In Peoria’s early days adobe homes were either constructed by these first settlers, or large tents were used to stay safe from the eliments. One half of the tent held a floor and acted as living quarters, while food, hay, spare furniture, and tools were housed in the other half. Rattlesnakes, scorpions, and desert rats often sought shelter from the hot desert sun underneath the surface. When floods washed out the canal diversion dam, life was even more complicated.

It was a six-mile trek to the Grand Canal for domestic water and stock water when this occurred. Settlers had to dip water from the canal into barrels while there. A rise in traffic along this route came with the growth in production at Vulture Mine, and so it was called Grand Avenue in 1887. By 1888, Peoria was truly on the map with a U.S. Post Office’s development for its 27-strong rising population. Peoria’s nucleus was firmly set on Washington and Grand Avenue after the new townsite had been surveyed and a well dug in the northwest corner of section 26.

Gradually, as entrepreneurial companies came in to meet the growing population’s needs, a town was born. In 1954, the city was officially incorporated. The town still had only around 2,500 inhabitants by 1970. It had all the stores of a small, self-sufficient, and warm-hearted culture, though. Today, Peoria continues to grow and prosper, with a population of more than 175,000.

Neighboring cities include Avondale, Glendale, Sun City West, Surprise, Anthem, and Phoenix.