Old photos
I have been doing work for some new buildings that are going to be built along the Tempe lakefront. Arguably one of the most interesting things I do at work is look at old aerial photographs. Usually I look for old tanks, or old buildings; something that would cause concern, and possibly a need for further investigation.
Today, while looking at old photographs of Tempe, I was reminded that everything changes. Even things we expect to remain unchanged for thousands of years change quite rapidly. Take, for example, the Salt River, it doesn’t change much, at least I haven’t ever seen any change. We fail to remember that the entire length of the river from Roosevelt lake all the way to the Gila River has been channelized, and prevented from changing. In 1923 the Salt River had a double oxbow that started at Miller Road where it turned sharply north all the way to Curry Road. At Scottsdale Road it turned sharply south, so that it not only crossed Scottsdale Road and Curry but also Scottsdale/Rural Road and Rio Salado Parkway. Actually ASU’s Lot 59 (both sides of Rio Salado Parkway), the baseball fields, and up to where the football stadium now sits, were all in the middle of the Salt River. The river turned west just past the Butte. At some point in the not so distant past the river traveled on the south side of Tempe Butte (A-Mountain). In the ‘geologic’ time, not too far back it could have gone much further south, probably as far south as Broadway or Southern.
I was reminded today that according to ‘geologic’ time things change in the blink of an eye. By 1949 both oxbows had been bypassed, and by 1959 they had nearly disappeared. If you are ever bored, or need a new website to surf, check out the Maricopa County Flood Control District’s website, especially their maps.
I promise you will be amazed, not only at how fast the valley has grown, but also at how fast natural processes really do take place.
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