After the Army established Ft. McDowell in 1865, Charles Hayden followed and built a flour mill and began ferry service across the Salt River. The town was then known as "Hayden's Ferry", but was changed to Tempe by "Lord" Darrel Duppa, an Englishman, who compared the area to "the Vale of Tempe" in Greece.
In 1885 the legislature selected Tempe as the site for the Arizona Territorial Normal School (now Arizona State University). Tempe stayed a small agricultural community until after WWII, then started a period of rapid growth, reaching its present boundaries by 1974. Tempe is home to the Angels major league Spring Training, and home to the NFL Cardinals.
The City was recognized as an "All American City" in 2003 by the National Civic League. The downtown area, known as "Mill Avenue" was revitalized in the 1990's and has over 170 night clubs, and shops. Just north of downtown is Tempe Town Lake, a 2 mile lake surrounded by parks and elite developments.
City officials and many developers believe that Tempe will evolve over the next few years into a city with a mixed-use core where residents live, ride to work on bicycles or on public transportation, and walk to restaurants, museums, sporting events and schools.
And, experts say, as Tempe's core becomes more populated, the city will become one of the nation's best examples of "New Urbanism,".
