February is History Month
By Marshall Trimble, Arizona State Historian
Arizona became the forty-eighth state on February 14, 1912. The bill that created the new state was ready to sign on the 12th, but because that was George Washington’s birthday, it was postponed until the following day. However, the 13th was considered unlucky. So Arizona became a state on Valentine’s Day, and thus became the Valentine State, Grand Canyon State, and for many years the Baby State, all rolled into one. As you can see, February was always an interesting month for Arizonans:
On February 14, 1862, Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America, proclaimed Arizona a territory. A year later, on February 24, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the congressional bill creating the Territory of Arizona.
Maricopa County was created in a legislative bill signed by Territorial Governor Anson P. K. Safford on February 14, 1871. Phoenix became the temporary county seat.
The town site of Phoenix, consisting of 380 acres, was officially filed in the United States Land Office on February 13, 1872. On that same day, George Buck and Matilda Murray became the first American couple to marry in Phoenix.
The city of Tucson was incorporated by legislative enactment on February 7, 1877.
The future Arizona State University, then called the Territorial Normal School, opened its doors for classes with thirty-three students on February 8, 1886. On the opening day, people discovered that construction workers had forgotten to build any toilet facilities at the institution!
On February 28, 1895 the Santa Fe, Prescott, and Phoenix Railroad reached Phoenix, linking the capital city with the northern Arizona mainline railroad at Ash Fork in northern Arizona.
February 24, 1901 brought the dedication of the new Capitol building by Governor Nathan Oakes Murphy.
The Salt River Water Users Association, later the Salt River Project, was organized under state laws on February 4, 1903.
The Carnegie Public Library was dedicated on February 14, 1908.
On February 1, 1936 the gates at Hoover Dam were closed and Lake Mead began to fill.