Palm Valley is a neighborly community. It's a thriving area where you'll get more than a home, you'll find the lifestyle you've been searching for. There's no generation gap here. You'll get a hometown environment that welcomes people of all ages because everyone is an important participant in the community.

Palm Valley is a place where you can enjoy both the benefits of a well built home and the amenities of a well-designed, master planned community. There's championship golf, award winning schools, convenient shopping, a medical center, restaurants, entertainment and more. All the amenities you would expect from a SunCor master planned community are here. And yet, Palm Valley is only a short drive from downtown Phoenix. So you're never far from work or play, the symphony, theater and major sporting events.

Whether you want to cheer for your Little League team or complete your four year Degree at Estrella Mountain Community College through its affiliation with Northern Arizona University, the choice is yours. Want a day of world class golf at the fabulous Mobil 5 Star Wigwam Resort or Palm Valley Golf Club, or Shopping at the Wigwam Outlet Stores. How about superstar stage shows at Blockbuster Desert Sky Pavilion. They're all only minutes away.

Information center and model homes are open daily. The wide range of home styles and pricing makes it possible for you to settle into a community where you'll be happy from the day you move in. See for yourself. You too can get the sprit of a real community. It happens every day at Palm Valley.

Why Are There Palm Trees in the Desert?

It all started in 1915, when Paul Litchfield developed a revolutionary new automobile tire. Mr. Litchfield, who would later become president of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, replaced the solid rubber tires with one whose air-filled rubber exterior was bonded to a skeleton of long staple cotton.

At the time, the rare cotton fiber needed for his new design was harvested in only two places worldwide, the sea islands off the coast of Georgia and the Nile Valley of Egypt. Insect infestations and the outbreak of World War 1 made the fiber nearly inaccessible. The fate of Litchfield's new pneumatic tire and an entire industry hung in the balance. He needed a new source for the cotton. When an agricultural survey revealed an area in south central Arizona that could accommodate the crop, Litchfield purchased some 16,000 acres along the Agua Fria River. Although many considered the area a hopelessly barren desert, men, mules and machines were rushed in to break ground for an attempt to raise cotton in the arid land west of Phoenix. Here, the temperamental cotton thrived. By 1921, the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company had leased and purchased another 22,000 areas for cotton production. And the success of the Goodyear Farms operation spurred the emergence and growth of the West Valley.

Steady growth in Litchfield Park put accommodations and housing at a premium for visiting Goodyear officials. And so, the "Organization House" was built in 1919 and opened to the public as the Wigwam Resort with only 13 guest rooms in 1929. Today's Wigwam Resort is an elite Mobil Five Star rated, 450-room destination resort providing unmatched levels of hospitality and comfort. The original Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company land holdings were sold and eventually ended up in the capable hands of SunCor Development Company, which in turn, has designed and created the new master planned community of Palm Valley. Oh yes.. and why are there palm trees in the desert? It seems that some of Paul Litchfield's guests were getting lost while traveling the dirt roads between the railroad station and Litchfield Park. To help guide them on their way, he planted palm trees on both sides of the road from the train station to the Wigwam Resort. And from there, palm trees were planted all the way to his home. Palm Valley.