As automobiles grew more popular in the 1920s, Arizona suddenly had to invest a lot into building the infrastructure that would allow them to get around. From bridges to tunnels to actual highways, let’s look at some of the first projects to cater to the car-loving crowd.

Let’s take a trip down some dusty history by examining how Arizona went from a territory of wagon trails to a state of highways. Hint - it involves a lot of hand-wringing over how to pay for everything.

To celebrate 200 episodes of getting together to talk all things Arizona history, here’s a jumbo-sized episode where I take your suggestions for what we should cover!

With tourism exploding across Arizona in the 1920s, the state had to make sure its new visitors had some very nice places to stay … even if those places ostensibly raised cattle.

It's a bad news/good news situation

As tourism exploded across Arizona in the 1920s, everyone was suddenly interested in Amerindian culture, much to the benefit and detriment of the state’s native population.

The Grand Canyon might be Arizona’s greatest asset for tourism. But between 1900 and 1926, one man tried every legal and extralegal means he could to control access to this wonder of the world.

With no cure for their respiratory ailments, people flocked to dry, warm places like Arizona in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Some did find the healing they sought, but many more found only poverty, prejudice, and an early grave.

By the end of the 1920s, there were plenty of new, exciting ways to get to Phoenix. But depending on if a person new to the city was a minority or not, their experience living in Arizona’s capital could vary greatly.

Phoenix saw phenomenal growth during the 1920s, with new homes and new neighborhoods rapidly expanding outward. Phoenicians also wanted to make sure that no one would mistake their tree-lined city for something as base as a desert.