (Sunday Mass)
23800 W. Hadley St., Buckeye 128 S. Third St. (All other Masses), Buckeye 623-386-6407
www.sthenrybuckeye.com
Summit Community Church
Verrado High School auditorium
20050 W. Indian School Road, Buckeye 623-535-0251
www.summitcc.org
Summit of Hope Assembly of God
Bales Elementary School
24500 W. Maricopa Road, Buckeye 623-695-0224
Valley Christian Ministries
Bales Elementary School
25400 W. Maricopa Road, Buckeye 623-505-6220 www.vcm1.ws
Victory Baptist Church
Rainbow Valley Elementary School 19716 W. Narramore Road, Buckeye 623-386-3240 www.victorysbc.org
Way of Grace Church
Youngker High School
3000 S. Apache Road, Buckeye 623-478-2130
www.wayofgracechurch.com
West Valley Church of Christ
18604 W. Lower Buckeye Road, Buckeye 623-695-5623 www.wvcochrist.org
West Valley Free Will
Baptist Church
19956 W. McDowell Road, Buckeye 623-853-0570 www.wvfwbc.org
White Tanks
Southern Baptist Church
1420 N. 192nd Ave., Buckeye 623-853-0089 www.wtsbc.org
Avondale Christian
Assembly of God
Desert Star Elementary (Sunday mornings) 2131 S. 157th Ave., Goodyear 623-932-1670
www.avondalechurch.com
Calvary Chapel
3673 S. Bullard Ave., Goodyear 623-925-2440 www.calvarygoodyear.org
Christ Evangelical
Lutheran Church, ELCA 918 S. Litchfield Road, Goodyear 623-932-2394 www.christevangelical.org
Christ Presbyterian Church
925 N. Sarival Ave., Goodyear 623-882-0721 www.cpcgoodyear.org
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
425 S. Estrella Parkway, Goodyear 623-925-0106
St. Thomas Lutheran Church
St.
Citrus Road Community
Church of the Nazarene
418 S. Citrus Road, Goodyear 623-932-2733
www.crccnazarene.com
Compass Church
16060 W. Van Buren St., Goodyear 623-935-3060 www.compasschurch.info
Crossings Church
Desert Edge High School 15778 W. Yuma Road, Goodyear 623-239-1096 www.goodyearcrossings.org
Desert Springs
Community Church West Campus
14440 W. Indian School Road, Goodyear 623-435-2105 www.dscchurch.com
Estrella Mountain Church
10485 S. Estrella Parkway, Goodyear 623-386-0300 www.emcaz.org
Faith on Fire Church
13770 W. Van Buren St., Goodyear 602-690-1442 www.faithonfirechurch.com
Goodyear Church of Christ
807 N. La Jolla Blvd., Goodyear 623-932-1042
www.goodyearchurchofchrist.org
Jehovah’s Witnesses
14038 W. Yuma Road, Goodyear 623-932-1708
King of Kings P.C.A.
14130 W. McDowell Road, Suite 222 Goodyear 623-385-6607 www.kingofkingspca.org
Palm Valley Church
431 N. Litchfield Road, Goodyear 623-536-2106 www.palmvalley.org
The Refinery Christian Church
600 N. Bullard Ave., Suite 10, Goodyear 623-925-2000
www.therefinerycc.com
River in the Desert Christian Fellowship
918 S. Litchfield Road, Goodyear 602-628-4465
St. John Vianney Catholic Church and School
539 E. La Pasada Blvd., Goodyear 623-932-3313
www.sjvaz.net
St. Thomas Lutheran Church
16260 W. Van Buren St., Goodyear 602-375-7773
www.stthomaslutheranchurch.org
Skyway Church of the West Valley 14900 W. Van Buren St., Goodyear 623-935-4858
www.skywaychurch.com
Vineyard Church
255 N. Litchfield Road, Goodyear 623-932-2500 www.azvineyard.org
Vision Baptist Church
Desert Thunder Elementary 16750 W. Garfield St., Goodyear 623-687-7118
www.visionbaptistchurch.com
West Valley Assembly of God 1781 N. Central Ave., Goodyear 623-932-5737
www.westvalleyassembly.com
West Valley Fellowship 18503 W. Van Buren St., Goodyear 602-525-8467
West Valley United Pentecostal Church
16277 W. Jackson St., Goodyear 623-692-6850
Litchfield Park
The Church at Litchfield Park
300 N. Old Litchfield Road, Litchfield Park 623-935-3411
www.churchatlitchfieldpark.org
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
301 W. Wigwam Blvd., Litchfield Park 623-536-2098
Desert Joy Christian Fellowship
Dreaming Summit Elementary School
13335 W. Missouri Ave., Litchfield Park 623-872-0721 www.desertjoy.org
Desert Springs
Community Church East Campus
447 Old Litchfield Road, Litchfield Park 623-435-2105
www.dscchurch.com
Lighthouse Fellowship
3015 N. Jackrabbit Trail 623-853-1050
Pathway Bible Church
Litchfield Elementary School
255 E. Wigwam Blvd. Litchfield Park www.pathwaybibleaz.com
St. Peter’s Episcopal Church
400 S. Old Litchfield Road, Litchfield Park
623-935-3279 www.stpetersaz.com
Westpointe Baptist Church
Wigwam Creek Middle School
4510 N. 127th Ave., Litchfield Park 623-521-3549
www.westpointebaptist.org
Peoria
Lighthouse Church
14185 N. 83rd Ave., Peoria 623-979-4392 www.lighthouseaz.com
COME GROW WITH US
Uplifting Music/Inspiring Sermons
8:00am - Worship Service/Nursery 9:30am - Worship Service/Nursery/Church School 11:00am - Contemporary Worship Service/Nursery/Church School
CHRIST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Pentecostal Deliverance COGIC
