1971 Map of Paradise Valley

About this map

Paradise Valley is documented here during a period of significant suburban expansion into the desert landscape of Central Arizona. This orthophotomosaic, derived from 1971 aerial photography, provides a rare visual of the transition between the rising city centers and the surrounding terrain. The residential grid is seen pressing against the base of Mummy Mountain and Camelback Mountain, highlighting the unique intersection of early master-planned communities and the natural topography. The map details the emerging urban footprints of Scottsdale and the eastern edges of Phoenix, where agricultural lands and open desert were rapidly transforming into the modern Valley of the Sun. For local historians and genealogists, this view serves as a precise record of neighborhood development and land use before the density of later decades obscured the original desert floor.