Mesa ( ) is a city in

Maricopa County Maricopa County is in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,420,568, making it the state's most populous county, and the fourth-most populous in the United States. It contains about ...

, in the U.S. state of

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. It is the most populous city in the East Valley section of the

Phoenix Metropolitan Area The Phoenix Metropolitan Area – also the Valley of the Sun, the Salt River Valley, or Metro Phoenix (known by most locals simply as “the Valley”) – is the largest metropolitan area in the Southwestern United States, centered on the city ...

. It is bordered by Tempe on the west, the

Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...

on the north, Chandler and Gilbert on the south along with Queen Creek, and Apache Junction on the east. Mesa is the third-largest city in Arizona after

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

and

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

, the 37th-largest city in the US, and the largest city that is not a county seat. The city is home to 504,258 people as of 2020 according to the

Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal Statistical System of the United States, U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the Americans, Ame ...

, which makes it more populous than

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, and

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

. Mesa has been described as "America's most

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

city". More than 40,000 students are currently enrolled in more than 10 colleges and universities located in Mesa, including the Polytechnic campus of Arizona State University, Benedictine University, A.T. Still University, Upper Iowa University, Mesa Community College and Chandler-Gilbert Community College. Private for-profit institutions include Arizona College, Carrington College,

DeVry University DeVry University () is a private for-profit university with its headquarters in Naperville, Illinois. It was founded in 1931 by Herman A. DeVry and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. DeVry is predominantly an online educator but ...

, Pima Medical Institute, and CAE Phoenix Aviation Academy. In January 2020, Arizona State University broke ground on ASU at Mesa City Center, a project offering programs from the Herberger Institute for Design and Arts that will be located in downtown Mesa that is scheduled to open in spring 2022. It is also home to the largest relief airport in the Phoenix area, Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, which is in the southeastern corner of the city.

History

The history of Mesa dates back at least 2,000 years to the arrival of the Hohokam people. The Hohokam, whose name means "All Used Up" or "The Departed Ones", built the original canal system. The canals were the largest and most sophisticated in the prehistoric New World. Some were up to wide and deep at their head gates, extending for as far as across the desert. By A.D. 1100 water could be delivered to an area over , transforming the Sonoran Desert into an agricultural oasis. By A.D. 1450, the Hohokam had constructed hundreds of miles of canals many of which are still in use today. After the disappearance of the Hohokam and before the arrival of the early settlers little is known, as explorers did not venture into this area. By the late 19th century near present-day Mesa,

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

troops relocated the Apache, opening the way for settlement.

Mormon pioneer The Mormon pioneers were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), also known as Latter Day Saints, who migrated beginning in the mid-1840s until the late-1860s across the United States from the Midwest to the S ...

Daniel Webster Jones, with Henry Clay Rogers as his right-hand man, left St. George, Utah in March 1877. Jones had been asked by Mormon officials to direct a party of people in establishing a settlement in Arizona. They traveled south and settled on the north side of the present Mesa area. This settlement was initially known as Fort Utah and later as Jonesville. It was located about where Lehi Road is now. In 1883 it was named Lehi at the suggestion of Brigham Young, Jr. About this same time, another group dubbed the First Mesa Company arrived from Utah and Idaho. Their leaders were named Francis Martin Pomeroy, Charles Crismon, George Warren Sirrine and Charles I. Robson. Rather than accepting an invitation to settle at Jones' Lehi settlement, they moved up onto the

mesa A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by a ...

that serves as the city's namesake. They dug irrigation canals and used some of the original Hohokam canals. By April 1878, water was flowing through them. The Second Mesa Company arrived in 1879 and settled to the west of the First Mesa Company because of more available farmland. This settlement was originally called Alma and later Stringtown. It was located about where Alma School Road is now. On July 17, 1878, Mesa City was registered as a townsite. The first school was built in 1879. In 1883, Mesa City was incorporated with a population of 300 people. Dr. A. J. Chandler, who would later go on to found the city of Chandler, worked on widening the Mesa Canal in 1895 to allow for enough flow to build a power plant. In 1917, the city of Mesa purchased this utility company. The revenues from the company provided enough for capital expenditures until the 1960s. During the Great Depression,