8668 W. Mountain View Road, Peoria 623-486-7782
South Peoria Baptist Church
9000 W. Olive Ave., Peoria 623-486-1556 www.spbch.com Tolleson
A Church of Grace 8 S. 92nd Drive, Tolleson 623-936-4629
www.achurchofgrace.com
Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church 512 N. 93rd Ave., Tolleson 623-936-7107
Wings As Eagles International Church
Country Place Elementary School 10207 W. Country Place Blvd., Tolleson 800-450-0966 www.waeic.com Tonopah
Valley Baptist Church of Tonopah/Wintersburg
37702 W. Indian School Road, Tonopah 623-393-0211
www.tonopahvalleybaptistchurch.org
Cotton Lane Community Church
6240 N. Cotton Lane, Waddell 623-935-1776
Wat Promkunaram
Buddhist Temple of Arizona
17212 W. Maryland Ave., Waddell 623-935-2276
W. Phoenix, Glendale, Sun City, Surprise
Alleluia Lutheran Church
8444 W. Encanto Blvd., Phoenix 623-849-4327
www.AlleluiaChurch.com
Beth El Congregation
1118 W. Glendale Ave., Phoenix
602-944-3359
www.bethelphoenix.com
Beth Emeth Congregation
13702 W. Meeker Blvd., Sun City West 623-584-7210
www.bethemethaz.org
The Bridge Christian Worship Center
Alleluia Church
8444 W. Encanto Blvd., Phoenix 623-399-8540
www.bridgeworshipcenter.com
Calvary United Methodist Church
7949 W. Indian School Road, Phoenix 623-849-1676
www.calvaryumcphoenix.org
Camelback Community Church
7634 W. Camelback Road, Glendale 623-846-3497
www.camelbackcommunity.com
The Carpenter’s House of Worship Independence High School 6602 N. 75th Ave., Glendale 623-266-2469 www.thechowchurch.org
Central Christian Church
8600 W. Glendale Ave., Glendale 623-937-2741 www.centralaz.com
Davids 400
7905 N 71st Ave., Glendale 602-400-1056 www.davids400.com
The Door Christian Fellowship Church
7342 W. Indian School Road, Phoenix 623-848-0849
First Church of Christ, Scientist 8228 W. Orangewood Ave., Glendale 623-937-9258
www.christianscienceaz.com
First Country Baptist Church
12844 W. Santa Fe Drive, Surprise
623-583-9838
www.firstcountrybaptist.org
Grace Walk Community Church
7840 W. Lower Buckeye Road, Phoenix 623-907-8991
www.gracewalkchurch.org
Hamblen Chapel
Evangelical Methodist Church
1614 S. 111th Ave., Phoenix
623-936-9524
Kingdom in the Valley Christian Church
15002 N. 25th Drive, Phoenix 623-584-3113
www.kivcc.org
Love Life Church
8016 W. Camelback Road, No. 108, Glendale 623-872-4998
www.lovelifechurch.com
Our Lady of the Sun Catholic Church Inc.
12534 W. Peoria Ave., El Mirage 623-974-4133
www.ourladyofthesun.com
Real Life Ministries
Arizona Charter Academy
16011 N. Dysart Road, Surprise 623-933-4999
www.rlmdestiny.com
The Rock
Luke Elementary School
7300 N. Dysart Road, Glendale 623-932-1009
www.therockaz.com
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
6300 W. Camelback Road, Glendale 623-846-8046
www.standrewsglendale.azdiocese.org
St. Paul Lutheran Church
6301 W. Indian School Road, Phoenix 623-846-2228
www.stpaullutheran-az.com
Streams Christian Church
6532 N. El Mirage Road, Glendale 623-363-7450
www.streamschurch.org
Temple Beth Shalom
Jewish — Reform
12202 N. 101st Ave., Sun City 623-977-3240
www.templebethshalomaz.org
Thomas Road Baptist Church
5735 W. Thomas Road, Phoenix 623-247-5735
www.trbcphx.org
West End Baptist Church
9101 W. Indian School Road, Phoenix 623-877-2815
West Valley Family Church
6115 N. 91st Ave., Glendale 623-872-1734
Not listed?
If we forgot your church in the religion directory, please let us know by emailing news1@westvalleyview.com to be included in the next Vista magazine.
Automobile Dealers
Tom Jones Ford
23454 W. Hwy 85
Buckeye (623) 386-4429 www.nocitysalestax.com
Automotive
Avondale Service Center
722 E. Western Ave.
www.avondaleserviceandparts.com (623) 932-1190
Batteries
AZ Battery Store
560 N. Bullard Ave., Ste E-50 Goodyear (623) 853-3321
Beer Distributors
Golden Eagle Distributors Inc.
Budweiser 26815 W. Baseline Rd. Buckeye (623) 386-6312 www.gedaz.com
Chamber of Commerce
Buckeye Valley Chamber of Commerce (623) 386-2727
www.buckeyevalleychamber.org
Chamber of Commerce of Tonopah P. O. Box 1104, Tonopah (623)393-8184 www.coctonopah.org
Southwest Valley Chamber of Commerce
289 N. LItchfield Rd. Goodyear (623) 932-2260 www.southwestvalleychamber.org
Construction
CORE Construction 3036 East Greenway Road Phoenix (602) 494-0800 www.COREConstruct.com
Credit Union
First Credit Union 1310 N. Litchfield Rd. Goodyear (480) 831-2645
Donations
Salvation Army (800) 479-0210 www.sarmygift.org
Entertainment
Webb Center for the Perf. Arts (928) 684-6624 www.delewebbcenter.org
Equipment
Rentals
Palo Verde Rentals
Equipment Rentals for Home Owners & Contractors 3617 S Jackrabbit Trail Buckeye (623) 386-5000
