Salt River (Arizona)

The Salt River Valley is an extensive valley on the Salt River in central Arizona, which contains the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. Although this geographic term still identifies the area, the name "Valley of the Sun" popularly replaced the usage starting in the early 1930s for purposes of boosterism. A common dust for testing air filter efficiency was derived from top soil dust from the Salt River Valley, referred to as Arizona Dust. The dust was found to include small abrasive particles.

Phoenix Raceway is a 1-mile, low-banked tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona, near Phoenix. The motorsport track opened in 1964 and currently hosts two NASCAR race weekends annually including the final championship race since 2020. Phoenix Raceway has also hosted the CART, IndyCar Series, USAC and the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The raceway is currently owned and operated by NASCAR. Phoenix Raceway is home to two annual NASCAR race weekends, one of 13 facilities on the NASCAR schedule to host more than one race weekend a year. It first joined the NASCAR Cup Series schedule in 1988 as a late season event and was given a spring date in 2005. The track has hosted races for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series since its inaugural 1995 season and the NASCAR Xfinity Series since 1999.NASCAR Championship Weekend for the top three series has been held at Phoenix since 2020, the first year since NASCAR inaugurated the weekend that Homestead-Miami Speedway did not host. The track will hold the championship races through at least the 2024 season.

The Gila and Salt River Meridian intersects the initial point on the south side of the Gila River, opposite the mouth of Salt River, at latitude 33° 22′ 37.82733″ north, longitude 112° 18′ 21.99931″ west from Greenwich based on NAD 83, and governs the surveys in the territory of Arizona. The current declination for the initial point is 12° east. It is located on Monument Hill, an easily visible hill just south of the confluence of the Gila and Salt Rivers, in Avondale, Arizona, about 14 miles (23 kilometers) southwest of downtown Phoenix. The original marker was set in 1851 by John R. Bartlett. In 1934, the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey set triangulation station "INITIAL" approximately 15 feet from the initial point. Ty White, Associate Cadastral Engineer for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), re-monumented the initial point on December 1, 1944. On April 24,1962, the monument was re-established by Leonard W. Murphy, based on the Ty White's field notes, because the previous monument had been vandalized. On April 26, 1984, Paul L. Reeves and John P. Bennet re-monumented the original corner. On February 19, 2006, the initial point was again re-monumented due to deterioration of the 1985 plaque. This re-monumentation was performed by staff from the BLM, members of the Arizona Professional Surveyors Society, and students at Phoenix College. The initial point was added to the National Register of Historic Places (listing #02001137) as of October 15, 2002. The plaque for that listing was installed as part of the 2006 re-monumenting. For the 1984/2006 marker, handheld GPS units give a reading of 33° 22.631′ N latitude and 112° 18.366′ W longitude due to the specific geoid used. The angle between the 1984/2006 marker and the 1931 marker is at an azimuth bearing of 292°, aka 68° west of due north. The location is immediately east of Phoenix Raceway (formerly Phoenix International Raceway) and the western side of Monument Hill is terraced for low-priced race viewing.

The Littleton Elementary School District is an elementary school district in Avondale and Tolleson, Arizona. It operates nine elementary schools.

La Joya Community High School (LJ, LJCHS, or LHS) is a community high school located in Avondale, Arizona, US. It serves grades 9 through 12 and is part of the Tolleson Union High School District. Currently 2200 students are enrolled. Their Principal's name is Dr. William Sorenson. Currently the school is teaching students from 9th grade to 12 grade.

The Agua Fria River (Spanish for "cold water") is a 120-mile (190 km) long intermittent stream which flows generally south from 20 miles (32 km) east-northeast of Prescott in the U.S. state of Arizona. Prescott draws much of its municipal water supply from the upper Agua Fria watershed. The Agua Fria runs through the Agua Fria National Monument. The river then flows through a small canyon called "Black Canyon" into Lake Pleasant, a popular recreation area near Peoria, Arizona. (There is a large "Black Canyon" on the Colorado River along the Arizona–Nevada border.) During rainy weather and at times when water is flowing in the intermittent Agua Fria River, it discharges into the Gila River, which also only flows during wet periods of the year. The Central Arizona Water Conservation District of the Central Arizona Project operates the Agua Fria Recharge Project, which is about 4 miles (6.4 km) south of the New Waddell Dam. It serves to recharge underground aquifers in this area, and ends at Lake Pleasant, Phoenix.

Avondale is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, adjacent to Phoenix. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 89,334, up from 76,238 in 2010 and 35,883 in 2000. Avondale, incorporated in 1946, has experienced rapid residential and commercial growth in the years since 1980. Once primarily a sparsely populated farming community with many acres of alfalfa and cotton fields, Avondale has transformed into a major bedroom suburb for Phoenix.

Agua Fria High School is a public high school in Avondale, Arizona, United States. Operated by the Agua Fria Union High School District, it is the first school built in the district and its only school until the establishment of Millennium High School in 1999. Established as Litchfield Park High School, it graduated its first class in 1932. In 1956, the school relocated to Avondale and became Agua Fria Union High School, named for the adjacent Agua Fria River. Agua Fria experienced continuous growth throughout the late 20th century, brought about by economic developments in the West Valley area and the completion of Interstate 10 and Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station in the West Valley. As of 2022, Agua Fria offers 23 varsity sports and various extracurricular activities to its 1,608 students. The school is majority Hispanic and Latino. A one-time Blue Ribbon school, Agua Fria is ranked 4,682nd nationally and 84th in Arizona by U.S. News and World Report.

Estrella High School is a public charter high school in Avondale, Arizona. It is operated by The Leona Group. It is a member of the Canyon Athletic Association.

The Agua Fria Union High School District (AFUHSD) is a high school district serving Goodyear, Buckeye, Avondale, Waddell and Litchfield Park, Arizona. It was founded in 1955. The district has five high schools and operates a non-traditional program to allow students to recover lost credits.

Maricopa Village is a populated place situated in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. It has an estimated elevation of 978 feet (298 m) above sea level.

Maricopa Colony is a census-designated place (CDP) in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, located in the federally recognized Gila River Indian Community. The population was 854 at the 2020 census, up from 709 at the 2010 census. It is located on the southern side of the Phoenix metropolitan area, around Baseline Road and 83rd Avenue.