Scottsdale is located in
Maricopa County on the eastern city limits of
Phoenix. It lies between Phoenix and
Mesa near the
Salt River and the Saguaro and Canyon lakes.
For centuries, the Hohokam people farmed the surrounding region, fashioning a broad system of irrigation canals. Army chaplain and settler Winfield Scott founded the present community in 1888. It was incorporated in 1951.
Today, fast-growing Scottsdale is an arts and crafts center as well as a winter resort and retirement community; electronic equipment also is produced here. Canals of the Salt River project irrigate crops in the surrounding area. Points of interest include the Taliesin West Architectural School north of the city, founded by Frank Lloyd Wright, and the Indian Bend Wash Greenbelt, a flood control project that utilizes a complex of lakes, parks and golf courses instead of a typical concrete channel.
Scottsdale is part of the Phoenix-Mesa, Arizona metro area.