Farming
Rousseau Farming Company
www.farmfreshaz.com (623) 936-7100
Funeral Homes
Avenidas Funeral Chapel
522 E. Western Ave. Avondale (623) 925-1525
Buckeye Funeral Home
104 E. Baseline Rd.
Buckeye (623) 386-4812
Thompson’s Valley West Funeral Chapel
926 S. Litchfield Rd. Goodyear (623) 932-1780
Golf
ACE Custom Golf Carts
600 N. Bullard Ave., A-12 Goodyear (623) 523-0263
PebbleCreek Golf Resort
Eagle’s Nest Country Club
3645 Clubhouse Drive (1 mile W. of Litchfied Rd. on Indian School)
Goodyear (623) 935-6750
Tres Rios Golf Course
15205 W. Vineyard Ave. Goodyear (623) 932-3714
Tuscany Falls at PebbleCreek I-10 W. Exit 126, 1-1/2 mile N. on Pebble Creek Parkway to Clubhouse Drive. Goodyear (623) 536-2491
Buckeye (623) 386-4452 1650 N. Dysart #2 Goodyear (623) 932-4652 14301 N. 87th St. #209 Scottsdale (480) 348-1100
Jewelers
Osborne Jewelers
Litchfield & Van Buren (Fry’s Shopping Center) Goodyear (623) 925-1815
Landscaping
All Brite Fencing and Landscape Materials 18421 W. McDowell Rd. Goodyear (623) 853-9594
Newspapers
West Valley View 1050 E. Riley Drive Avondale (623) 535-VIEW (535-8439) www.westvalleyview.com
Party Rentals
It’s a Celebration! Event & Party Rentals Tables, chairs, linens, china, dance floors, patio heaters & more! 1457 N. Eliseo Felix Jr. Way #102 Avondale (623) 386-5491 www.itsacelebrationpartyrentals.com
Pool Services & Supply
Accent Pool & Spa (623) 670-1498 accentpoolspa.com
Real Estate
Home Smart
The Yates Group 13166 W. McDowell, Suite B Goodyear (623) 764-2153
Nextage
Mary Westwood “Your Estrella Specialist” (623) 386-7272
Recreation
Litchfield Park Recreation 100 S. Litchfield Rd. Litchfield Park (623) 935-9040
Recycling
Saguaro Metals
201 W. Main (Hwy. 85) 1/4 mile E. of Litchfield Rd. Old Buckeye Road Avondale (623) 932-2060
Restaurants
Pete’s Fish & Chips 9309 W. Van Buren Tolleson (623) 936-3111
Litchfield Park founder Paul Weeks Litchfield, center, shows a couple of Boy Scouts a 1952 Scout calendar. Litchfield was instrumental in getting a Boy Scout troop started in Litchfield Park.
Schools
Avondale Elementary School District
235 W. Western Ave. Avondale (623) 772-5000 www.avondale.k12.az.us
Bradley Academy of Excellence
16060 W Lower Buckeye Pkwy Goodyear (623) 932-9902
Trinity Lutheran School 830 E Plaza Circle Litchfield Park (623) 935-4690
Christian Schools
Wagner Leadership Institute
14900 W. Van Buren
Goodyear (623)935-4858
Colleges & Universities
Communiversity@Surprise www.azcommuniversity.com (480) 384-9000 or (866) 330-6892 15950 N. Civic Center Drive Surprise, AZ 85374
Estrella Mountain Community College www.estrellamountain.edu
EMCC campus 3000 N. Dysart Rd. Avondale (623) 935-8000 EMCC Buckeye Educational Center 902 E. Eason Ave. Buckeye (623) 935-8755
Rio @ Avondale 420 N. Central Ave. Avondale, AZ 85323 (480) 377-4400
Rio Salado @ West Valley Luke Air Force Base 56th Missions Support Center Rm 3138 7383 N. Litchfield Rd. Glendale, AZ 85309 (480) 377-4010
Rio Salado College
Lifelong Learning Center 12535 W. Smokey Drive Surprise, AZ 85378 (480) 377-4250
Rio Salado College Online www.riosalado.edu 2323 W. 14th Street Tempe, AZ 85281 (480) 517-8000
Southwest Skill Center 3000 N. Dysart Avondale (623) 535-2700 www.estrellamountain.edu/swsc
Septic
Septic Technologies “Pump Every 3 Years” West Valley (623) 932-3464
Shipping
The UPS Store 14175 W. Indian School Rd., Ste. B4 Goodyear (623) 935-9720
Solar
Argent Solar Electric Inc. Goodyear (623) 444-5808 www.argentsolar.com
Tires
S & S Tires
Dysart Rd. South of I-10 (623) 932-3511
Tobacco Products
Big K’s Discount Cigarette 101 E. Monroe Ave Buckeye (623) 386-5047
Tutoring
Sylvan Learning Center 13770 W. Van Buren #100 Goodyear (623) 932-5714
Veterinarians
Agua Fria Animal Clinic 13330 W. Van Buren Goodyear (623) 932-3611
Rees Jackman W. Robert Doster
Durango Equine
Veterinarian Clinic
Lloyd H. Kloppe, D.V.M. Traci Hill Hulse, D.V.M. Alana Hendrix, D.V.M. Talia Alexander D.V.M. 20908 W. Durango St. Buckeye (623) 386-2928
Estrella Animal Hospital 10865 W. Indian School Rd. Avondale (623) 877-1088
Zoo
Wildlife World Zoo 165th Ave & Northern (623) 935-WILD
The original World War II memorial, circa 1942. Weather and age caused the memorial to deteriorate and it was torn down in the mid 1950s.
