Fountain Hills' heritage adds to its future

While Fountain Hills is relatively young as a community, it was developed on a site that is indeed rich in history. This region has a much-storied past ranging from ancient Native Americans farming these lands to the creation of new communities.

Arizona itself has only been a state since 1912, and the town’s official date of incorporation is Dec. 5, 1989.

The expanses surrounding Fountain Hills, including the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, the Verde Communities and the nearby mountain ranges, present a rich and fabled background that includes Native American migrations, mining tales, trappers, gun battles, wagon trails and the rise of a modern city today known as Phoenix.

The “early day” history dates back centuries when the area was a lush desert environ­ment for Native Americans who inhabited the region. Different Indian cultures occupied the lands over the years, drawn mainly by the area’s two major rivers, the Verde and the Salt. The confluence of the two rivers is just a few miles southeast of Fountain Hills.

The “modern” history of Fountain Hills goes back to the late 1960s, when a development company envisioned an old cattle ranch as a potential “model city” for an enterprising United States of America that was rapidly expanding in its metropolitan regions.

Most of this local history is captured in the entertaining and educational L. Alan Cruikshank River of Time Museum (see more information in “Attractions” and “Cultural” sections of this Guide).

The community’s foun­ding birthday is con­sidered Dec. 15, 1970, when the famous “World’s Tallest Fountain” was turned on for the first time at Fountain Park. Work started on the first residences in the fall of 1971, and by February 1972, the first homeowners were moving in. Today, more than 24,000 people call Fountain Hills home on a permanent basis.

The community itself is full of fascinating local history, but the land and surrounding territory are abundant with colorful stories as well — from wagon trains and military outposts to sheep ranchers and miners seeking to strike it rich.

About 800 years ago, the area near the confluence of the Salt and Verde rivers was home to between 4,000 and 10,000 Hohokam Indians. Although the tribe later disappeared, remnants of its canals, pottery and other artifacts show it was a thriving civilization.

Those artifacts also are found throughout the area of Rio Verde, a retirement community about eight miles north of Fountain Hills, which also had its beginnings in the early 1970s.

Arizona was an unorganized territory in 1865 when Fort McDowell was established as a military center, located adjacent to Fountain Hills on what is now the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation.

Through most of the 20th century, a part of this area was known as the P-Bar Ranch, a working cattle ranch, and in 1968 Page Land and Cattle Co. sold 4,500 acres of it to the McCulloch Oil Corpora­tion.

McCulloch Properties, a subsidiary of McCulloch Oil Corp., was already developing Lake Havasu City in western Arizona, and the firm was seeking additional land to build another master planned city. Through other purchases, the Fountain Hills project grew to encompass just over 12,000 acres.

Early grading began in 1969 in Fountain Park and the lake area, and by late 1970 the famous Fountain was turned on. Many people were introduced to Fountain Hills in the early years through a unique “fly to see” sales program by McCulloch. The company flew clients to the Valley in the firm's own fleet of aircraft. Once in Fountain Hills, the potential buyers were shown property by salesmen driving white Jeeps.

About three-fourths of the buildings to date have been custom single-family homes. There also is a good mix of higher density housing along with commer­cial and some industrial property.

Although many seniors first moved here because of the climate and lower prices, a major building boom occurred in the mid-1980s that brought an influx of younger families to Fountain Hills.  The town's population doubled from 5,000 to 10,000 people from 1985 to 1990. Another “boom” started picking up steam around 1992-93. The official U.S. Census for 1995 put Fountain Hills’ population at 13,745. By the spring of 2002 the growth rate was beginning to slow as the community matured toward buildout. The 2005 Census showed Fountain Hills with more than 23,400 people.

Because of the growing reputation Fountain Hills gained as a place for families, the community in 1993 was listed in the book "50 Fabulous Places to Raise Your Family." That tradition was carried on in 1997, when Parenting magazine named Fountain Hills as one of 10 “great” places to raise families from throughout the entire United States in a special 10th anniver­sary issue it published.

Another recent accolade for the town came in 2006 when Phoenix Magazine named it as the best place to live in the Phoenix Metropolitan area. In early 2009, Business Week listed the community as the “best affordable suburb” in Arizona.

Through the past 30 years the growing infill has brought with it modern services and conveniences — shopping centers, local town government, special districts for other government services, recreational and cultural opportunities, a complete school system and much more.

In late 1989 voters approved self-govern­ment. The first elected Town Council members took their seats in June 1990. The local government has grown in all areas that were formerly adminis­tered by Maricopa County and has taken on new responsibilities such as parks and recreation, contracting for law enforcement, town court, etc.