WPA WPA may refer to: Computing *Wi-Fi Protected Access, a wireless encryption standard *Windows Product Activation, in Microsoft software licensing * Wireless Public Alerting (Alert Ready), emergency alerts over LTE in Canada * Windows Performance An ...

funds provided paved streets, a new hospital, a new town hall and a library. After the founding of the city the elected official that most impacted the municipality was George Nicholas Goodman. He was mayor 5 different times in parts of 3 different decade (1938–1942, 1946–1948, 1952–1956) (see:

List of mayors of Mesa, Arizona The following is a list of the mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers ...

). As mayor he was directly involved in the process of acquiring land for both Falcon Field and

Williams Field Williams Field or Willy Field is a United States Antarctic Program airfield in Antarctica. Williams Field consists of two snow runways located on approximately 8 meters (25 ft) of compacted snow, lying on top of 8–10 ft of ice, flo ...

. With the opening of Falcon Field and

in the early 1940s, more military personnel began to move into the Mesa area. With the advent of

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...

and the rise of tourism, population growth exploded in Mesa as well as the rest of the Phoenix area. Industry—especially early aerospace companies—grew in the 1950s and 1960s. As late as 1960, half of the residents of Mesa made a living with agriculture, but this has declined substantially as Mesa's suburban growth continued on track with the rest of the Phoenix metro area.

Geography

Defining east and west Mesa

Due to Mesa's long east to west travel distance, in excess of and large land area , locations in Mesa are often referred to as residing within either West Mesa or East Mesa. Mesa employs a grid system for street numbering that is different from that used in Phoenix and other portions of the metropolitan area. Center Street, running north to south, bisects Mesa into eastern and western halves and serves as the east and west numbering point of origin within Mesa. Streets west of Center St., such as W. University Drive or W. Main St. are considered to be in West Mesa, whereas streets east of Center St., such as E. University or E. Main St., are considered to be in East Mesa. Mesa Drive, running north to south and bisecting Mesa into east and west sections, is located east of Center Street, and serves as the zip code boundary between the 85281, 85201, 85202, and 85210 zip codes of Western Mesa and the 85203, 85204, 85205, 85206, 85207, 85208, 85209, 85212, 85213, 85215, 85220, and 85242 zip codes of Eastern Mesa.

Climate

Located in the

Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert ( es, Desierto de Sonora) is a desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States (in Ariz ...

, Mesa has a hot

desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in deser ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

: ''BWh''), with mild winters and very hot summers. The hottest month is July, with an average high of and an average low of . The hottest temperature ever recorded in Mesa was in July 1995 at . The coldest month is December, with an average high of and an average low of .

Demographics

According to the 2020 Census, the racial composition of Mesa was as follows: *

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

: 65.7% (

Non-Hispanic Whites Non-Hispanic whites or Non-Latino whites are Americans who are classified as "white", and are not of Hispanic (also known as "Latino") heritage. The United States Census Bureau defines ''white'' to include European Americans, Middle Eastern Ame ...

: 59.6%) *

Hispanic or Latino ''Hispanic'' and '' Latino'' are ethnonyms used to refer collectively to the inhabitants of the United States who are of Spanish or Latin American ancestry (). While the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, for example, by the United States ...

(of any race): 27.3% * Black or African American: 4.2% *

Two or more races 2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many cultur ...