Directory of Schools
High Schools
Agua Fria Union High School District
Superintendent: Dennis Runyan District office: 1481 N. Eliseo Felix Jr. Way, Suite 110 Avondale, AZ 85323
623-932-7000
www.aguafria.org
Board president: O.K. Fulton School board meets: 5 p.m. second Wednesday of each month Place: District office
Agua Fria High School
530 E. Riley Drive Avondale, AZ 85323
623-932-7300
Principal: Mathew Bentz
Coldwater Academy
750 E. Riley Drive Avondale, AZ 85323
623-932-7106
Desert Edge High School
15778 W. Yuma Roa Goodyear, AZ 85338
623-932-7500
Principal: Bob Grey
Millennium High School
14802 W. Wigwam Blvd. Goodyear, AZ 85395
623-932-7200
Principal: John Speer
Verrado High School
20050 W. Indian School Road Buckeye, AZ 85396
623-932-7400
Principal: Tom Huffman
Buckeye Union High School District
Superintendent: Beverly Hurley District office: 1000 E. Narramore, Buckeye, AZ 85326
623-386-9700, www.buhsd.org
Board president: Brian Turner School board meets: 6:15 p.m. second Monday of each month Place: District office
Buckeye Union High School
1000 E. Narramore Buckeye, AZ 85326
623-386-4423
Principal: Tawn Argeris
Estrella Foothills High School
13033 S. Estrella Parkway Goodyear, AZ 85338
623-327-2400
Principal: Leslie Standerfer
The Learning Center 751 N. 215th Ave. Buckeye, AZ 85326
623-474-0332
Principal: Karen Sanders
Youngker High School
3000 S. Apache Road Buckeye, AZ 85326
623-474-0100
Principal: Randy Stillman
Tolleson Union High School District
Superintendent: Lexi Cunningham
District office:
9801 W. Van Buren St. Tolleson, AZ 85353
623-478-4000, www.tuhsd.org
Board president: Mike Watson
School board meets: 6 p.m. second and fourth Tuesday of each month
Place: District office board room
Copper Canyon High School
9126 W. Camelback Road Glendale, AZ 85305
623-478-4800
Principal: Alan Potts
James A. Green Continuing
Education Academy
9701 W. Van Buren St. Tolleson, AZ 85353
623-478-4120
Director: Travis Johnson
La Joya Community High School
11650 W. Whyman Ave. Avondale, AZ 85323
623-478-4400
Principal: Cheryl Ingram
Lighthouse Academy
9419 W. Van Buren St. Tolleson, AZ 85353
623-478-4377
Director: Travis Johnson
Sierra Linda High School
3434 S. 67th Ave. Phoenix, AZ 85043
623-474-7700
Principal: Tim Madrid
Tolleson Union High School
9419 W. Van Buren St. Tolleson, AZ 85353
623-478-4200
Principal: Ernie Molina
University High School
9419 W. Van Buren St. Tolleson, AZ 85353
623-478-4380
Academic Dean: Courtney Stevens
Westview High School
10850 W. Garden Lakes Parkway Avondale, AZ 85392
623-478-4600
Principal: Brandi Haskins
Elementary Schools
Arlington Elementary School District
Superintendent: Chad Turner District office: 9410 S. 355th Ave. Arlington, AZ 85322
623-386-2031
www.arlingtonelem.org
Board president: Joe Weathersby School board meets: 6 p.m. second Monday of each month
Place: Arlington Elementary School
Arlington Elementary School 9410 S. 355th Ave. Arlington, AZ 85322
623-386-2031
Principal: Kyle Hart
Avondale Elementary School District
Superintendent: Cathy Stafford District office: 235 W. Western Ave. Avondale, AZ 85323
623-772-5000
www.avondale.k12.az.us
Board president: Mark Gonzales School board meets: 6:30 p.m. one Tuesday a month
Place:
Meetings rotate among schools
Centerra Mirage School
15151 W. Centerra Drive South Goodyear, AZ 85338
623-772-4800
Principal: Talmadge Tanks
Copper Trails School
16875 W. Canyon Trails Blvd. Goodyear, AZ 85338
623-772-4100
Principal: Tom Green
Desert Star School
2131 S. 157th Ave. Goodyear, AZ 85338
623-772-4600
Principal: Patricia Scarpa
Desert Thunder School 16750 W. Garfield St. Goodyear, AZ 85338
623-772-4700
Principal: Wayne Deffenbaugh
Eliseo C. Felix School 540 E. La Pasada Blvd. Goodyear, AZ 85338
623-772-4300
Principal: Evangeline Diaz
Lattie Coor School 1406 N. Central Ave. Avondale, AZ 85323
623-772-4400
Principal: Lori Goslar
Michael Anderson School 45 S. Third Ave. Avondale, AZ 85323
623-772-5100
Principal: Randy Watkins
S.T.A.R. Academy
44 S. Third Ave. Avondale, AZ 85323
623-772-5195
Assistant principal: Bradly Knudson Wildflower School
325 S. Wildflower Drive Goodyear, AZ 85338
623-772-5200
Principal: Kyann McMillie
Buckeye Elementary School District
Superintendent: Allen L. Steen District office: 25555 W. Durango. Buckeye, AZ 85326
623-925-3400
besd.k12.az.us
Board president: Marcus Eads School board meets: 6:30 p.m.