A unique aspect of the town that helped shape its heritage has been special events, with many of today’s events tracing their early roots back to smaller happenings that were org­anized in the 1970s (see separate section on special events and events calendar). One event that is still talked about started in 1980, when the community celebrated its 10th anniversary. Topping off the 17-day celebration was a "White Castle" hamburger promotion, which became an annual event of its own until the mid-1980s. That event brought the community worldwide publicity.

Two other events, a small arts festival and a larger “thank you” festival once organized by a Phoenix public television station, have evolved into two major festivals organized by the Chamber of Commerce. The art shows have received critical acclaim throughout the Southwest and beyond. Each February, the Great Fair boasts arts and crafts, entertainment and the colorful hot air balloons launched in Fountain Park. Then in November, the prestigious Fountain Festival of Arts and Crafts is held, a juried show that attracts hundreds of local and national artists and artisans.

Fountain Hills continues to expand beyond its borders, however.

The Fountain Hills story took on an international flair in September 2000 when then-Mayor Sharon Morgan and Mayor Walter Otten of Kasterlee, Belgium, signed a proclamation to affiliate the two towns as Sister Cities. Kasterlee is in north-central Belgium and has slightly more than 17,000 residents. Documents were signed in 2005 affiliating Fountain Hills with a second Sister City, Dierdorf, Germany. A third Sister Cities affiliation was realized in 2007, when papers were signed by the mayors of Fountain Hills and Ataco, El Salvador.

The School District and its evolution has served as a mirror of the development that has occurred here since the early 1970s, when the first “school” consisted of two rented commercial units on Colony Drive.

Eventually the Fountain Hills Elementary School was built to house kindergartners through eighth graders, with high schoolers attending Mesa or Scottsdale schools. Today the unified district boasts four major school facilities – two elementary schools, a middle school and high school campus. The newest facility, the Fountain Hills Middle School, which was built on what was then state trust land adjacent to northern Fountain Hills, opened its new campus in the fall of 2002.  All four schools have received an “excelling” rating from the Arizona Board of Education. The Fountain Hills School District is the only district in the state that can make the claim that all of its schools received the highest rating the same year.

The 1990s brought Fountain Hills two of its largest development projects — the 500-acre Eagle Mountain development in southwestern Fountain Hills and SunRidge Canyon, located in northwestern Fountain Hills that encom­passes 950 acres. Both developments feature more than 10 different subdivisions in each and 18-hole championship golf courses, boasting clubhouses and restaurants.

Two other major country club communities opened here in recent years – CopperWynd and FireRock Country Club.

FireRock has many upscale single-family homes. Work has been completed and sales continue on two upscale multi-family projects (as of May 2009). At buildout there will be a maximum of 452 single-family custom home lots and 288 attached multi-family housing units in FireRock. The centerpiece of the upscale development is a private country club with an 18-hole golf course.

CopperWynd has 80 single-family homes and 108 four-plex villa units. The development also has a 32-room inn and a 23,656-square-foot clubhouse that features nine lighted tennis courts, two swimming pools, restaurant and fitness, health and spa facilities. The down economy forced management to close CopperWynd’s resort operation in May 2009, including the hotel, Alchemy Restaurant and the  upper level of the clubhouse.  Club members are still able to use the workout facilities, tennis courts, spa rooms and pools.

Two other major pieces of Fountain Hills’ residential development are MCO Properties’ Eagles Nest, a new custom lot development in the foothills of the McDowell Mountains at the end of Golden Eagle Boulevard, and a second foothills development, Adero Canyon, is planned west of CopperWynd. Others, such as Crestview and EagleRidge, are essentially sold out of their custom lot offerings.

The economic slowdown was also blamed for the 2009 bankruptcy of the developer of a previously announced retail, restaurant and movie theater complex in the downtown area.

The town completed the first two phases of an upgrade project to Fountain Park in 2008. The Town also completed Desert Vista Park in early 2009. Already the home of the off-leash dog facility and the skate park, Desert Vista also now has lighted, turfed soccer fields, a playground, a meandering sidewalk, picnic ramadas and a control building

In the fall of 2001 the town-owned Community Center as well as a library/museum complex at Avenue of the Fountains and La Montana Drive were opened to rave reviews.

A significant addition to the downtown property was the opening of the new Town Hall on the corner of Avenue of the Fountains and La Montana Drive in 2005.

