In February 1888, Chaplain Winfield Scott, was invited to become a Promoter of the Salt River Valley by Phoenix civic leaders. The population of Phoenix was about 3,000 residents, with about 2,000 winter visitors. In July 1888, Scott bought a section of land, now bounded by Scottsdale, Chaparral, Hayden, and Indian School Roads, founding the city that bears his name. The earliest group to form in
the area were the Arizona Craftsmen, creative people who started gathering in the 1920s, and becoming the Valley's creative epicenter. The Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce was formed in 1947, and they contrived the advertising campaign, "The West's Most Western Town," turning the area into a tourist attraction with Hollywood-style western façades and merchants dressed in cowboy garb. The City of Scottsdale incorporated in 1951, with a population of about 1,200 people and an area of about a square mile. Scottsdale is now 184 square miles and has a population of 227,000 people. Its Mayor was born the same year that the Town of Scottsdale was incorporated. The City of Scottsdale was incorporated in 1962. Downtown Scottsdale is slowly moving beyond its built and contrived Districts, and "Old Town" tourist attraction status, and slowly returning back to its roots as an urban and creative community.