: 12.3% * Native American: 2.7% *

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

: 2.6% * Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander: 0.4% According to the 2010 Census, the racial composition of Mesa was as follows: *

: 83.8% (

: 62.6%) *

(of any race): 27.4% * Black or African American: 3.7% *

: 3.1% * Native American: 2.3% *

: 2.0% * Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander: 0.4% As of the census of 2010, there were 439,041 people, 146,643 households, and 99,863 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 175,701 housing units at an average density of . The racial make-up of the city was 81.6%

, 2.4%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 2.2% Native American, 2.0%

, 0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 9.3% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 1.3% from two or more races. 24.0% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 146,643 households, out of which 33.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.7% were married couples living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.9% were non-families. 24.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.20. The age distribution was 27.3% under 18, 11.2% from 18 to 24, 29.7% from 25 to 44, 18.4% from 45 to 64, and 13.3% who were 65 or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.6 males. The median income for a household in the city was $42,817, and the median income for a family was $49,232. Males had a median income of $35,960 versus $27,005 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,601. About 6.2% of families and 8.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.7% of those under age 18 and 7.1% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Top employers

According to the city's 2020 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:

Cultural attractions

* HoHoKam Park of the

Cactus League Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives establi ...

, home of the Oakland Athletics and former home of the Chicago Cubs during spring training, the WAC baseball tournament and former summer home to the now defunct

Mesa Miners The Mesa Miners were an independent professional baseball team based in Mesa, Arizona. They began as a member of the Arizona Division of the now-defunct Golden Baseball League in 2005. The original team became known as the Reno Silver Sox in ...

professional baseball team of the

Golden Baseball League The Golden Baseball League was an independent baseball league based in San Ramon, California, with teams located in the western United States, western Canada and northwest Mexico. The GBL was not affiliated with Major League Baseball or the orga ...

* Sloan Park, opened in 2014 as the new Cactus League spring training home of the Chicago Cubs * Mesa Arts Center * Mesa Amphitheater * Museums ** I.d.e.a. Museum **

Commemorative Air Force The Commemorative Air Force (CAF), formerly known as the Confederate Air Force, is an American non-profit organization based in Dallas, Texas, that preserves and shows historical aircraft at airshows, primarily in the U.S. and Canada. The CAF h ...

Arizona Wing Aircraft Museum, located at Falcon Field – B-17 ''Sentimental Journey'' ** Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, Mesa Arts Center *** Mesa Historical Museum *** Arizona Museum of Natural History * Archeological sites ** Mesa Grande Ruins ** Park of the Canals * Public libraries ** Main Library (MN) ** Dobson Ranch Branch (DR) ** Mesa Express Library (MEL) ** Red Mountain Branch (RM) * Water parks **

Golfland Sunsplash Golfland-Sunsplash is a water park and family entertainment center located in Mesa, AZ. The location is separated into two parks. Golfland operates as a year-round FEC and features three miniature golf courses, an arcade, a pizza restaurant, a g ...

waterpark on U.S. 60 * The only highrise in Mesa is the

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank ...

(formerly Western Savings) building near Fiesta Mall. * Organ Stop Pizza, containing the world's largest

Wurlitzer organ The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

Bell Bank Park Arizona Athletic Grounds (formerly known as Bell Bank Park, Legacy Park) is an American multi-purpose sports complex in Mesa, Arizona. It opened on January 7, 2022, before its Grand Opening on 4 February 2022, headlined by musician Lindsey Stirl ...

a 320 acre sports and recreation complex

Historic properties in Mesa

Numerous properties in the city are considered to be historical and have been included either in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

or the listings of the Mesa Historic Properties.

Parks and recreation

Mesa has over 2,280 acres of parkland in the city limits. Its largest is Red Mountain Park which spans 1,146 acres. It includes a lake, playgrounds, a basketball court and a cement volleyball court.

Golf

Mesa is home to numerous championship golf courses, including the original course in town, Mesa Country Club. This course was founded in the late 1940s by the original leaders of the town, and "Country Club Drive", the most prominent street in Mesa, was at one point the modest entrance to the club.

