- mesa
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/may"seuh/, n.a land formation, less extensive than a plateau, having steep walls and a relatively flat top and common in arid and semiarid parts of the southwestern U.S. and Mexico.
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It was settled in 1878 by Mormons who used ancient Hohokam Indian canals for irrigation (see Hohokam culture); it was incorporated as a town in 1883 and as a city in 1930. A Salt River reclamation project enabled the community to grow fruit and raise other crops. The city grew rapidly through industrialization after World War II. It is the site of Mesa Community College and Mesa Southwest Museum.* * *
city, Maricopa county, south-central Arizona, U.S. The name is Spanish for “tabletop” or “tableland.” A southeastern suburb of Phoenix, the site was settled and founded in 1878 by Mormons who used ancient Hohokam (Hohokam culture) canals for irrigation. Laid out on a grid plan with 130-foot- (40-metre-) wide streets, the community became the focus of an agricultural and fruit-growing region, developed from a Salt River reclamation project. It experienced rapid growth after World War II; and its basic farm economy diversified to include manufacturing, tourism, and retail trade. It is the site of a Mormon Temple (1927), Mesa Community College (1965), and the University of Arizona's Agricultural Experimental Station. Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community is across the river to the north. The Chicago Cubs have their spring training camp there. In 2007 commercial air service began at the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport (previously known as the Williams Gateway Airport)—on the site of the former Williams Air Force Base—providing the Phoenix area with its second commercial airport. Inc. town, 1883; city, 1930. Pop. (2000) 396,375; (2006 est.) 447,541.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
