In the 96-page May/June issue of Arizona Contractor & Community magazine, we focus on two “Papago” places vital to Phoenix. We trace how...

by Douglas Towne “Go West, young man,” was the prudent advice journalist Horace Greeley gave Americans looking for economic opportunities...

John Bueker When Eugene “Jim” Cunning passed on in 2020 at the age of 86, the sad event did not garner much local attention. But it...

John Bueker Who got the ball rolling by creating the Valley's first miniature golf course is open to debate, but we know that Phoenix...

Like another Valley publication, Arizona Contractor & Community Magazine decided to spotlight the medical field for our March/April...

Douglas Towne The theme for this issue is “Leisure,” so it seemed only appropriate to write a column that wouldn't require too much work....

Douglas Towne A mystical magic carpet experience, a la Prince Husain of "One Thousand and One Nights" fame, was available for 15 cents...

Doug Sydnor, FAIA Scottsdale residents realized their quality of life was under threat in 1991. The pristine McDowell Mountains, a...

Douglas Towne Few in the construction industry have such a rags-to-riches story as Delbert “Del” Eugene Webb. A few years before the...

To kick off 2022, we decided to kick back with an issue devoted to leisure featuring Del Webb giving Joltin Joe DiMaggio some batting...

Tom Pickrell You see it coming while driving along I-17 in Phoenix near the Dunlap Avenue exit. A bright green and white superstructure...

What's crazier: using atomic bombs to mine copper, a ginormous salt mine under a city, extracting iron from a giant *sandbox* or...

By Douglas Towne Great hotel nicknames are usually the result of innovative marketing campaigns or are obvious, such as San Diego's Hotel...

By Douglas Towne Downtown Phoenix was the city’s commercial district until the 1960s, and one unique store stood out. The business, which...

Jeff Kronenfeld Paul Brock was one of the biggest names in underground contracting in the Valley during the 1960s and 1970s. His company,...

James Logan Abell, FAIA Jumping on rail cars to travel from Los Angeles to New Orleans in search of work, this man was no ordinary 1930’s...

Doug Sydnor, FAIA Growing up in Phoenix, I noticed some innovative architecture created by an unknown individual. Many years later, I...

Tom Pickrell Marion John Evertsen was a prominent masonry contractor in Phoenix for more than 30 years, starting in the 1950s. Largely...

Luke M. Snell, P.E. An inspector recently contacted me regarding some concrete loads that exceeded air-content specifications. The...

Aircraft Plating Co. was flying high in 1969. The firm, founded in 1963 at 1313 South 26th Street, was having a new 20,000 square-foot...