The West's Most Western Town

Photo by Lisa E White

Shortly after World War II, Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce adopted Malcolm White's slogan of "The West's Most Western Town" to lure tourists.  A few years later, in 1951, Scottsdale was incorporated as a city, and in 1952 Monte Flagg designed this cowboy sign on Masonite at the corner of Main Street and Scottsdale Road.  This is a favorite place to grab a group photograph in Old Town, though I had to stand in the middle of Main Street to take this shot.  Our icon has gone through a few facelifts over the years, not unusual in Scottsdale.  At one time there were about 15 replicas of the cowboy on roads leading into Scottsdale.  In the 1950's, downtown merchants willingly redesigned their storefronts to fit the western theme with western board and batten siding, hitching posts for the horses, and shake roof overhangs which provided nice shade.  In 1951, Scottsdale had 2,037 inhabitants on about one square acre of land.  Now, Scottsdale has 226,000 residents on about 184 square miles of land.  And the tourists still come to experience the West's Most Western Town.