Mesa, Arizona Real Estate
Statistics & Facts
The population of Mesa is approximately 360,000 (1998).
The approximate number of families is 140,468 (1990).
Mesa elevation is 1,241 feet above sea level.
Mesa median income is $30,273.
The Mesa median home price is $86,500. (2000)
Location
Mesa location: 15 miles east of Phoenix in central Arizona
Climate & Weather
The climate for Mesa is warm and dry.
The weather in Mesa is enjoyable with warm sunny daysand cool night air. There are 313 average days of sunshine each year.
Mesa average annual rainfall is 7.52 inches per year
Mesa average annual precipitation is 7.52 inches per year.
Mesa average temperature is 84 degrees F.
The average low temperature is 52.9 degrees F.
The average high temperature is 84.9 degrees F.
History
Mesa is the Spanish word for "table top," which means a flat-topped, raised area.
The first inhabitants of the area were here around 2,000 years ago. They were the Hohokam Indians. They built the first irrigation ditches. No one really knows why they left the area. Various missionaries, explorers, etc. came and went during the 1500's and 1600's. The Apaches drove out the Spaniards in the 1700's. In the 1800's, the troops of the United States fought with the Apaches which opened the way for more white settlers to come. The small settlement of Maryville was founded in 1865 near a ferry across the Salt River. The town was later abandoned. Around 1877, Daniel Webster Jones was asked by Mormon Church leaders to bring a group down to this area. They built Fort Utah from adobe in July of 1877 in what they called Lehi.
A new group of Mormon settlers came in January of 1878, passing through the Lehi area. They decided to move up to the mesa and proceeded to clear the land and prepare a town site. They utilized the irrigation ditches which were dug by inhabitants of the area in 700 A.D. The availability of water in the area has allowed it to grow tremendously. A number of factors, including flooding in the lower, Lehi area, caused Mesa to grow much faster, eventually overtaking and absorbing the Lehi area. Mesa was known as Mesa City among the residents, but the post office first called it Hayden's Ferry. Then it was changed to Zenos. Finally, in 1889, the post office department allowed the name of Mesa City. There was already a Mesaville on the San Pedro River which they felt would make the new community name confusing, but finally relented and allowed the chosen name of Mesa.
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