One of the questions I commonly get when I’m showing homes in Scottsdale is:
Why are all these subdivisions call “Ranch”?
For starters, we have McCormick Ranch, Gainey Ranch, Scottsdale Ranch, McDowell Mountain Ranch, DC Ranch, and more….
… and yes, they were really ranches.
Today, I stumbled across the post, The Stories Behind Scottsdale’s McCormick Ranch, Gainey Ranch …, from the Arizona Oddities blog (which now in my must-read list). Fun stuff for anyone who likes a little bit of history, odd observations, as well as a bit of life and culture from around the state of Arizona.
For example, I learned:
Not all of these spreads were exactly hardscrabble kinds of places. McCormick Ranch in Scottsdale, before it turned into a residential development, was the home of Fowler and Anne McCormick. Fowler McCormick’s two grandfathers were Cyrus McCormick, the inventor of the grain reaper, and John D. Rockefeller, so he wasn’t exactly hurting for cash. He later became president and chairman of the board of International Harvester.
To get the rest of the McCormick Ranch story and learn the history of Gainey Ranch, wander over to Arizona Oddities.
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Thanks Dru,
It’s a great little slice of history!