McCormick Ranch

McCormick Ranch refers to an area in Scottsdale, Arizona, which is one of the largest planned communities in Arizona.

History

In 1921, the Jolly family built a ranch and home on 160 acres located at what is today the corner of Scottsdale and Indian Bend roads. This was purchased by Merle Cheney in 1942, who not long afterwards sold it to Fowler and Anne McCormick. Between 1942 and 1954, Anne and Fowler had begun to purchase parcels of land all around the Jolly/Cheney parcel. The ranch was primarily used as a winter home by the McCormicks, as they admired the warmer climate.

Fowler was not a stranger to money. His maternal grandfather was Nelson D. Rockefeller, while his paternal grandfather was Cyrus McCormick, the inventor of the mechanical reaper, which would form the foundation for the company later known as International Harvester. Fowler would later go on to be President and Chairman of the Board for International Harvester.

Anne McCormick was a lover of Arabian horses. In the mid-1950s, she devoted 150 acres of the northern part of her ranch near what is today the intersection of Shea Boulevard and Pima Road as an equestrian center devoted to Arabian horses, and called it Paradise Park. The Arabian Horse Association of Arizona held their annual show at Paradise Park from 1956 (its second year) through 1968, when it was moved to WestWorld. The Arizona Arabian Horse Show was the first of its kind dedicated to Arabian horses.