Centennial Timeline
Timeline Color Key | Trinity Cathedral (Blue) | City of Phoenix, AZ (Brown)
Before 1900 | 1900-20 | 1920-40 | 1940-60 | 1960-80 | 1980-00 | 2000-20 | 2020-40 & Beyond
1920-40
1920
To get the generations, especially the young, young adults, with older adults.
1920
Become a center of truth and reconciliation inspired by conversing not only with those we know, but also with those we do not know. Building the Beloved Community.
1920
Saturday evening services 5-6 pm
1920
More shade in courtyard; more services in courtyard
1920
Je suis une américaine mais ma langue n’est pas “espagnole”
1920
I would like Trinity to support Episcopalians from outside of English only counties without questioning their faith or ability to read.
1920
Open a low cost daycare; provide shelter to the homeless when the temperature is over 100 or below freezing
1920
More young people. How? By being as vocal as possible outside of Sunday about how we follow the path of Jesus – being inclusive, caring for the poor, standing up to oppression. These are messages young people respond to
1920
Our congregation hopefully will have a much more robust K-12 audience, with plenty of weekday/evening programs to make new friends.
1920
Mental health partnerships addressing all age groups.
1920
Create a ministry with a strong focus on reducing plastics use, going green to the fullest extent.
1920
The Heard Building, the first skyscraper in Phoenix, is constructed.
1920
Phoenix Union High School has 2000 students
1920
The entirety of the original Phoenix town site is now completely paved.
1920, January
The Cathedral’s foundation work begins.
Photo: Cathedral foundation under construction in early 1920.
1920
A precipitous drop in the price of cotton creates a financial crisis in the valley that lasted some three years.
1920, May 20
The Cathedral’s walls are completed.
Photo: Trinity Cathedral under construction.
1920
The construction of Kenilworth School spurs development in and around the Roosevelt neighborhood.
1920
Phoenix has over 11,000 registered vehicles.
1920 December
The thick, solid brick walls of the Cathedral are covered and finished with white tufa stone quarried from the Salt River.
Photo: Overlay of Tufa Stone 1920
1920 Christmas Day, December 25
The first service is held in the newly completed Cathedral.
Photo: December 25th, 1920 parishioners enter the Cathedral for Christmas day services.
1921
Temple Beth Israel, the valley’s first synagogue, opens.
1921
“Rich, Resolute, Ready, Phoenix, Salt River Valley” becomes the official tourism slogan of Phoenix.
1921, April
Trinity Cathedral is consecrated by Bishop Atwood. He later reports to the District Convocation that the building of the Bishop’s House, The Cathedral House (now Olney Gallery), and the Cathedral including all furnishings, organ and bells had cost an estimated $230,000.
Photo: Interior of Cathedral.
1921, April
On Palm Sunday, Dean Scarlett presents the largest Confirmation Class in Trinity’s history for the Bishop to confirm: 61 in all. On Easter Sunday Dean Scarlett resigns to accept the job of Dean in another cathedral.
1922
Water from the Verde River becomes available through a 30-mile-long wooden pipeline to Phoenix.
1922
KFAD (later renamed KTAR) and KOY (later known as KFCB before returning to KOY and most recently 93.7 El Patrón) became the city’s first commercial radio stations. A young Barry Goldwater would be one of KFCB’s first employees.
1922-1926
Herbert L. Johnson becomes the second Dean of Trinity Cathedral. He brought a successful background in Christian Education as his primary strength. The Sunday school reorganized and grew to more than 600 students under his leadership.
Photo: Dean Herbert L. Johnson, 1922-1926.
1922
Dean Johnson establishes a chapter of the “Order of the Knights of Sir Galahad”, an organization for teenaged men designed to support their growth into Christian adulthood.
1923
Union (railroad) Station in Phoenix opens.
1923
Deaconess Hospital (initially established by Methodist deaconess Lulu Clifton in a downtown Phoenix apartment building) opens on a square block of donated land along McDowell Avenue. It came to be known as Good Samaritan Hospital, and today is known as Banner-University Medical Center.
1924
The Luhrs Building, which at the time was the tallest building in Phoenix, is constructed.
1924
The City of Phoenix’ South Mountain Park (originally named Phoenix Mountain Park) is created.