West Mesa

The abandoned Fiesta Mall is located in West Mesa, and owned by

Westcor Westcor was a subsidiary of The Macerich Company and a large developer of shopping malls in the Southwestern region of the United States. It was founded in 1964 by entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic val ...

. Its anchors were

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...

and Best Buy. It is located near several shopping centers, Mesa's

, and other retail stores, banks, and restaurants. Though deserted, a refurbishment and expansion of the mall has been planned. Mesa Riverview is a new outdoor destination retail center in the northwestern corner of the city, near

Loop 202 Arizona State Route 202 (SR 202) or Loop 202 is a semi-beltway circling the eastern and southern areas of the Phoenix metropolitan area in central Arizona. It traverses the eastern end and the southern end of the city of Phoenix, ...

and Dobson Road. At build-out the center will include of retail space. Its anchors include

Bass Pro Shops BPS Direct, L.L.C, doing business as Bass Pro Shops, is an American privately held retailer which specializes in hunting, fishing, camping, and other related outdoor recreation merchandise. With headquarters in Springfield, Missouri, Bass P ...

, Cinemark Theaters,

Wal-Mart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

, and

Home Depot The Home Depot, Inc., is an American multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportation rentals. Home Depot is the largest home improvement r ...

East Mesa

Located in East Mesa is Superstition Springs Business Park. It includes the

Superstition Springs Center Superstition Springs Center is a shopping mall located in Mesa, Arizona. It is owned by Macerich, and was developed by Westcor. The mall features the traditional retailers Dillard's, JCPenney, and Macy's in addition to an 8-screen Picture Show. ...

, a shopping mall owned by

Macerich Macerich ( ) is a real estate investment trust that invests in shopping centers. It is the third-largest owner and operator of shopping centers in the United States. As of December 31, 2020, the company owned interests in 52 properties comprisi ...

. It features an outdoor

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

and fountain which convert to a stage. Anchor stores at the mall are Dillard's,

JCPenney Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is a midscale American department store chain operating 667 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Mens, Womens, Boys, Gir ...

, and

Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...

. Mission Community Church, previously known as Superstition Springs Community Church, was initially named after this

business park A business park or office park is a designated area of land in which many office buildings are grouped together. These types of developments are often located in suburban areas where land and building costs are more affordable, and are typicall ...

Education

Almost all of the city of Mesa is served by public schools operated by

Mesa Public Schools Mesa Public Schools (incorporated as Mesa Unified School District #4) is the largest public school district in the state of Arizona. Its approximately 64,000 students enjoy opportunities such as Montessori, International Baccalaureate, dual-langua ...

; however, a small southern portion is served by the

Gilbert Public Schools Gilbert Unified School District #41 (GUSD), also known as Gilbert Public Schools (GPS), is a school district based in Gilbert, Arizona, United States in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The district is the 7th largest in Arizona, and serves over ...

and the

Queen Creek Unified School District __NOTOC__ Queen Creek Unified School District (QCUSD) is a school district based in Queen Creek, Arizona, United States.

, and a small western portion is served by the

Tempe Elementary School District The Tempe Elementary School District is a school district in Tempe, Arizona. The Tempe Elementary School District is located in the heart of the “Valley of the Sun”. It encompasses an area of approximately including not only Tempe but also ...

and the

Tempe Union High School District The Tempe Union High School District is a school district of high schools in Tempe, Arizona, USA. Its service area includes all of Tempe, the city of Chandler, Arizona west of the Loop 101, Guadalupe, the Gila River Indian Community in Maricopa ...

