It’s hard to believe, but it was nearly a year ago that The Times began its 12-month dive into the history of Fountain Hills. In that time, reporter Bob Burns has offered regular features covering everything from the origins of the town to a look special districts, service organizations and beyond. This week, you can read all about the history of the landmark Fountain beginning on page 8A.

This series was part of The Times’ way of getting involved in the year-long festivities celebrating the 30/50 anniversary of Fountain Hills. Dec. 2019 marked the 30th anniversary of the election in which Fountain Hills was incorporated as a town, while Dec. 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of the date the Fountain was first turned on. These monthly features were accompanied by additional historical nods including a weekly reminder of the big headlines from the year of incorporation (1990), as well as columns from President Alan Cruikshank and ongoing features from Linda McThrall on the history of the local Sister Cities program.

Fountain Hills might not be the oldest town in the desert, but this past year’s series celebrates many of the people, organizations, community leaders and decisions that have made it the town so many of us are happy to call home today.

The Times would like to thank its readers for following us on this journey, which officially comes to an end with this week’s paper. For those of you who may have missed out on some of our historical features, or maybe you just want the whole shebang in one location, you’re in luck. We’re planning to pull all of those stories, photos and maybe even a few additional tidbits into a single special publication. We’re still hammering out the final details, but please keep your eye out for this unique offering in the new year.