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D−History
History · Surprise

Surprise dates to 1937

More historic than 2% of U.S. towns · #125 of 140 in Arizona. What drives it

Most of Surprise was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2005. Below: maps from 1957 on and the census since 1970.

1937founded
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Gage Skidmore · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Surprise began

When was Surprise founded?

1937

Surprise dates its founding to 1937 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1970.

First census: 2,427 in 19702020 census: 143,14889 years

How historic is Surprise?

D−

More historic than 2% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1892.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Surprise’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Surprise is more historic than 2% of U.S. towns, #125 of 140 in Arizona. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

D−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Surprise’s overall grade.
Founding era1937, from Wikidata: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19400.0% of homes (±0.0) · typical AZ town 0.4% · U.S. 8.4%D−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical AZ town 0.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 2%
NewerOlder
Arizona towns of 2,500+ (140)Ahead of 11%

Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Surprise ranks #387 on History.

Few Arizona towns list much on the Register (a typical Arizona town has 0.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Surprise’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (29% of Arizona towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

Newer cities are common at Surprise’s size: in the typical U.S. city of 100,000 or more, 5% of homes predate 1940.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to D. The pre-1940 share (±0.0 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1937.

Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Surprise’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Surprise are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Surprise, and 3 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Surprise’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Surprise’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Another post office, Calderwood, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
BeardsleyRose Garden Mobile Home ResortWaddell
Gone or out of use
Harts Fieldairport

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Surprise came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Surprise.

Read it all →

The city was founded in 1938 by Flora Mae Statler, who was the daughter of another Arizona pioneer, Charles Gillett, who helped found Glendale, specifically as a temperance community. Gillett owned much land in Glendale, as well as the Verde Valley. Surprise officials previously thought the city was founded by Statler's husband, real estate developer and state legislator Homer C. Ludden, but in 2010, property records were discovered that listed Statler as owning the land before she met Ludden. Modern records often state that Statler named her land Surprise as she "would be surprised if the town ever amounted to much," with her daughter backing this claim. This claim is contested, however, since pioneers commonly named their settlements after their hometowns and Ludden hailed from Surprise, Nebraska, possibly influencing the name of the town.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Surprise, 1892 to 1988

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1892Post officeThe Calderwood post office opens
  3. 1894Post officeThe Calderwood post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1937
    FoundingSurprise is established
  6. 1957On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1988Born hereColleen Planeta is born here
By decade

Surprise, decade by decade

Today29 recent
Surprise Recreation Campus by Gage Skidmore2026Surprise Recreation Campus by Gage SkidmoreSurprise Public Library by Gage Skidmore2026Surprise Public Library by Gage SkidmoreSurprise Lake Sign by Gage Skidmore2026Surprise Lake Sign by Gage SkidmoreSurprise City Hall by Gage Skidmore2026Surprise City Hall by Gage SkidmoreBloom Where You're Planted by Gage Skidmore2026Bloom Where You're Planted by Gage SkidmoreVillanueva Rec Center;2024Villanueva Rec Center;Surprise, AZ sign2024Surprise, AZ signSurprise Lake2024Surprise LakeCumbie Lane;2024Cumbie Lane;Cumbie Lane2024Cumbie LaneSharon Wolcott by Gage Skidmore2018Sharon Wolcott by Gage SkidmoreNick Bacon Surprise Memorial2014Nick Bacon Surprise MemorialMale Chuckwalla2012Male ChuckwallaUS Route 60 - Arizona2010US Route 60 - ArizonaUS Route 60 - Arizona2010US Route 60 - ArizonaUS Route 60 - Arizona2010US Route 60 - ArizonaUS Route 60 - Arizona2010US Route 60 - ArizonaUS Route 60 - Arizona2010US Route 60 - ArizonaUS Route 60 - Arizona2010US Route 60 - ArizonaUS Route 60 - Arizona2010US Route 60 - ArizonaUS Route 60 - Arizona2010US Route 60 - ArizonaUS Route 60 - Arizona2010US Route 60 - ArizonaUS Route 60 - Arizona2010US Route 60 - ArizonaUS Route 60 - Arizona2010US Route 60 - ArizonaUS Route 60 - Arizona2010US Route 60 - ArizonaUS Route 60 - Arizona2010US Route 60 - ArizonaUS Route 60 - Arizona2010US Route 60 - ArizonaMarley Park2010Marley ParkSurprise Crossing Granite Sundial by Carmichael2003Surprise Crossing Granite Sundial by Carmichael
On the map

Surprise on the map, 1957 to 1981

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Surprise. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Surprise on the 1957 USGS mapSurprise on the 1971 USGS mapSurprise on the 1981 USGS map1957Calderwood Butte sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Surprise.

People over time

Surprise, census by census

020,00040,00060,00080,000100,000120,000140,000160,000198020002020143,148

Grew from 2,427 people in 1970 to 143,148 in 2020, more than tenfold.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Surprise’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Sun City WestIts storyDSun City1 historic placeDEl Mirage1 historic placeC−Peoria4 historic placesCWittmannIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGlendale22 historic placesB−Buckeye3 historic placesC

Questions about Surprise’s history

What year was Surprise founded?

In 1937, according to Wikidata. Surprise’s post office opened in 1892, and the census of 1970 counted 2,427 people here.

How does Surprise rank for history?

Surprise is more historic than 2% of U.S. towns, #125 of 140 in Arizona. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Surprise?

0.0% of Surprise’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.4% for an Arizona town; the median home was built in 2005.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (29), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.