first Monday of each month
Place: District office
Bales Elementary School 25400 W. Maricopa Road Buckeye, AZ 85326
623-847-8503
Principal: Fred Lugo
Buckeye Preschool 640 Centre Ave. Buckeye, AZ 85326
623-925-3333
Preschool director: Sue Johnson
Buckeye Elementary School
210 S. Sixth St. Buckeye, AZ 85326
623-386-4487
Principal: Lorrese Roer
Inca Elementary School 23601 W. Durango Street Buckeye, AZ 85326
623-925-3500
Principal: Corey Christiaens
Steven R. Jasinski Elementary School
4280 S. 246th Ave. Buckeye, AZ 85326
623-925-3100
Principal: Michael Bartlett
Sundance Elementary School 23800 W. Hadley St. Buckeye, AZ 85326
623-847-8531
Principal: Tracy Casey
West Park Elementary School
2700 S. 257th Drive Buckeye, AZ 85326
623-435-3282
Principal: Ruben Ruiz
Liberty Elementary School District
Superintendent: Andy Rogers
District office: 19871 W. Fremont Road
Buckeye, AZ 85326
623-474-6600
www.liberty.k12.az.us
Board president: Lew Coleman School board meets: 6:30 p.m.
second Monday of each month Place: District office
Estrella Mountain Elementary School
10301 S. San Miguel Goodyear, AZ 85338
623-327-2820
Principal: Sharon Marine
Freedom Elementary School
22150 W. Sundance Parkway South Buckeye, AZ 85326
623-327-2850
Principal: Cindy Robinson
Liberty Elementary School
19818 W. Hwy. 85 Buckeye, AZ 85326
623-327-2810
Principal: Jennifer Gray
Rainbow Valley School 19716 W. Narramore Road Buckeye, AZ 85326
623-327-2830
Principal: Mike Cagle
Westar Elementary School 17777 W. Westar Drive Goodyear, AZ 85338
623-327-2840
Principal: Dave Bogart
Litchfield Elementary School District
Superintendent: Julianne Lein
District office: 272 E. Sagebrush St. Litchfield Park, AZ 85340
623-535-6000
www.lesd.k12.az.us
Board president: Shawn Watt School board meets: 6:30 p.m. second Tuesday of each month Place: Western Sky Middle School
Barbara B. Robey Elementary School
5340 N. Wigwam Creek Blvd.
Litchfield Park, AZ 85340
623-547-1400
Principal: Melissa Wisner
Corte Sierra Elementary School
3300 N. Santa Fe Trail
Avondale, AZ 85323
623-547-1000
Principal: Chris Barnes
Dreaming Summit Elementary School
13335 W. Missouri Ave.
Litchfield Park, AZ 85340
623-547-1200
Principal: Jodi Gunning
L. Thomas Heck Middle School
12448 W. Bethany Home Road
Litchfield Park, AZ 85340
623-547-1700
Principal: Ron Sterr
Litchfield Elementary School
255 E. Wigwam Blvd.
Litchfield Park, AZ 85340
623-535-6100
Principal: Mary Ann Hartwick
Mabel Padgett Elementary School
15430 W. Turney Rd. Goodyear, AZ 85395
623-547-3200
Principal: Gina DeCoste
Palm Valley Elementary School
2801 N. 135th Ave. Goodyear, AZ 85395
623-535-6400
Principal: Sarah Pearson
Rancho Santa Fe Elementary 2150 Rancho Santa Fe Blvd. Avondale, AZ 85323
623-535-6500
Principal: Caren Walker
Scott Libby Elementary School
18701 W. Thomas Road
Litchfield Park, AZ 85340
623-535-6200
Principal: Lee Nelson
Verrado Elementary School
20873 W. Sunrise Lane Buckeye, AZ 85396
623-547-1600
Principal: Molly Evans
Verrado Middle School
20880 W. Main St. Buckeye, AZ 85396
623-547-1300
Principal: Kimberly A. Franz
Western Sky Middle School
4095 N. 144th Ave. Goodyear, AZ 85338
623-535-6300
Principal: Luke Jankee
White Tanks Learning Center
18825 W. Thomas Road
Litchfield Park, AZ 85340
623-535-6085
Director: Jennifer Benjamin
Wigwam Creek Middle School
4510 N. 127th Ave. Litchfield Park, AZ 85340
623-547-1100
Principal: Dave Mayer
Littleton School District
Superintendent: Roger Freeman
District office: 1600 S. 107th Ave. Avondale, AZ 85323
623-478-5600
www.littletonaz.org
Board president: Sandi Nielson
School board meets: 6 p.m. second Tuesday of each month
Place: Underdown Learning Center auditorium
Collier Elementary School
350 S. 118th Ave.
Avondale, AZ 85323
623-478-5900
Principal: Gioia Pitts
Country Place Elementary School
10207 W. Country Place Blvd. Tolleson, AZ 85353
623-478-6100
Principal: Lance Chebultz
Estrella Vista Elementary School
11905 W. Cocopah Circle Avondale, AZ 85323
623-478-6200
Principal: Michael Halley
Littleton Elementary School 1252 S. Avondale Blvd. Avondale, AZ 85323
623-478-5700
Principal: Juliet Mendez
Quentin Elementary School 11050 W. Whyman Ave. Avondale, AZ 85323
623-478-6000
Principal: Laura Couret
Tres Rios Elementary School 5025 S. 103rd Ave. Tolleson, AZ 85353
623-478-6300
Principal: Sarah Macdonald
Palo Verde Elementary School District
Superintendent: Robin Berry
District office:
10700 S. Palo Verde Road Palo Verde, AZ 85343
623-327-3690
www.paloverdeschools.org
Board president: Todd Hall School board meets: 5:45 p.m. second Monday of each month
Place: District office
Palo Verde Elementary School 10700 S. Palo Verde Road Palo Verde, AZ 85343
623-327-3680
Principal: Robert Aldridge
Pendergast Elementary School District
Superintendent: Ron Richards
District office: 3802 N. 91st Ave. Phoenix, AZ 85037
623-772-2200 www.pesd92.org
Board president: Zachary Thomason School board meets: 7 p.m. first and third Tuesday of each month Place: District office; periodically at schools on a rotating basis.
