Editing Surprise, Arizona (section)

==History==
The city was founded in 1938 by Flora Mae Statler. Statler was the daughter of another Arizona pioneer, Charles Gillett who helped found [[Glendale, Arizona|Glendale]], specifically as a temperance community. Gillett owned much land in Glendale as well as the [[Verde Valley]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 23, 2005 |title=National Register of Historic Places Registration Form |url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/2899cdd8-2702-40aa-97ae-8dd345a317ab |access-date=April 20, 2024 |website=Nps.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Gillett |first=Charles E. |title=Pioneering |publisher=Brethren Publishing House |year=1929 |location=Elgin, Illinois}}</ref> Surprise officials previously thought the city was founded by Statler's husband, real estate developer and state legislator Homer C. Ludden, but in 2010 property records were discovered which listed Statler owning the land before she met Ludden.<ref>{{cite web |title=Historians: Flora Mae Statler, not husband, founded Surprise |url=http://www.azcentral.com/community/surprise/articles/2010/08/27/20100827surprise-flora-mae-statler-founder.html |author=Gardiner, Dustin |work=[[The Arizona Republic]] |date=August 28, 2010 |access-date=October 5, 2010}}</ref> Modern records often state that Statler named her land Surprise as she "would be surprised if the town ever amounted to much,” with her daughter backing this claim.<ref>{{cite web |title=About Surprise |url=http://www.surpriseaz.gov/index.aspx?NID=1900 |access-date=October 5, 2010 |work=SurpriseAZ.Gov}}</ref> This claim is contested, however, since it was common for pioneers to name their settlements after their hometowns and Ludden hailed from [[Surprise, Nebraska]], possibly influencing the name of the town.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cohen |first=Paul Hubbs |date=April 30, 2005 |title=Surprise — How town was named |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/116932078/ |access-date=April 20, 2024 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref>

When Surprise was subdivided to build inexpensive houses for agricultural workers, there were only a few houses and a gas station on the {{convert|1|sqmi}} parcel of land. Since then, the town has experienced tremendous growth.<ref>[http://www.surpriseaz.com/index.asp?NID=2 Official Website – Surprise, Arizona<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040814231820/http://www.surpriseaz.com/index.asp?NID=2 |date=August 14, 2004 }}</ref> It incorporated as a city in 1960. The original townsite is bounded by Greenway Road on the south, El Mirage Road on the east, Bell Road on the north, and Dysart Road on the west.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web |url=https://www.tripsavvy.com/deciding-where-to-live-phoenix-2677611 |title=Moving to Phoenix: Where Should You Live? |website=TripSavvy}}</ref>

Surprise's City Hall is located on the site of [[Luke Air Force Base]]'s former auxiliary airfield No. 3.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Map of Phoenix, AZ in 1954 {{!}} Pastmaps |url=https://pastmaps.com/map/phoenix-maricopa-county-az-usgs-topo-1954-p1964 |access-date=September 30, 2023 |website=pastmaps.com |language=en}}</ref> The outline of the former runways can still be seen from aerial photos today.<ref name="About City Hall">[https://www.surpriseaz.gov/2338/Visit-City-Hall]></ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Cranmer |first=Hal |date=November 5, 2019 |title=The History of Surprise AZ |url=https://aparadiseforparents.com/history-of-surprise/ |access-date=September 23, 2023 |website=A Paradise for Parents |language=en-US}}</ref>

Thousands of [[Retirement|retirees]] moved to the city in the 1990s and early 2000s to live in Sun City Grand, an age-restricted resort-like community with homes built by the property development firm [[Del Webb]]. Surprise is about {{convert|5|mi|0}} northwest of Del Webb's original [[Sun City, Arizona|Sun City]] development and adjacent to [[Sun City West, Arizona|Sun City West]].