How Queen Creek Got It's Name

My Mother-in-law from Ohio had asked me a few times if I knew how Queen Creek got it's name. Now I know.

I was perusing the internet and found a nice article that someone had written about the Chandler area. Click here to read article . This site spoke about silver mining around Globe and Superior. Click on the link for the full article. Here is a quote from that link.

"Silver fever sent prospectors out to search for more, and in 1880 an outcropping was found near Superior. Because the ore found there was nearly as good in quality as that of the Silver King Mine, the new mine was dubbed the Silver Queen Mine. "

"Just at the base of the Silver Queen Mine was a creek. Nearby is an oddly shaped mountain which resembles a picket post, so the creek came to be known as Picket Post Creek. With the opening of the new Silver Queen Mine, the creek’s name was changed and has since been known as Queen Creek."

The creek runs through our town today. For most of the year it is a dry wash.

From the book "Around San Tan Mountain" I found that the actual town of Queen Creek was called originally called Rittenhouse. A petition requesting a name change from Rittenhouse to Queen Creek circulated in 1947.

I picked this book up at Barnes and Noble. It is from the "Images of America" series. It is titled "Around San Tan Mountain" by David Salge. If you are interested in the area and how it came to be this is a very nice historical book with lots of photos from the early settlement near the San Tans.

This book has made me more curious about the area. It also has made me even more aware about how fast our community is changing compared to 100 or even 50 years ago.