. Pilgrim Lutheran School is a Christian Pre-K-8 school of the

Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), also referred to simply as the Wisconsin Synod, is an American Confessional Lutheran denomination of Christianity. Characterized as theologically conservative, it was founded in 1850 in Milwauke ...

in Mesa. Mesa is home to Mesa Community College, the largest of the Maricopa Community Colleges, which enrolls over 24,000 full and part-time students. The

Polytechnic Polytechnic is most commonly used to refer to schools, colleges, or universities that qualify as an institute of technology or vocational university also sometimes called universities of applied sciences. Polytechnic may also refer to: Educatio ...

campus of Arizona State University lies in southeast Mesa. This satellite campus enrolls over 6,000 undergraduate and graduate students in scientific and engineering fields. A. T. Still University operates an Osteopathic Medical School in Mesa. The aviation school

CAE Global Academy Phoenix CAE Phoenix (formerly CAE Oxford Aviation Academy Phoenix, CAE Global Academy Phoenix and Sabena Airline Training Center) (CAE SATC) is an aviation school owned by CAE and located in Mesa at Falcon Field Airport. A former subsidiary of Sabena F ...

is located in Mesa. After launching a higher education initiative in 2012, Mesa became home to branch campuses of five private, liberal arts institutions:

Albright College Albright College is a private liberal arts college in Reading, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1856. History Albright College traces its founding to 1856 when Union Seminary opened. Present-day Albright was formed by the mergers of several ins ...

, Westminster College,

Benedictine University Benedictine University is a private Roman Catholic university in Lisle, Illinois. It was founded in 1887 as St. Procopius College by the Benedictine monks of St. Procopius Abbey in the Pilsen community on the West Side of Chicago. The insti ...

Upper Iowa University Upper Iowa University (UIU) is a private university in Fayette, Iowa. It enrolls around 6000 students and offers distance education programs that include 15 centers in the U.S., an online program, an independent study program, and centers in ...

and

Wilkes University Wilkes University is a private university in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. It has over 2,200 undergraduates and over 2,200 graduate students (both full and part-time). Wilkes was founded in 1933 as a satellite campus of Bucknell University, and bec ...

. Two have since left (Albright College and Westminster College), while a third, Wilkes University, recently announced it would move entirely online.

Transportation

Several area freeways serve the Mesa area, such as U.S. Route 60, locally known as the Superstition Freeway, which runs between Apache Junction and Phoenix. It is also served by SR 87 and bypass loops

Loop 101 Arizona State Route 101 (SR 101) or Loop 101 is a semi-beltway looping around the Phoenix Metropolitan Area in central Arizona. It connects several suburbs of Phoenix, including Tolleson, Glendale, Peoria, Scottsdale, Mesa, Tempe, and C ...

, which skirts the western city limits as the Price Freeway, and

, which bypasses the city on the north and east. The main east–west arterial road in Mesa is Main Street (former US 60/70/80/89), serving Downtown Mesa. The primary north–south arterials include Country Club Drive, Gilbert Road, and Power Road. Public transportation in Mesa is provided by

Valley Metro The Valley Metro Regional Public Transportation Authority, more popularly known as Valley Metro, is the unified public brand of the regional transit system for the Phoenix metropolitan area. Within the system, it is divided between Valley Metro ...

via bus and light rail (

Valley Metro Rail Valley Metro Rail (styled as METRO) is a light rail line serving the cities of Phoenix, Tempe, and Mesa in Arizona, USA. The network, which is part of the Valley Metro public transit system, began operations on December 27, 2008. In , the sys ...

). The light rail section in Mesa spans about four miles from Sycamore/Main St in the west of the city, through downtown to Mesa Dr/Main St. Until July 2008, Mesa was the largest U.S. city with no public transit service on Sundays, but now has Sunday service available on Routes 40-Apache/Main, 61-Southern, 96-Dobson, 108-Elliot, 112-Country Club/Arizona, 156-Chandler/Williams Field, and 184-Power. Up to the final years of

Southern Pacific The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

passenger railroad service, the '' Sunset Limited'' passenger train used to make stops in Mesa. Air service in the city is provided by two airports. Falcon Field, located in the northeastern part of the area, was established as a training field for British

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

pilots during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and was transferred to the city at the end of the war. Falcon Field has 605 aircraft based there.