Work was completed in 2007 on a 145-unit condominium project along the southern boundary of the “downtown,” the Holiday Inn opened and construction was completed on an improvement plan that added amenities and other enhancements to the Avenue of the Fountains. Town officials are still optimistic that development of the remaining downtown land south of the Avenue of the Fountains will become a reality in the future.

As Fountain Hills forges ahead through the early part of the new millennium, keeping up with growth remains the major issue for the various governmental entities. The Sanitary District is completing a major upgrade project to its wastewater treatment plant and launched a recharge and recovery project to dispose of excess effluent or reclaimed wastewater. The School District was in the midst of a six-year, $25 million capital improvements plan to upgrade its facilities on an ongoing basis.

“Growth” has been the major historical trend for Fountain Hills since its inception, but that trend ground to a halt in early 2009. Foreclosures of numerous Fountain Hills homes and other economic conditions have greatly impacted the growth of the community.

In 2006 the Town Council adopted a strategic plan after input and review by residents attending several work sessions on the document.  Also in 2006, the Town Council approved annexation of a 1,276-acre piece of State Land that borders Fountain Hills on its north side.

In March 2007, the Phoenix-based Ellman Companies successfully bid and purchased that parcel for $110.1 million. The property could have been developed with as many as 1,750 homes; however, the Ellman Companies submitted a development plan to the Town that included 1,350 homesites and two adjoining parks. The Town Council approved the plan in May 2008, however, there was an organized effort by a group of residents to reverse that approval. The case was eventually ruled in favor of the Ellman Companies in 2009 by the Arizona Supreme Court.

Ellman will be a major player in the future development of this part of the lower Verde Valley. The firm has also acquired approximately 2,100 acres in Goldfield Ranch. Future development of the project named The Preserve will include 1,000 upscale homes, two equestrian facilities and a small boutique hotel and spa. The Arizona State Legislature passed legislation in spring 2007 that allowed the parcel to be a part of the Fountain Hills Unified School District. The parcel since has been annexed by FHUSD.

The sale and development of these two properties will be followed by many community residents, as they will become the latest chapter in the history of this lower Verde Valley.

The town’s original grocery store, Bashas’, and other tenants of the Fountain Hills Plaza held a grand re-opening in April, 2009 after a total renovation of the center. The state-of-the-art 50,000-square-foot Bashas’ supermarket is the anchor of the mid-town shopping center owned by the Pederson group, a major Arizona shopping center development and management company.

Facts & Figures

“Fountain Hills at a glance” provides interesting facts about the Town of Fountain Hills, its climate and the people who live here.

The information was acquired from a variety of sources including the town’s General Plan, Chamber of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, The Weather Channel, the Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC) and other general sources.

Founding birthdate Dec. 15, 1970

Incorporated Dec. 5, 1989

LAND USE
Town Land Size 13,006 acres
(20.32 square miles)

FH McDowell Mountain Preserve 940 acres
(includes 200 owned by the City of Scottsdale)

Terrain

• 1,525 to 3,160 above sea level
• 500 feet higher than Phoenix
• McDowell Mtns. 3,160 feet in Fountain Hills
• Thompson Peak (Scottsdale) 3,892 feet
• McDowell Peak (Scottsdale) 4,034 feet
  (highest peak to the west)
• Four Peaks 7,694 feet
• Mount McDowell (Red Rock) 2,830 feet

WEATHER
(source Weather Channel)

Average July high temperature 105 degrees

Average January high temperature 65 degrees

Record high 125 degrees, July 29, 1995

Record low 21 degrees, Jan. 7, 1971

Average annual rainfall 11.97 inches
(March is average wettest month and June the driest)

PEOPLE
Population
(1980 Census) 2,772
(1990 Census) 10,030
(2000 Census) 20,235
(2005 Census) 24,492
Population est. at buildout 30,700

Median Household income (2008) $82,163
Median family income (2008) $100,672
Per capita income (2008) $38,439
Median age 48.32 years old
Average household size 2.33

EDUCATION
Approximate school enrollment (May 2009) 2,261 students

MISCELLANEOUS
Average sales price
Single family home (May 2008 YTD)
$727,903
(May 2009 YTD)  $566,563

Total assessed valuation
2009 primary *563,493,503
2008 secondary *$651,218,464
*AV for Town of Fountain Hills; amount will vary for School and Sanitary districts.

Total sales tax rate 8.9 percent

Registered voters:
(May 2008) 14,483
(May 2009) 15,929

Residential units:
(December, 1990) 5,231
(May 2009) 15,929

Residential units
(December, 1990) 5,231
(May 2009) 13,072

Single-family homes
(May 2009) 8,240

Multi-family units
(May 2009) 4,832