Peoria, Arizona

Peoria /piˈɔːriə/ is a city in Maricopa and Yavapai counties in the State of Arizona. Most of the city is located in Maricopa County, while a tiny portion in the north is in Yavapai County. It is a major suburb of Phoenix. According to 2010 Census Bureau releases, the population of the city is 154,065. Peoria is currently the sixth largest city in Arizona for land area, and the ninth largest for population. It was named after Peoria, Illinois. The word "peoria" is a corruption of the Illini word for "prairie fire." It is the spring training home of the San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners who share the Peoria Sports Complex. In July 2008, Money magazine listed Peoria in its Top 100 Places to Live.

History

Initial settlement

Peoria sits in the Salt River Valley, and extends into the foothills of the mountains to the north. William John Murphy, who had worked on the Arizona Canal, recruited settlers to begin a community in Arizona, many of them from Peoria, Illinois. Four farming families left Illinois that fall to relocate to what is now Peoria, Arizona. An old desert road connecting Phoenix to the Hassayampa River near present-day Wickenburg was the only major transportation route in the area until 1887, when a new road was laid out. Named Grand Avenue, this road angled through the newly designed town sites of Alhambra, Glendale, and Peoria and became the main route from Phoenix to Vulture Mine. The settlers filed Peoria’s plot map with the Maricopa County recorder on May 24, 1897, naming the settlement after their hometown.

Arizona

Arizona (ⁱ/ɛrɪˈzoʊnə/; /ærɪˈzoʊnə/) (Navajo: Hoozdo Hahoodzo; O'odham: Alĭ ṣonak) is a state in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the Western United States and of the Mountain West states. It is the sixth largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is one of the Four Corners states. It has borders with New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, California, and Mexico, and one point in common with the southwestern corner of Colorado. Arizona's border with Mexico is 389 miles (626 km) long, on the northern border of the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California.

Arizona is the 48th state and last of the contiguous states to be admitted to the Union, achieving statehood on February 14, 1912. It was previously part of the territory of Alta California in New Spain before being passed down to independent Mexico and later ceded to the United States after the Mexican–American War. The southernmost portion of the state was acquired in 1853 through the Gadsden Purchase.

Arizona (department)

The Arizona Department (1863−1865) was a department of the Second Mexican Empire, located in the present day state of Sonora in Northwestern Mexico.

It was directly south of the U.S. Arizona Territory, the present day state of Arizona.

Arizona (song)

"Arizona" is a song written by Kenny Young and recorded by former Paul Revere and the Raiders member Mark Lindsay, with L.A. session musicians from the Wrecking Crew, in 1969. The single was Number 10 on the Hot 100 on 14 February 1970 and was awarded a RlAA Gold Disc in April 1970.

Overview

The song is about a man telling his hippie girlfriend, referred to as Arizona (it is not clear if this is her real name or a hippie pseudonym) to stop acting like a teeny bopper and follow him instead. Lyrics in the song mention the girl to "get rid of her hobo shoes, rainbow shades, and Indian braids", plus Robin Hood, the Count of Monte Cristo, the Countess May, and Aesop. The song was also recorded in 1969 both by Clodagh Rodgers (an Irish singer who was arguably Kenny Young's muse), and the Family Dogg. In addition the song was later covered by French singer Eddy Mitchell.

Chart performance

Weekly singles charts

Year-end charts

References