Many century's ago, the prehistoric Hohokam Indians farmed and traded in the fertile Salt River Valley where they engineered elaborate and sophisticated irrigation systems.  The disappearance of the Hohokam remains a mystery today. 

In 1865 the U.S. Army arrived at the Salt River Valley and established Fort McDowell.  After the arrival of the cavalry came pioneers including Wickenburg resident Jack Swilling, who directed the renovation of the Hohokam canals, and Charles Hayden, who built a flour mill and began a ferry service across the Salt River. 

Hayden's Ferry, as Tempe was know then, was also the only vehicle crossing the Rio Salado.  The town grew slowly with merchants and saloons along the dusty main street and was renamed Tempe" by an English traveller who compared the area to the Vale of Tempe in Greece. 

In 1886, the Arizona Territorial school opened with a class of 31 students in the building known today as "Old Main" on the Arizona State University Campus. 

The home of the Arizona State University, this once college-dependant town has diversified its economy and brought in more than 200 manufacturing firms. 

Tempe has in excess of 70 research parks where firms like Motorola, General Semiconductor Industries and Allied Signal are located.  Arizona State University Research Park covers 323 acres.

The store-lined sidewalks of Downtown Tempe offer a unique sampling of quaint shops and boutiques featuring art, furniture, books, antiques, jewelry, apparel, and souvenirs. 

In every direction you will find conveniently located shopping centers.  Arizona's largest value-oriented mall, Arizona Mills is also located in Tempe.

The cities of the Salt River Valley are historically founded on innovation and the manipulation of waterways for civilization. 

For centuries, the Salt River brought life to the valley, providing water for crops, power for industry and habitat for wildlife.  By the 1930's people had turned their back on one of Arizona's most significant tributaries.   Many cities have been affected by the Salt River, and many cities benefit from the Rio Salado -- a project that brings life back to the river.

The Arizona Department of Transportation and Maricopa County constructed a bank-stabilized floodway channel within the Salt River.  This recovered land from the flood plain is now developed into a park system along the banks of the river.

Resorts, restaurants, retail shops and marinas compliment Rio Salado Park.  The focal point of the project is a two-mile Town Lake.  The lake provides the largest usable body of water in the metro Phoenix area.

Combining the ancient canals built by the Hohokam Indians with the modern manipulations of the Salt River, such as the Roosevelt Dam and the 220 acre Town lake, Rio Salado is a great asset to the region.

Tempe's resources and landlocked condition required creative planning efforts to realize the vision of Rio Salado.  Reintroducing water to a dry riverbed provides unique problem-solving challenges. 

The City of Tempe's portion of the Rio Salado project extends approximately 5.5 miles in length from the Mesa border, west to the Phoenix border.  It is approximately 1 mile wide.

Recently named one of the top 10 college towns by the New York Times, Tempe has shared a special pride with Arizona State University for more than a century.  Appointed to Research Level I status in 1995, ASU also currently enrolls the largest student population in the Southwest (approx. 49,000 students).

Visitors immediately notice the numerous theaters, galleries and various cultural centers that rival any in the nation.  The State Arboretum on campus is something you won't be able to explore at any other University -- no other university has one!

ASU also has the 22nd largest of all American libraries and numerous museums including the Art Museum, the Gallery of Design, Lifes Sciences Center, Meteorite Collection, the Museum of Anthropology, the Museum of Geology, the Nelson Fine Arts Center and the Northlight Gallery.

A walking tour of the campus will give you a glimpse of ASU's incredible architecture.  The Law Library (2nd only to Harvard) is designed to look like an open book.  The Music building is more commonly referred to as the Wedding Cake and Gammage Auditorium is Frank Lloyd Wright's last public structure design

Neighborhoods throughout Tempe feature every style home, from turn-of-the-century adobe homes to luxury compounds with acreage and horse privileges.