Amberlea Elementary School 8455 W. Virginia Ave. Phoenix, AZ 85037
623-772-2900
Principal: Brenda Martin
Calderwood Elementary School 10730 W. Campbell Ave. Phoenix, AZ 85037
623-772-2356
Administrator: Jef Heredia
Canyon Breeze Elementary School 11675 W. Encanto Blvd. Avondale, AZ 85392
623-772-2610
Principal: Jeff Byrnes
Copper King Elementary School 10730 W. Campbell Road Phoenix, AZ 85037
623-772-2580
Principal: Molly Watson
Desert Horizon Elementary School
8525 W. Osborn Road Phoenix, AZ 85037
623-772-2430
Principal: Suzie Jaramillo
Desert Mirage Elementary School 8605 W. Maryland Ave. Glendale, AZ 85307
623-772-2550
Principal: Susie Torrejos
Garden Lakes Elementary School 10825 W. Garden Lakes Parkway Avondale, AZ 85392
623-772-2520
Principal: Harold Waltman
Pendergast Elementary School 3800 N. 91st Ave. Phoenix, AZ 85037
623-772-2400
Principal: Mike Woolsey
Rio Vista Elementary School 10237 W. Encanto Blvd. Avondale, AZ 85392
623-772-2670
Principal: LeeAnn Lawlor
Sonoran Sky Elementary School 10150 W. Missouri Ave. Glendale, AZ 85307
623-772-2640
Principal: Natasha Camp
Sunset Ridge Elementary School 8490 W. Missouri Ave. Glendale, AZ 85305
623-772-2730
Principal: Carrie Prielipp
Villa de Paz Elementary School 4940 N. 103rd Ave. Phoenix, AZ 85037
623-772-2490
Principal: Kathy Welsh
Westwind Intermediate School 3802 N. 91st Ave. Phoenix, AZ 85037
623-772-2460
Principal: Brian Winefsky
Westwind Primary School 9040 W. Campbell Road Phoenix, AZ 85037
623-772-2700
Principal: Danelia Portillo
Saddle Mountain Unified School District
Superintendent: Mark Joraanstad District office: 38201 W. Indian School Road Tonopah, AZ 85354
623-474-5100
www.smusd90.org
Board president: Paul Roetto School board meets: 6 p.m. second Wednesday of each month Place: District office
Ruth Fisher Elementary School 38201 W. Indian School Road Tonopah, AZ 85354
623-474-5500
*To reopen for the 2012-13 school year
Tartesso Elementary School
29677 W. Indianola Ave.
Buckeye, AZ 85396
623-474-5400
Principal: James “JP” Ketcham
Tonopah Valley High School
38201 W. Indian School Road Tonopah, AZ 85354
623-474-5201
Principal: Edgar Garcia
Winters’ Well Elementary School
35220 W. Buckeye Road Tonopah, AZ 85354
623-474-5300
Principal: Jim Keith
Tolleson Elementary School District
Superintendent: Lupita Hightower
District office: 9261 W. Van Buren St. Tolleson, AZ 85353
623-936-9740
www.tollesonschools.com
Board president: Elizabeth Hunsaker School board meets: 6 p.m. first Wednesday of each month Place: District office
Arizona Desert Elementary School
8803 W. Van Buren St. Tolleson, AZ 85353
623-907-5260
Principal: Brenda Catlett
Desert Oasis Elementary School
8802 W. McDowell Road Phoenix, AZ 85037
623-533-3901
Principal: Claudia Espinoza
Porfirio H. Gonzales Elementary School 9401 W. Garfield Tolleson, AZ 85353
623-907-5181
Principal: Cindy Mills
Sheely Farms Elementary School 9450 W. Encanto Blvd. Phoenix, AZ 85037
623-907-5270
Principal: John Scudder
Union Elementary School District
Superintendent: Pat Gillespie District office: 3834 S. 91st Ave. Tolleson, AZ 85353
623-478-5005
www.unionesd.org
Board president: Joshua Hitt School board meets: 6 p.m. second Thursday of each month Place: District conference room
Dos Rios Elementary School
2150 S. 87th Ave. Tolleson, AZ 85353
623-474-7000
Principal: Milton Collins
Hurley Ranch Elementary School 8950 W. Illini Drive Tolleson, AZ 85353
623-478-5100
Principal: Melanie Block
Others
Arizona Agribusiness and Equine Center High School
3400 N. Dysart Road Avondale, AZ 85392
623-535-0754
www.aaechighschools.com
Principal: Mona Ramirez
Arts Academy at Estrella Mountain 2504 S. 91st Ave. Tolleson, AZ 85353
623-474-2120
www.plcaaem.com
Site director: Patricia Devito
Bradley Academy of Excellence 16060 Lower Buckeye Parkway Goodyear, AZ 85338
623-932-9902
www.bradleyacademyaz.com
Acting principal: Rick Nielson
Crown Charter School
12450 W. Maryland Ave. Litchfield Park, AZ 85340
623-535-9300
www.crowncharter.com
Director: James Shade
E-Institute at Buckeye 6213 S. Miller Road Buckeye, AZ 85326
623-505-7118
www.e-institute.us
Principal: Tisha Jones
Estrella High School
510 N. Central Ave. Avondale, AZ 85323
623-932-6561
www.estrellahs.com
School Leader: Casey Zordani
Grace Fellowship Academy
1300 N. Miller Road Buckeye, AZ 85326
623-393-8883
www.gracefellowshipacademy.org
Principal: Geri Parker
Heritage Elementary School
6805 N. 125th Ave. Glendale, AZ 85307
623-742-3956
