William John Murphy

William John Murphy

William John Murphy c. 1905
Born August 23, 1839
New Hartford, New York
Died April 17, 1923 (aged 83)
Phoenix, Arizona
Occupation businessman, contractor and land developer
Notes
Murphy, founder of the town of Glendale, Arizona, participated in the Battle of Atlanta under the command of General William T. Sherman during the American Civil War.

William John Murphy (August 23, 1839 –April 17, 1923), the "Founder of Glendale Arizona", was a businessman, contractor, land developer and founder of the Arizona Improvement Company.

Early years

Murphy was born in New Hartford, New York to George Alexander Murphy and Nancy Allen, both immigrants from County Antrim, Northern Ireland. His family moved to the state of Ohio in the United States where he received his primary education. During his youth his family moved to Chicago and later to the town of Pontiac in state of Illinois where he continued to receive his education.[1] Murphy joined the Union Army upon the outbreak of the American Civil War and participated in the Battle of Atlanta on July 22, 1864, as an officer under the command of General William T. Sherman. The Battle of Atlanta was a battle of the Atlanta Campaign fought just southeast of Atlanta, Georgia. The Union forces overwhelmed and defeated Confederate forces defending the city under John B. Hood. Murhpy was honorably discharged from the military on July 24, 1865.[1] He was awarded the Army Civil War Campaign Medal for his participation in the American Civil War.

After the war, Murphy met and married Mary C. Bigelow, a native of Nashville, Tennessee. There he lived with his wife and two children until April 1871, when his wife died. That same year he met and married Laura Jane Fulwiler and they had four children.[1]

The Arizona Canal Co.

The William J. Murphy House was built in 1895 and is located at 7514 N. Central Ave. in Phoenix, Arizona.

In 1880, he moved with his family to what was then known as the Arizona territory. During this time Murphy was contracted with railroad companies including the Atlantic and Pacific (Santa Fe) Railroad for grading and road work services. The family first moved to Flagstaff and later to Prescott.[1]

Murphy learned about the Arizona Canal Co. project, which would bring water to the desert land. In 1882, he joined three Arizona builders, M.W. Kales, William A. Hancock and Clark Churchil[2] and together they landed a $500,000 contract to build the 40-mile long Arizona Canal from Granite Reef to New River.[3] With the use of whatever machinery available and the help of 225 mules, Murphy and his team completed the canal in 1885.[2] Murphy was deep in debt, since he had agreed to be paid in Arizona Canal Company stock and bonds and land instead of cash.[4]

Glendale, Arizona

The Sugar Beet Factory Building listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
The Murphy Bridle Path
Murphy Park in Glendale, Az.

In 1887, Murphy founded the Arizona Improvement Company. His objective was to sell the land and water rights south if the canal. Murphy had to raise capital from out of state sources in order to meet payroll and construction expenses.[4] Murphy decided to refer to this land as “Glendale”. In order to develop and interest potential investors and settlers in this new town, Murphy decided to provide a better way of access from Phoenix to Glendale and ending in the town of Peoria by building an 18 mile long diagonal road which he named Grand Avenue.

In 1891, Burgess Hadsell worked with Murphy to bring 70 Brethren and River Brethren families to Glendale to form a temperance colony. Soon settlers, attracted by the towns ban on alcoholic beverages, continued to arrive. In 1895, Murphy platted the original town site and amended the plat to include a town park and some business lots. The construction of a railroad from Prescott to Phoenix was made possible with an exchange of the right-of-way made by Murphy along Grand Avenue.[3] The railroad allowed Glendale settlers to transport goods to the north and easily receive building materials.[2]

Murphy and his family lived on a ranch located at 7514 N Central Ave and Orangewood Ave in Phoenix. He began to develop his land and experimented with the importation cultivation of 1,800 orange and other citrus fruit trees which he imported from California. The success of his experimentation helped opened the eastern markets to the Arizona landowners and farmers.[4][5] Murphy established the Valley citrus industry in the northern extension of Central Avenue in 1895. The roadway, which he developed, was first paved in 1920. It cut through the Orangewood subdivision. Known as the "Murphy Bridle Path", it begins at Bethany Homes Road and ends two and half miles north at the Arizona Canal. The earliest reference to the Murphy Bridle Path, that the city's historic preservation office discovered, was in 1948 when the bridle path was dedicated by the "Arizona Horse Lover's Club." The North Central Avenue streetscape is now on the Phoenix Historic Property Register and has been nominated to the National Register of Historic Places.

Murphy built the Ingleside Club, complete with a golf course, near the Arizona Canal close to the town of Scottsdale with the intention of attracting investors and potential landowners to what became known as the Salt River Valley.[4]

Murphy's successes in the cultivation of citrus fruit trees, inspired him to consider the development of a sugar beet industry for Glendale. Together with other entrepreneurs, he founded the Arizona Sugar Company in 1903 and construction of the one million dollar sugar beet factory began that same year. The Eastern Sugar Co. who was responsible for selling bonds for the construction of the factory, failed in their mission and the venture went into receivership. However, in 1905, Murphy was able to secure new investors from New Jersey and Michigan.[6]

Murphy donated the town park to the city of Glendale in 1909. In 1911, he developed an electric trolley line from Phoenix to Glendale, which ran between 1911 and 1925.[3]

Legacy

Grave-site marker of William John Murphy

On April 17, 1923, Murphy died in Phoenix, Arizona of heart disease. He is buried in section 5; block 4; lot 2; space 8 in Greenwood/Memory Lawn Mortuary & Cemetery. located in 2300 West Van Buren Street, Phoenix, Arizona.[3]

The park which Murphy donated was renamed Murphy Park in 1912, in his honor. It is located at 58th & Glendale Avenues and has a public library.[7] In 1895, Murphy developed a roadway which cut through the Orangwood subdivision. The path was named the "Murphy Bridle Path" in 1948, by the "Arizona Horse Lover's Club". The trail in Phoenix runs along Central Avenue between Bethany Home Road and Northern Avenue.[8]

Glendale, the city founded by Murphy, with a population of just over 225,000 residents is 4th largest city in Arizona. According to the Glendale Chamber of Commerce, "The number of households in the Arrowhead Ranch area of Glendale (zip code 85308) with at least $1 million in worth increased by 214.4 percent between 1996 and 2001."[9]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Arizona Archives Online
  2. 1 2 3 Glendale History
  3. 1 2 3 4 Founder of Glendale
  4. 1 2 3 4 The First Five: A Brief History of the Salt River Project
  5. ↑ A proud past: facts and photos
  6. ↑ Al-Jaff, Mohamed Amin. "The Economic Feasibility of Sugar Beet Production for Sugar in the Salt River Valley of Arizona," MS thesis, Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Arizona, Tucson, 1957, 89 pages.
  7. ↑ Historic Downtown Glendale Walking Tour.
  8. ↑ Murphy Bridle Path
  9. ↑ Glendale, Arizona, By Judy Hedding
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