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and p ...

builds the

AH-64 Apache The Boeing AH-64 Apache () is an American twin- turboshaft attack helicopter with a tailwheel-type landing gear arrangement and a tandem cockpit for a crew of two. It features a nose-mounted sensor suite for target acquisition and night v ...

attack helicopter at a facility adjoining Falcon Field. Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport is located in the far southeastern area of the city, and provides alternate but limited air service when compared to

Sky Harbor International Airport Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is a civil–military public airport east of downtown Phoenix, in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. It is Arizona's largest and busiest airport, and among the largest commercial airports in th ...

. Phoenix-Mesa Gateway was formerly Williams Gateway Airport, and before that,

Williams Air Force Base Williams Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force (USAF) base, located in Maricopa County, Arizona, east of Chandler, and about southeast of Phoenix. It is a designated Superfund site due to a number of soil and groundwater contamin ...

, which closed in 1993. Williams Gateway was announced as a new Focus City for

Allegiant Air Allegiant Air (usually shortened to Allegiant) is an ultra low-cost U.S. carrier that operates scheduled and charter flights. It is a major air carrier, the fourteenth-largest commercial airline in North America. Allegiant was founded in 1 ...

. Service started October 25, 2007.

Healthcare

The public hospital system,

Valleywise Health Valleywise Health (formerly Maricopa Integrated Health System) is a network of taxpayer-funded hospitals and medical facilities in Maricopa County, Arizona. History Maricopa Integrated Health System was founded in 1991 in Maricopa County, A ...

(formerly Maricopa Integrated Health System), operates Valleywise Community Health Center – Mesa and Valleywise Behavioral Health Center – Mesa. Its sole hospital, Valleywise Health Medical Center, is in Phoenix.

Notable people

* Jim Adkins, musician in the band from Mesa, Jimmy Eat World * Travis Alexander, murder victim *

Beau Allred Beau Allred (born 4 June 1965) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder who played in parts of three seasons for the Cleveland Indians between 1989 and 1991. His number from 1989-1990 was #55 College and minor leagues Allred played collegiat ...

, professional baseball pitcher *

Janice Merrill Allred Janice Merrill Allred (born in 1947) is an excommunicated Latter Day Saint, theologian, writer, and Mormon feminist. She was born in Mesa, Arizona. Allred holds a B.A. in English from Brigham Young University (BYU), and some of her writings hav ...

, author *

Helen Andelin Helen Berry Andelin (May 22, 1920 – June 7, 2009) was the founder of the Fascinating Womanhood Movement, beginning with the women's marriage classes she taught in the early 1960s. Controversial among feminists for its advice toward women's fulf ...

, author * Tyson Apostol, reality television star *

Authority Zero Authority Zero is an American punk rock band from Mesa, Arizona, United States, formed in 1994.Blueskye, Brian (2014)Indie-Punk Veterans: Reggae/Skate-Punk Pioneers Authority Zero Head for the Hood, ''Coachella Valley Independent'', Septemb ...

, punk rock band * John Beck, professional football player * Art Bisch, race car driver * Mike Brown, professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

coach * Marcus Brunson, professional sprinter * Bruce Crandall, Medal of Honor pilot, 1st Cavalry Veteran of Ia Drang November 14, 1965 * Jonathan Dean, ambassador, representative to the Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions *

Julie Ertz Julie may refer to: * Julie (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the name Film and television * ''Julie'' (1956 film), an American film noir starring Doris Day * ''Julie'' (1975 film), a Hindi film by K. S. Sethumadhava ...

, world champion soccer player * Austin Gibbs, musician * George Nicholas Goodman, pharmacist and former mayor of Mesa *

Max Hall Max Hall (born October 1, 1985) is a former American National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League quarterback. After playing college football for BYU, he was signed by the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent in 2010. Hal ...

, professional football player *

Mickey Hatcher Michael Vaughn Hatcher (born March 15, 1955) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder, third baseman and first baseman from through , most notably as a member of the Los ...