www.hesglendale.org
Principal: Austin Thies
Hope Montessori School
5348 N. 106th Ave. Glendale, AZ 85307
623-877-2985
www.hopemontessori.info
Director: Kathy Selland
Imagine Avondale
950 N. Eliseo C. Felix, Jr. Way Avondale, AZ 85323
623-344-1730
www.imagineavondale.com
Principal: Kim Agnew
Montessori in the Park 1832 N. Litchfield Road Goodyear, AZ 85395
623-535-4863
www.mipschool.org
Director: Lisa King
Montessori West Preparatory School
13034 W. Solano Drive Litchfield Park, AZ 85340 623-935-2017 www.montessoriwest.com
Director: Cora Gaabucayan
North Star Charter School
10720 W. Indian School Road, No. 7, Phoenix, AZ 85037
623-907-2661
www.northstaraz.com
Principal: Carolyn Birney
The Odyssey Preparatory Academy - Buckeye 6500 S. Apache Road Buckeye, AZ 85327
623-327-3111
www.theodysseyacademy.com
The Odyssey Preparatory Academy - Goodyear 17532 W. Harrison St. Goodyear, AZ 85338 623-882-1140 www.theodysseyacademy.com
Phoenix Christian West Valley 14900 W. Van Buren St. Goodyear, AZ 85338 623-234-2100
www.pcwestvalley.com
Principal: Robert L. Byrd
PPEP Tec High School
725 N. Central Ave., Suite 113 Avondale, AZ 85323 623-925-2161
www.ppeptechs.org
Principal: Carol Myers
St. John Vianney Elementary School 539 E. La Pasada Blvd. Goodyear, AZ 85338 623-932-2434
www.sjvaz.net
Principal: Sister Cecilia Henry
St. Thomas Aquinas School 13720 W. Thomas Road Avondale, AZ 85392 623-935-0945 www.stacc.net
Principal: Patrick Reardon
Trinity Lutheran School 830 E. Plaza Circle Litchfield Park, AZ 85340 623-935-4690 www.trinitylcs.org
Principal: William Luedtke
West Valley Christian School 14900 W. Van Buren St. Goodyear, AZ 85338 623-234-2100
Principal: Robert L. Byrd
Colleges/Trade Schools/ Universities
Arizona State University West 4701 W. Thunderbird Road Phoenix, AZ 85306
602-543-5500
www.west.asu.edu
Estrella Mountain Community College
3000 N. Dysart Road Avondale, AZ 85392 623-935-8000 www.emc.maricopa.edu
Glendale Community College 6000 W. Olive Ave. Glendale, AZ 85302 623-845-3000 www.gc.maricopa.edu
Park University 7383 N. Litchfield Road, Suite 3114
Glendale, AZ 85309 623-935-4424 www.park.edu/luke
University of Phoenix 9520 W. Palm Lane Phoenix, AZ 85037
480-557-2000 www.phoenix.edu
Universal Technical Institute 10695 W. Pierce St. Avondale, AZ 85323 623-245-4600 www.uti.edu
State Directory
U.S. Senate
Sen. John McCain (R)
241 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510 202-224-2235; mccain.senate.gov
Local office: 5353 N. 16th St., Suite 105, Phoenix, AZ 85016 602-952-2410
Sen. Jon Kyl (R)
730 Hart Senate Building Washington, D.C. 20510 202-224-4521; kyl.senate.gov
Local office: 2200 E. Camelback Road, Suite 120, Phoenix, AZ 85016 602-840-1891
U.S. House of U.S. House Representatives
District 2
Rep. Trent Franks (R)
2435 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515 202-225-4576; franks.house.gov
Local office: 7121 W. Bell Road, Suite 200 Glendale, AZ 85308 623-776-7911
District 5, which includes Goodyear, Tolleson, Avondale, south Buckeye
301 W. Jefferson Ave., 10th floor Phoenix, AZ 85003
602-506-7092
mrwilcox@mail.maricopa.gov maricopa.gov/dist5
Max Wilson (R), Supervisor
District 4, which includes Avondale, Litchfield Parvk, Goodyear, north Buckeye
301 W. Jefferson Ave., 10th floor Phoenix, AZ 85003
602-506-7642
mwwilson@mail.maricopa.gov maricopa.gov/dist4
State Legislature
District 4
Sen. Judy Burges (R)
1700 W. Washington, Room 311 Phoenix, AZ 85007
(602) 926-5861; jburges@azleg.gov
Rep. Jack W. Harper (R)
1700 W. Washington, Room 113 Phoenix, AZ 85007
602-926-4178; jharper@azleg.gov
Rep. Judy Burges (R)
1700 W. Washington, Room 220 Phoenix, AZ 85007
602-926-5861; jburges@azleg.gov
District 12
Sen. John Nelson (R)
1700 W. Washington, Room 301 Phoenix, AZ 85007 602-926-5872; jnelson@azleg.gov
Rep. Steven Montenegro (R)
1700 W. Washington, Room 218 Phoenix, AZ 85007 602-926-5955; smontenegro@azleg.gov
Rep. Jerry Weiers (R)
1700 W. Washington, Room 131 Phoenix, AZ 85007 602-926-5894; jpweiers@azleg.gov
District 13
Sen. Steve Gallardo (D)
1700 W. Washington, Room 315 Phoenix, AZ 85007 602-926-5830; sgallardo@azleg.gov
Rep. Richard Miranda
1700 W. Washington, Room 332 Phoenix, AZ 85007 602-926-5911; rmiranda@azleg.gov
Rep. Anna Tovar (D)
1700 W. Washington, Room 323 Phoenix, AZ 85007
602-926-3392; atovar@azleg.gov
Library of Congress photo
The Arizona capitol building sits in an empty area of what is now a bustling area of downtown Phoenix in this 1908 photo.
