In the late 1800s the area that is now Glendale was all desert.
William John Murphy, a native of
New Hartford, New York, who resided in the town of
Flagstaff in what was then the
territory of Arizona, was in charge of building the
Arizona Canal from Granite Reef to New River for the Arizona Canal Company. In 1885, he completed the canal, which would bring water to the desert land. Murphy was deep in debt, since he had agreed to be paid in Arizona Canal Company stock and bonds and land instead of cash. In 1887, Murphy formed the Arizona Improvement Company. His objective was to sell the land and water rights south of the canal. Murphy raised capital from out of state sources in order to meet payroll and construction expenses. 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. Several other businesses were founded around this time such as Glendale Ice Company, Pacific Creamery Company, Glendale Milling Company, and Southwest Flour and Feed. World War I ushered in a renewal for Glendale, with cotton prices rising throughout the period. Cotton continues to be a source of economic prosperity in Glendale with many farms still along the
Loop 101, despite many farmers switching to more profitable crops. A high demand for food also kept farmers busy. Numerous farms and orchards were established and thrived through the early 1900s. World War II brought the birth of
Thunderbird Field to train civilian pilots for the Army. In late 1940, a few Hollywood actors and businessmen, headed by
Leland Hayward, approached the Army to establish a primary flight training school. This group chose the site of Thunderbird Field primarily because of its abundance of space, excellent weather, and good visibility. While this field was being built in 1941, the Army was busy working on a larger base for $4.5 million, Luke Field (now Luke Air Force Base). This base was named for the first pilot to receive a Medal of Honor, Lt. Frank Luke Jr. Thunderbird Field would later become the
Thunderbird American Graduate School for International Management. The military and college presence, as well as the increase in population (nearly doubling between 1950 and 1960), sparked a need for utilities, parks, schools and streets. Over the next 40 years, the city added a landfill, water treatment plant, sewage plants, libraries, parks, public safety facilities, an airport, a city hall and a civic center. In the 1970s, Glendale practiced strip annexation to claim future territory to annex that another city couldn't claim. Current strip borders are along
Northern Avenue, Peoria Avenue, Perryville Road, and
Camelback Road. Arrowhead Towne Center opened in 1993, and the surrounding neighborhood,
Arrowhead Ranch, made the area a hotspot for housing and shopping. The completion of Loop 101 throughout Glendale opened the city to the rest of the Valley. The completion of
Loop 303 in 2011 also resulted in an increase in industrial development. In 2024, the city called on the Department of Defense to lobby for Arizona Governor
Katie Hobbs to veto bipartisan legislation to increase housing supply in Arizona. Ryan Lee, the city's intergovernmental-programs director, confirmed to
The Atlantic that he was behind the move. State Representative
Analise Ortiz, whose district includes parts of Glendale, criticized the city for going behind legislators' back to lobby against the legislation, "This is not the way we typically go about creating policy." ==Geography==