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About Estrella
Located 25 miles from downtown Phoenix, Estrella provides a lakeside mountain oasis nestled in the Sierra Estrella Mountains in the Sonoran Desert Valley. The community offers more than 500 acres of parks and open space including:
Estrella is home to a Nicklaus-designed championship golf course.
THE HISTORY OF ESTRELLA
500-1450
The Hohokam Native Americans are the first recorded inhabitants of what is now Estrella. These people were considered experts in desert agriculture and utilizing the Gila River. They developed an impressive irrigation network of canals for farming. After 1450, they disappeared from the land without a trace before the first European settlers arrived.
1858
The famed Butterfield Stage Line was established. The Line was a stage coach route that delivered mail from Missouri to Southern California and passed south of Estrella. The legendary stage line served as a basis for Wells Fargo and American Express.
1861
William Robert Beloat was born. He is one of the founding residents of the land Estrella was built on. Beloat, with his uncle John Wright, mowed wild hay and wrangled over 50 head of cattle on the family ranch, a 100,000-acre site, partially located on what is now Estrella, near the newly surveyed Buckeye Canal. Today, the Beloat family legacy lives on as his descendants thrive at Estrella.
1917
With the beginning of WWI, there was a high demand for cotton to use in making rubber. When it was discovered that the Arizona climate and soil could sustain cotton, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company executive Paul Litchfield was sent to purchase 16,000 acres in the Phoenix southwest valley, which included portions of what now is City of Goodyear and Litchfield Park.
1946
After the revitalization of the area, the Town of Goodyear was incorporated on November 19, 1946. At that time it consisted of 151 homes, 250 apartments, a grocery store, drug store, barber shop, beauty shop, and service station.
1954
The 828-acre Estrella Mountain Park was established near the confluence of the Gila and Agua Fria rivers immediately east of present day Estrella. Estrella Mountain Park remains a pristine desert that includes the Sierra Estrella Mountain Range and over the years has grown to 19,840 acres.
1984
The Estrella property, a Federal land preserve, was released to private ownership by the government. The land exchange was in partial settlement of an unrelated Hopi-Navajo land dispute in Northern Arizona.
1985
Visionary Charles Keating of the American Continental Corporation, recognized the inherent value of the Estrella property and seized the opportunity to purchase the land to create a unique, comprehensive master-planned community.
1986
Development began on two Estrella freshwater lakes totaling almost 72 acres surrounded by the Community Park and trails. The lakes include sand beaches, non-motorized boating launches and fishing.
1988
In early June, Estrella celebrated its grand opening. Visitors flocked to the three-day event which included lakeside activities and a concert by the Phoenix Symphony, the first of many concert events to be performed at Estrella. That September, Estrella opened its first Kindergarten through 8th grade school, Estrella Mountain Elementary.
2005
In May, nationally acclaimed planned community developer Newland Communities purchased Estrella and began master planning additional communities to be built over several decades on 20,000 acres.
2018
As of February of 2018, Estrella has grown to inhabit 5,315 homes with an estimated population of 20,000. When fully developed, Estrella is projected to feature more than 50,000 homes. Residents continue to enjoy outstanding amenities and services that appeal to a highly diverse and growing number of residents that call the Sonoran Desert Valley home.
2019
Embracing the beauty of hillside living, Lucero, the newest village in Estrella and the first in more than a decade, is developed. Casa Lucero is a village hub, hangout, and home to the new Information Center for Estrella. Also located here is Copper State Bike & Hike, operated by Trek Bicycle Store West Phoenix, which offers bike rentals, sales, and repairs and Café Bebida, which serves cold brew, espresso drinks, coffee, and tea, as well as pastries, gelato and sandwiches.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
To learn more about the Estrella community, please visit the Estrella website.