District 23
Sen. Steve Smith (R)
1700 W. Washington, Room 311 Phoenix, AZ 85007 602-926-5685; stevesmith@azleg.gov
Rep. John Fillmore (R)
1700 W. Washington, Room 331 Phoenix, AZ 85007 602-926-3012; jfillmore@azleg.gov
Rep. Frank Pratt (R)
1700 W. Washington, Room 223 Phoenix, AZ 85007 602-926-5761; fpratt@azleg.gov
District 25
Sen. Gail Griffen
1700 W. Washington, Room 302 Phoenix, AZ 85007
602-926-5895; ggriffen@azleg.gov
Rep. Peggy Judd
1700 W. Washington, Room 126 Phoenix, AZ 85007
602-926-5836; pjudd@azleg.gov
Rep. David W. Stevens
1700 W. Washington, Room 312 Phoenix, AZ 85007
602-926-4321; dstevens@azleg.gov
Cities at a Glance
Year of Incorporation: 1946
Population: 76,238
Median age: 29.43
Median household annual income: $75,000
Land area: 54 square miles
2011-12 fiscal-year budget: approximately $163.2 million
City Hall: 11465 W. Civic Center Drive (623-333-1000) www.ci.avondale.az.us
Year of Incorporation: 1929
Population: 50,876
Median age: 30
Median household annual income: $38,000
Land area: 375 square miles
2011-12 fiscal-year budget:
$174.8 million
City Hall: 530 E. Monroe Ave. (623-349-6000) www.buckeyeaz.gov
Year of Incorporation: 1946
Population: 65,275
Median age: 33.6
Median household annual income: $76,523
Land area: 191 square miles 2011-12 fiscal-year budget: $213 million
City Hall: 190 N. Litchfield Road (623-932-3910) www.goodyearaz.gov
Year of Incorporation: 1987
Population: 5,476
Median age: 45
Median household annual income: $86,726
Land area: 3.5 square miles
2011-12 fiscal-year budget: $7.1 million
City Hall: 214 W. Wigwam Blvd. (623-935-5033) www.litchfield-park.org
Year of Incorporation: 1929
Population: 7,083
Median age: 29.4
Median household annual income: $38,773
Land area: 6.6 square miles
2011-12 fiscal-year budget:
$44.8 million
City Hall: 9555 W. Van Buren St. (623-936-7111) www.tollesonaz.org
Mayor: Marie Lopez Rogers
Vice Mayor: Jim McDonald
Council Members: Jim Buster, Stephanie Karlin, Frank Scott, Charles Vierhout and Ken Weise
City manager: Charlie McClendon
Police Dept.: 11485 W. Civic Center Drive (623-333-7000)
Police chief: Kevin Kotsur
Fire Dept.: 11485 N. 107th Ave. (623-333-6000)
Mayor: Jackie Meck
Vice Mayor: Brian McAchran
Council Members: Robert Garza, Michelle Hess, Ray Strauss, Craig Heustis and Eric Orsborn
Town manager: Stephen Cleveland
Police Dept.: 100 N. Apache Road, Suite D (623-386-4421)
Mayor: Georgia Lord
Vice Mayor: Joanne Osborne
Council Members: Gary
Gelzer, Sheri Lauritano, Bill Stipp, Wally Campbell and Joe Pizzillo
City manager: John Fischbach
Police Dept.: Venida Business Center, Bldg. E, 175 N. 145th Ave. (623-932-1220)
Police chief: Jerry Geier
Mayor: Tom Schoaf
Vice Mayor: Paul Faith
Council Members: Diane Landis, Peter Mahoney, John Romack, Tom Schoaf and Paul Stucky
City manager: Darryl Crossman
Police Dept.: Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (602-876-1011)
Mayor: Adolfo Gamez
Vice Mayor: Kathie Farr
Council Members: Clorinda
Erives, Jose “Diego” Espinoza, Linda Laborin, Albert Mendoza and Juan Rodriguez
City manager: Reyes Medrano
Jr.
Police Dept. : 8350 W. Van Buren St. (623-936-7186)
Police chief: Larry Rodriguez
Fire chief: Paul Adams
Libraries: Avondale Civic Center Library, 11350 W. Civic Center Drive (623-333-2602); Sam Garcia Western Avenue Library, 495 E. Western Ave. (623-333-2601)
Post Offices: Avondale Post Office, 401 W. Western Ave. (623925-2924); Cashion Post Office, 1216 N. 111th Drive (623-9361362)
Police chief: Mark Mann
Fire Dept.: 404 S. Miller Road (623-349-6000)
Fire chief: Bob Costello Library: 310 N. Sixth St. (623349-6300)
Post Office: 51 E. Monroe Ave. (623-386-3117)
Fire Dept.: 175 N. 145th Ave., Bldg. E (623-932-2300)
Fire chief: Mark Gaillard
Library: 250 N. Litchfield Road (602-652-3000)
Post Office: 875 S. Estrella Parkway (623-882-9148)
Fire Dept.: Goodyear Fire Department (623-932-2300) Library: 101 W. Wigwam Blvd. (602-652-3000)
Post Office: 591 Plaza Circle (623-935-2089)
Fire Dept. : 9169 W. Monroe St. (623-936-8500)
Fire chief: George Good Library: 9555 W. Van Buren St. (623-936-2746)
