Flagstaff, Arizona
History
Contents: History
| Geography | Climate
| Culture [Museums
and other points of interest | Sports | In
popular culture] Transportation | References
Flagstaff
is a city located in northern Arizona, in the southwestern United
States. It is the principal city of the Flagstaff, Arizona Metropolitan
Statistical Area.
According to 2005 Census Bureau
estimates, the population of the city is 57,391. The total
Metropolitan Statistical Area was 122,000. It is the county seat
of Coconino County, an important railroad town, and home to
Lowell Observatory and Northern Arizona University.
The city's name commemorates a
Ponderosa Pine tree that was made into a tall flagpole by members
of a scouting party from Boston (known as the "Flagstaff Tea
Party"), on July 4, 1876 to celebrate the United States
Centennial.
Flagstaff lies near the
southwestern edge of the Colorado Plateau and along the western
side of the largest contiguous ponderosa pine forest on earth at
an elevation of 6910 ft. Flagstaff is located adjacent to 9,299 ft
Mount Elden, just south of the San Francisco Peaks, the highest
mountain range in the state of Arizona. The San Francisco Peaks
(known locally as simply "The Peaks") consist of several
summits including Humphreys, Agassiz, Fremont, and
Doyle Peaks.
Humphreys Peak, also known as Mount Humphreys, is one corner of
this ancient volcano and the highest point in Arizona at 12,633
ft. It is located about 10 mi north of Flagstaff.
In 1855, then-Lieutenant Beale,
surveyed a road from the Rio Grande in New Mexico to
Fort Tejon in California. He passed over the spot where Flagstaff now stands,
and camped out at the eastern extremity of the present town. The
lieutenant had his men cut the limbs from a straight pine tree in
order to fly the United States flag.
Flagstaff’s first recognized
permanent settler was Thomas F. McMillan, who arrived in 1876 and
built a cabin at the base of Mars Hill. During the 1880s,
Flagstaff began to grow, opening its first post office and
attracting the booming railroad industry. The town's economy
largely consisted of timber, sheep and cattle, and by 1886,
Flagstaff was the biggest city on the main line between
Albuquerque and the West Coast.
In 1894, astronomer Percival
Lowell chose Flagstaff as the site for the now famous Lowell
Observatory, primarily due to its high altitude and good
astronomical seeing conditions. Thirty-six years later, Pluto was
discovered using one of the observatory’s telescopes.
The
Northern Arizona Normal School was established in 1899, an
institution that later became Northern Arizona University in 1966.
During the 1920s, Route 66 was built and passed through the city
making Flagstaff a popular tourist stop. Flagstaff was
incorporated as a city in 1928.
Today, Flagstaff is a community
rich with cultural diversity, beauty and history, as well as
educational, recreational and scientific opportunities.
At 7,000 feet elevation, located
in the largest contiguous Ponderosa Pine forest in the world, the
area around Flagstaff is considered a high altitude desert.
However, ecosystems spanning from pinon-juniper studded plateaus,
high desert, green alpine forest and barren tundra can all be
found within a short drive of Flagstaff.
Flagstaff has four distinct
seasons. The combination of high altitude, low humidity, and
terrain provide mild weather conditions and clear air throughout
most of the year, except winter. Weather in Flagstaff is very
diverse with moderate summers but sometimes severe winters. Summer
temperatures are moderate and high temperatures average around
80°F (about 20°F less than Phoenix). Brief, but often intense,
afternoon rain showers and thunderstorms are common during the
monsoon season of July and August. The average annual snowfall is
108.8 inches, and the average annual rainfall is 22.80 inches.
Flagstaff's mild climate during
the summer months and its nearby ski resorts makes the city a
popular year-round weekend destination for residents of the
Phoenix metropolitan area.
Flagstaff's proximity to Grand
Canyon National Park, about 75 mi north of the city, has made the
city a popular tourist destination. Route 66, originally running
between Chicago and Los Angeles, greatly increased the
accessibility to the area, and enhanced the tourist industry in
the city. Today, Route 66 remains as a historic route and popular
tourist attraction, passing through the city between Barstow,
California and Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Other nearby tourist attractions
include Walnut
Canyon National Monument, Sunset
Crater Volcano National Monument, Wupatki National Monument,
Barringer Crater (meteor crater), The Arboretum at
Flagstaff, and
the Museum of Northern Arizona. The city of Sedona, Arizona is
also a short half hour drive from Flagstaff, traveling south along
Arizona State Route 89A through scenic Oak Creek Canyon.
