T he Phoenix Trust Company recorded the first subdivision in “Arcadia” on June 24, 1915. Map number seven of forty recorded in Maricopa County was a 25 lot subdivision called “Citrus Homes” owned by Farmer L.E. Froman and his wife N.H. No roads, simply coordinates, flesh out the area’s boundaries which would only later be named Camelback Road to the north, Lafayette Boulevard to the south, 56th Street to the east, and the Arizona Canal to the west. By 1919, the area’s identity would be forever changed with the original platting of “Arcadia” on December 26. Jordan, Grace and Phelps Land Company working with Charles S. Keafer signed their names to the map which spans roughly Rockridge Road to the north, 44th Street to the west, Scottsdale Road to the east, and Lafayette Boulevard to the south. The plat even includes an Arcadia Townsite in Block L.

SUMMER 2009 Arcadia Established 1919 Finally, signature streets like Exeter, Lafayette, Launfal, Rubicon, and Arcadia are all on the map, but no mention yet of Camelback Road. Arcadia was cut into ve- and ten-acre parcels with the hopes of attracting only those who could afford to build homes in excess of $5,000. Citrus growing was mandated on every lot. Unfortunately, the developers had one big problem: no consistent source of water. Only lots on the south side of Camelback received water from the Arizona Canal. So, the developers formed the Arcadia Water Company in 1919. Pumps were constructed in Paradise Valley which would provide 2,100 acres with water. Within  ve years, 15 miles of underground concrete pipe lay beneath Arcadia. Subdivision of the original Arcadia Plat began in 1926. Some of the results were Arcadia Estates (March 9, 1926), Arcadia Replatted (July 24, 1926), Glencoe Highlands (June 27, 1928), Alta Hacienda (May 28, 1929) and Hacienda Allenada (April 9, 1930). Editor’s Note: 1926 also marks the  rst time that Camelback Road is referenced on a plat map in Arcadia.