, professional baseball player *

Carl Hayden Carl Trumbull Hayden (October 2, 1877 – January 25, 1972) was an American politician. Representing Arizona in the United States Senate from 1927 to 1969, he was the first U.S. Senator to serve seven terms. Serving as the state's first Represe ...

, Arizona senator, and its first representative in the House; died in Mesa in 1972 *

Todd Heap Todd Benjamin Heap (born March 16, 1980) is a former American football tight end who played 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). After playing college football for Arizona State University, he was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in ...

, professional football player * Kalani Hilliker, dancer, actress, model, fashion designer, and YouTuber * Jamar Hunt, professional football player *

Autumn Hurlbert Autumn Marie Hurlbert (born 6 March 1980) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Hurlbert is best known as the runner-up on the reality competition series '' Legally Blonde: The Musical – The Search for Elle Woods''. After taping the comp ...

, actress *

Misty Hyman Misty Dawn Marie Hyman (born March 23, 1979) is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, and former world record-holder. Hyman won the gold medal in the women's 200-meter butterfly at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. I ...

, Olympic gold medalist in swimming * Troy Kotsur, Academy Award winning deaf actor *

Rudy Lavik Rudolph H. Lavik (April 30, 1892 – September 29, 1979) was an American football and basketball coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota from 1920 to 1921, at Ari ...

, college basketball coach *

Mike Lee Michael Shumway Lee (born June 4, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Utah, a seat he has held since 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party. Lee began his career as a clerk for the U ...

, U.S. senator *

Albie Lopez Albert Anthony "Albie" Lopez (born August 18, 1971) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He graduated from Mesa Community College. He was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 20th round of the 1991 Major League Baseball draft. Lopez spent ...

, professional baseball player * Brad Mills, professional baseball pitcher *

Ernesto Miranda Ernesto Arturo Miranda (March 9, 1941 – January 31, 1976) was an American criminal and laborer whose conviction on kidnapping, rape, and armed robbery charges based on his confession under police interrogation was set aside in the landmark U.S ...

, conviction overturned by the Supreme Court of the United States in

Miranda v. Arizona ''Miranda v. Arizona'', 384 U.S. 436 (1966), was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution restricts prosecutors from using a person's statements made in response to ...

creating the

Miranda warning In the United States, the ''Miranda'' warning is a type of notification customarily given by police to criminal suspects in police custody (or in a custodial interrogation) advising them of their right to silence and, in effect, protection f ...

, buried in the City of Mesa Cemetery * Carolyn Morris, professional baseball player (A.A.G.P.B.L.) *

Buck Owens Alvis Edgar Owens Jr. (August 12, 1929 – March 25, 2006), known professionally as Buck Owens, was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and band leader. He was the lead singer for Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, which had 21 No. 1 hits on ...

, singer, member of the

Country Music Hall of Fame The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the world's largest museums and research centers dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of American vernacular music. Chartered in 1964, the museum has amas ...

* Rudy Owens, professional baseball player * John Jacob Rhodes, politician, House Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives *

John Jacob Rhodes III John Jacob "Jay" Rhodes III (September 8, 1943 – January 20, 2011) was a Republican Representative from Arizona's 1st congressional district. Youth and education Rhodes was born in Mesa, Arizona. His father and namesake, John Jacob Rhodes, r ...

, politician, former member of the U.S. House of Representatives *

Larry Schweikart Larry Earl Schweikart (; born April 21, 1951) is an American historian and retired professor of history at the University of Dayton. During the 1980s and 1990s, he authored numerous scholarly publications. In recent years, he has authored popular ...

, author *

Jake Shears Jake Shears (born October 3, 1978) is an American singer and songwriter. He is best known as the male lead singer of pop-rock band Scissor Sisters. Early life Shears was born in Mesa, Arizona, the son of an entrepreneur father and a Baptist moth ...