Glen Canyon National Recreation
Area and Lake Powell are also both about 135 mi (216 km) north
along U.S. Route 89.
There are no major league,
professional sports in Flagstaff. The Arizona Cardinals of the
National Football League have held their summer training camp at
Northern Arizona University since the Cardinals moved to Arizona
in 1988, with the exception of the 2005 season due to an outbreak
of a flu-like virus. The NAU training camp location has been cited
as one of the top five training camps in the NFL by Sports
Illustrated.
Northern Arizona University and
the city of Flagstaff also are home to the Center for High
Altitude Training, a facility where athletes can train in the
unique environment the city has to offer at 7,000 feet
elevation.[4] The center has been designated by the United States
Olympic Committee as an official U.S. Olympic Training Site.[4]
Winter sports are also popular in
the area, and the Arizona Snowbowl ski resort is located about 15
miles to the north of the city on the San Francisco Peaks.
In the early 20th century, the
city was considered as a site for a film by Jesse Lasky and
Cecil
B. DeMille, but was abandoned in favor of Hollywood. Several
recent movies have been filmed, at least in part, in Flagstaff,
including Midnight Run, where Charles Grodin gave Robert De
Niro the slip. Several of the running scenes in Forrest Gump
were filmed in and around the area, including a memorable scene
where Forrest is seen jogging in downtown Flagstaff and gives
inspiration to a bumper sticker designer.
The city was also mentioned in
several novels, such as The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward
Abbey, depicting an encounter with a Flagstaff policeman. Frank
Poole discusses his childhood growing up in Flagstaff in Arthur C.
Clarke's novel 3001: The Final Odyssey. Author Richard
Bausch wrote a short story called, All the Way in Flagstaff,
Arizona. The city also appeared in Stephen King's book, "Firestarter."
Perhaps most recognizable, the
town's name is mentioned in the lyrics to the song, "Route
66" by Bobby Troup.
Flagstaff is located at the
northern terminus of Interstate 17, which travels 145 mi south to
Phoenix, Arizona. Interstate 40 runs east-west through the city,
traveling to Barstow, California in the west and Albuquerque, New
Mexico (and beyond) in the east. Historic Route 66 also runs
east-west through the city, roughly parallel to I-40, and is a
major thoroughfare for local traffic. Butler Avenue connects I-40
with downtown Flagstaff, and the major north-south thoroughfare
through town is Milton Avenue. Arizona State Route 89A travels
through the city (concurrently as parts of Milton Ave. and Route
66), going south through Oak Creek Canyon to Sedona.
Passenger rail service is
provided by Amtrak, connecting on east-west routes to Los Angeles
and Albuquerque. Greyhound provides inter-city bus service,
primarily connecting the railway lines in Flagstaff to Phoenix via
I-17. Local bus service is provided throughout the city by the Mountain
Line.
Air travel is available through
Flagstaff Pulliam Airport located just south of the city off of
I-17. The airport is primarily a small, general aviation airport
with a single 6,999 ft runway. Service to connecting flights at
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is provided.
- Annual Estimates of the
Population for All Incorporated Places in Arizona (CSV). 2005
Population Estimates. U.S. Census Bureau, Population
Division (June 21, 2006). Retrieved on November 14, 2006.
- Staff Writer. "Cardinals
arriving for training camp." Northern Arizona
University. July 26, 2006. Retrieved on November 26, 2006.
- King, Peter. "My top five
training camps: Places to get up close and personal with NFL
players." Sports Illustrated. July 6, 2005.
Retrieved on November 26, 2006.
- Staff Writer. "City of
Flagstaff helps fund Center for High Altitude Training." Northern
Arizona University. November 15, 2006. Retrieved on
November 26, 2006.
- Mangum, Richard & Sherry
(2003). Flagstaff Past & Present. Northland
Publishing, 60-61. ISBN 0-87358-847-9.
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