Editing Peoria, Arizona (section)

===Early growth===
[[File:SD-Peoria Train Depot.jpg|thumb|Peoria Railroad Depot, built in 1895]]

Between 1891 and 1895, a spur line of the [[Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix Railway]] was placed through Peoria, along with Phoenix, Glendale, Alhambra, Hesperla, and Marinette. Peoria's small [[railroad station|depot]] on 83rd Avenue just off Grand Avenue was purchased by the city of [[Scottsdale, Arizona|Scottsdale]] in 1972 and now resides at [[McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park]].

About 1919 the Peoria [[Chamber of Commerce]] formed. It operated as the informal government body until Peoria incorporated in 1954. The Peoria volunteer fire district formed in 1920 and remained all volunteer until the mid-1950s. The three-story Edwards Hotel was built in 1918, followed by the Mabel Hood building in May 1920 at the southwest corner of Washington Street and 83rd Avenue. The John L. Meyer or "flatiron" building was completed in June 1920 and the O.O. Fuel's Paramount Theatre in July 1920. (It served as Fire Station 1 from 1950 until 2004.) The town's first newspaper, ''The Peoria Enterprise'', was printed weekly from November 14, 1917, to April 1921.

Peoria's first [[library]] was held at the women's club in 1920 until it moved to the old Peoria City Hall in 1975 (where the [[Peoria Center for the Performing Arts]] was constructed and currently sits). The library eventually moved to the Peoria Municipal Complex. In May 1959 the Women's Club gave the clubhouse to the City of Peoria.

[[Central School (Peoria, Arizona)|Central School]] was built in 1906. By 1910, three additional classroom buildings were built next to the central school, and in 1918 another school building, containing an auditorium and four classrooms, was opened. In 1918, the attendance for Peoria schools was 190. School District Number Eleven was originally an [[elementary school]] district. Children going on to [[High school (North America)|high school]] had to travel to [[Glendale High School (Glendale, Arizona)|Glendale High School]]. In 1919, the school board approved construction of [[Peoria High School (Arizona)|Peoria High School]].