, lead male singer for the pop band

Scissor Sisters Scissor Sisters were an American pop rock band formed in 2001. Its members include Jake Shears and Ana Matronic as vocalists, Babydaddy as multi-instrumentalist, Del Marquis as lead guitar/bassist, and Randy Real (who replaced Paddy Boom) ...

* Vai Sikahema, professional football player, General Authority

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...

Lynn Toler Lynn Candace Toler (born October 25, 1959) is an American lawyer, judge, television arbitrator (judge), and television presenter. Toler is best known for her role as former arbitrator over longest-running courtroom television series, ''Divorce ...

, judge for ''

Divorce Court ''Divorce Court'' is an American court show that revolves around settling the disputes of couples going through divorces. The show has had four separate runs, all in first-run syndication. Since the debut of the original series in 1957, it is ...

'' * Kelly Townsend, Arizona state representative, Legislative District 16 (including parts of East Mesa) * Don Taylor Udall, state legislator and judge * Tara VanFlower, singer, songwriter of Lycia * Brooke White, singer-songwriter and fifth place finalist on the seventh season of ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

'' *

Danny White Wilford Daniel White (born February 9, 1952) is a former quarterback and Punter (football), punter for the Dallas Cowboys and an American football coach in the Arena Football League. He has been the color commentator for Cowboys games on Compas ...

, professional football player, Arizona Athlete of the Century (20th) * Wilford "Whizzer" White, professional football player *

Vance Wilson Vance Allen Wilson (born March 17, 1973) is an American former professional baseball catcher and current coach. He is the third base coach for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played all or parts of eight seasons in MLB. L ...

, former

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

catcher and current coach for the Kansas City Royals *

Roger L. Worsley Roger Lewis Worsley (born March 22, 1937) is a retired college administrator, who from 1985 to 1995 was the president of Laredo Community College in Laredo, Texas, Laredo, Texas. He also from 1996 to 2005 served as the Chancellor (education), cha ...

, educator, formerly with

Mesa High School Mesa High School is a public high school in Mesa, Arizona, United States. Mesa High School currently accommodates grades 9–12 as part of Mesa Public Schools. Mesa High School is the oldest high school in Mesa, Arizona, and is home of the Jackr ...

and Mesa Community College

Sister cities

Burnaby Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard I ...

, British Columbia, Canada *

Caraz Caraz is a town in the Caraz District in the southeastern part of Huaylas Province of the Ancash Region in Peru. Political Creation Recent investigations suggest that its political creation happened on 12 February 1821 when General San Martín, ...

, Peru *

Guaymas Guaymas () is a city in Guaymas Municipality, in the southwest part of the state of Sonora, in northwestern Mexico. The city is south of the state capital of Hermosillo, and from the U.S. border. The municipality is located on the Gulf of Cali ...

, Mexico *

Kaiping Kaiping (), alternately romanized in Cantonese as Hoiping, is a county-level city in Guangdong Province, China. It is located ín the western section of the Pearl River Delta and administered as part of the prefecture-level city of Jiangmen. ...

, Guangdong, China *

Upper Hutt Upper Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Uta) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand and one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. Geography The Upper Hutt city centre lies approximately 26 km north-e ...

, New Zealand

References

Notes Bibliograph

External links

Official government website

Mesa Arizona Convention and Visitors Bureau – Tourism

Mesa news, sports and things to do from ''The Mesa Republic'' newspaper

Mesa Public Library

Mesa Chamber of Commerce
{{authority control Cities in Arizona Phoenix metropolitan area Populated places established in 1878 Cities in Maricopa County, Arizona Populated places in the Sonoran Desert 1878 establishments in Arizona Territory

History

Geography

Defining east and west Mesa

Climate

Demographics

Economy

Top employers

Cultural attractions

Historic properties in Mesa

Parks and recreation

Golf

West Mesa

East Mesa

Education

Transportation

Healthcare

Notable people

Sister cities

See also

References

External links