1925
Twelve subdivisions are annexed by Phoenix.
1925
The private electric streetcar system is purchased by the City of Phoenix for $20,000.
1925
The first municipal airport opens, near Christy Road and 59th Avenue.
1925
The city implements a zoning program.
1925
Trinity Cathedral facilitates the establishment of the Mission of St. Andrew, west of the State Capitol, in part, to address the rapid growth of the Cathedral congregation.
1925
An additional 100 feet of frontage on Roosevelt Street is purchased to house the future Deanery.
1926
Dean Johnson resigns to become dean in another cathedral; is replaced by Rev. Edwin Seldon Lane, 1926-1945, Third Dean of Trinity Cathedral.
Photo: Dean Edwin Seldon Lane, 1926-1945
1926
The segregated Phoenix Union Colored High School opens.
1926
The “Phoenix Main Line” of the Southern Pacific from Picacho to Wellton is completed. Southern Pacific’s transcontinental passenger trains are re-routed through Phoenix over the new line in 1927.
1926-1945
Walter Mitchell appointed by the General Convention of the Episcopal Church to be the Second Bishop of the Missionary Jurisdiction of Arizona to replace the retiring Bishop Atwood.
1927-1929
The South Canal and parts of the Eastern and Consolidated canals were the first canals in Arizona (and among the first in the nation) lined with concrete.
1927
Phoenix voters approve a $750,000 bond issue to improve the streetcar system.
1927
The Trinity Cathedral Church School reports an enrollment of over 600 pupils. The Rev. Eason Cross of Bisbee becomes Canon for Religious Education and special assistant to Dean Lane.
1928
The Deanery is completed with generous donations from Mr. & Mrs. Chauncy McKellips and an anonymous donor.
1928
The Hotel San Carlos and Westward Ho Hotel open.
1928
Phoenix completes 2 years of annexation, absorbing 74 subdivisions.
1928
Construction of Sky Harbor Airport begins.
1928
The first paved road connecting Phoenix with Los Angeles, via Blythe, is completed.
1928
The city creates a zoning and planning commission.
1929 February 23
The Arizona Biltmore Hotel opens.
1929 February 23
Scheduled airline service from Los Angeles to Phoenix begins.
1929 September 2
Sky Harbor Airport opens.
1929
The Heard Museum opens.
1929
The Tempe Normal School is renamed Arizona State Teachers College.
1929
The Orpheum Theatre and First Baptist Church are built.
1929
A city archaeologist position is established.
1929
Phoenix has over 53,000 registered cars.
1930-1945
Congregational growth was very slow during the Great Depression era.
1930
Funds were raised, and ground broken for the construction of Bishop Atwood House to complete the Cathedral Close. Mr. V. C. Wallingford, representing the original architectural firm, supplies the blueprints gratis. Dean Lane officiates at the laying of the cornerstone for Bishop Atwood House. Two additional clergy observe.
Photo: Laying of cornerstone for Bishop Atwood House by Mr. Wallingford and Mr. Harvey, representatives of the architectural firm that donated the blueprints for the new building. Dean Lane and two additional clergy observe.
1930s
The second floor of Bishop Atwood House is converted to a skating rink for all neighborhood youth.
1930-1945
The stock market crash slowed economic growth in Phoenix.
1932
The inaugural Phoenix Open golf tournament is held.
1933
Pueblo Grande Museum Archaeological Park opens.
1934
The term, “Valley of the Sun” is invented by a local advertising agency.
1934
Encanto Park opens in central Phoenix.
1930s
The Cathedral has been blessed with decades of strong leadership in music. Following a tradition that began in 1920, Arthur Smith as organist and choirmaster was supported by a powerful Skinner organ. His choirs of men and women are noted for the reverence they give to the worship service every time they sing.
Photo top: Trinity’s first children’s choir, 1920.
Photo bottom: Trinity’s Junior Choir, 1937
1936
The Federal government becomes the largest employer in Phoenix.
1936
The U.S. Post Office Federal Building in Phoenix is built at Central and Filmore.
1937
The Federal Art Center, which will later become the Phoenix Art Museum, is established.
1937
The Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District is created.
1939
The Desert Botanical Garden opens.
1939
North High School opens.