Surprise history, landmarks and local traditions

Surprise looks young, and much of it is: most of its homes and shopping centers went up in the past few decades. But the city has an older story, and a surprising amount of it can still be found on the ground, in a square mile of farm-town streets, a park given by the founder's family and a few traditions that have outlasted the cotton fields.

Before the town

The city's own history project starts long before any subdivision, with the prehistoric Hohokam, the earliest people it counts among Surprise's residents. Much later the land became farm country. In Surprise's early decades, cotton was king, and the community was tied to the rest of Arizona by Grand Avenue and the railroad that ran beside it.

In 1938 Flora Mae Statler bought one square mile of that farmland, platted it and began selling lots in a development she called "Surprize." Her daughter, Elizabeth, later recalled her mother saying she would be surprised if the town ever amounted to much. After Statler died in 1953, Elizabeth took over the business of developing and selling lots on both sides of Grand Avenue. The little town incorporated in 1960, and that same year it organized an all-volunteer fire department. Bill Williams served as the town's first mayor, and Williams Market on the Grand Avenue frontage road was where residents bought groceries and, for decades, cast their votes.

Much of early Surprise was built by families who worked the fields. Fidel and Ruth Leon ran a cotton contracting business that employed most of the town's residents of the day, and Ruth cooked lunches for the field crews from a lunch wagon. Julian and Maria Rosales raised 12 children while working as migrant farm laborers, and Maria sewed the children's costumes for the Founder's Day parades.

Landmarks you can visit

The Original Town Site. Statler's square mile still exists, bounded by Bell, Greenway, El Mirage and Dysart roads. Since 2016 it has been protected as the Surprise Heritage District, where new buildings follow early Valley styles and new homes come with front porches. It is the setting for the Surprise Women's Heritage Trail, dedicated in April 2013, a self-guided route through the neighborhood's north and south sides. Stops include the former First Baptist Church on Market Street, which hosted town council meetings in the early years, and Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church on Jerry Street, founded in the early 1950s as a social and cultural center for the town's African American community. Some buildings on the trail are gone, but the markers and map tell their stories.

Bicentennial Park. In 1975 Elizabeth Statler Wusich and her husband Nick donated the land for Bicentennial Park on Nash Street. Half a century later it is still the town's gathering place, and the setting for Founder's Day.

The history wall at City Hall. For Surprise's 60th anniversary in 2020, the city built a history wall at City Hall, 16000 N. Civic Center Plaza. The city historian gathered photos from the founding families, and the display includes old street signs and a stained glass window from the original town hall. It can be seen during business hours.

Surprise Stadium. The Cactus League chapter began under Joan Shafer, the city's first woman mayor, whose 12 years in office brought the Surprise Recreation Campus, Spring Training and more than 70,000 new residents. The stadium's entry art carries the older story too: Bounce, at the first base gate, has overhead panels cut in a cotton pattern in tribute to the town's farming roots. The 2027 season, which opens in February, is the stadium's 25th.

Traditions that carry the story

Founder's Day is the oldest thread. The heritage trail recalls town clerk Lovena Luttrell, who served from the late 1960s until 1988, organizing Founder's Days events, carnivals and rodeos. Today the city and the Surprise Original Town Site Stakeholder Committee keep it going with an evening of live music, local performers, food, dancing and classic cars at Bicentennial Park, honoring the founding families and current residents. The next one is Saturday, April 3, 2027.

Fiesta Grande celebrates the heritage and community roots that shaped Surprise with mariachi, ballet folklórico, lucha libre and piñatas, a tradition that echoes residents like Alejandra Lopez, who made costumes and piñatas for the town's festivals and started folklórico and matachines dance groups. This year's edition, set for October 10, 2026, was canceled because of the weather. And each Veterans Day, November 11, the annual parade heads up Bullard Avenue between Paradise and Tierra Buena lanes.

After the parade or a heritage walk, the city's Sonoran-Mexican cooking is part of the story too. Rio Mirage Cafe on Bell Road describes its recipes as Sonoran-style, handed down for generations, and Master Taco on Grand Avenue, the old road that tied Surprise to the world, serves machaca and eggs and other dishes from family recipes.

Where to learn more

For the full story, the city published The City of Surprise: A History in Progress for its 50th anniversary in December 2010, a 104-page book with an accompanying documentary, available through the City Clerk's office; the documentary can also be watched on the city's SurpriseTV site. Heritage trail maps are available in the City Hall lobby and at the City Clerk's office, or as a printable download. And the city's new community center at 12641 W. Santa Fe Drive, home to Hollyhock Library, stands in the heart of the Original Town Site, on the same street where the town hall moved in the early 1970s.