Old Town Scottsdale

Scottsdale is named for Winfield Scott, a U.S. Army chaplain who arrived in 1888 with his wife Helen and his brother George Washington Scott, buying 640 acres in the Salt River Valley. The brothers farmed and planted citrus. Cotton became the town's main cash crop in the World War I era, and a cotton gin opened on Second Street in 1920. The Scottsdale Grammar School, the Little Red Schoolhouse, was dedicated on February 26, 1910 per the city's timeline (some guides say 1909), and it is now on the National Register of Historic Places and houses the Scottsdale Historical Museum.

Art arrived early: the city credits Marjorie Thomas, who came from Boston in 1909, and later Jessie Benton Evans with forming the core of an art colony that helped define the town's identity. Scottsdale was incorporated as a town on June 25, 1951, with a population of 2,032, and voters approved a city charter in 1961. The city's public-art program began in 1968, and the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts opened in 1975.

The Old Adobe Mission, built in 1933 and associated with Our Lady of Perpetual Help, is one of the few adobe structures remaining downtown and was added to the National Register in 2018. Cavalliere's Blacksmith Shop, built in 1920, is still run by the family and makes ornamental iron. The Rusty Spur Saloon occupies a building that housed the Farmers State Bank of Scottsdale from 1921 to 1933; guides note that the original vault survives. Together with the schoolhouse, these give the district more genuine early character than its modern shopfronts might suggest.

The Scottsdale Arts District is the district's creative heart, with fine-art galleries, studios and wine-tasting rooms, and a long-running Thursday evening ArtWalk. Western Spirit: Scottsdale's Museum of the West, a Smithsonian affiliate focused on the history and art of the American West, opened in January 2015. The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) and the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts are close by around the Civic Center. Main Street is known for Western and Native American art and crafts, while Fifth Avenue and the surrounding blocks lean toward boutiques, jewelry, and restaurants. Evenings bring a busy dining and nightlife scene, so the mood changes noticeably between a quiet morning and a lively night.

• Old Town is flat and best explored on foot, with shaded patios and covered walkways offering relief in summer.
• Summer afternoons are very hot, so mornings or evenings are more comfortable; shop and gallery hours vary, and the museums keep their own schedules, so check each venue before planning.
• A Voyzo private tour can include Old Town as an unhurried stop: a private vehicle and driver provide door-to-door pickup and drop you near the Arts District, so there is no hunting for parking in a busy district.

Camelback Mountain and the Phoenix Desert Botanical Garden are a short drive away, as are Scottsdale's Sonoran Preserve trailheads, making Old Town an easy anchor for a half-day city itinerary.