Tempe Street Names

Baseline In 1851, a U.S. survey team selected a low hill near the intersection of the Gila and Salt rivers as the "initial point" for basing all land surveys for most of Arizona.  This survey is the Gila and Salt River Base Line and Meridian.  Two imaginary lines bisect the monument at the top of this hill (at 115th Avenue,  or Avondale Boulevard, and Baseline, near Phoenix International Raceway).  One is a north-south line called the meridian.  It divides the state into east and west.  The east-west line is called the base line.  It divides Arizona into north and south.  This is Baseline Road.
Broadway Noah M. Broadway was one of the original settlers of Phoenix.  He was a Civil War veteran, farmer, and sheriff of Maricopa County.
Hardy B. W. Hardy was president of the Hardy Irrigation Company, the predecessor of the Tempe Irrigation Company, in 1870.
Hayden Wilford Hayden farmed south and east of the original Scottsdale town site.  The road is not named for Tempe's Hayden family.  South of the Salt River this road becomes McClintock Road.  
McClintock Colonel James H. McClintock (1864-1934) was a soldier and a member of the Teddy Roosevelt's famed Rough Riders in the Spanish-American War.  McClintock was also a member of the first graduating class of the Territorial Normal School (now Arizona State University) and later served as Arizona's official state historian.  North of the Salt River this road becomes Hayden Road.
McKellips McKellips was an early citrus grower east and north of Mesa.
Mill Avenue The Hayden Flour Mill operated from 1874 to 1998.
Priest James T. Priest was an early settler of the Tempe area.
Rural Rural School was located on the northeast corner of Rural and Southern roads.  North of the Salt River this road becomes Scottsdale Road.
Scottsdale Winfield Scott founded the town of Scottsdale.  The road is named for the city.  South of the Salt River, Scottsdale Road becomes Rural Road.

University

This street is named for Arizona State University.  ASU achieved university status in 1958.  Prior to this, University west of Rural Road was called 8th Street.  East of Rural Road, the street was called Transmission Road because power lines to Roosevelt Dam once existed along the road.  
 

Sources:

  • Tempe Historical Museum research files
  • Charles Gerry Kroger, Tempe Street Names and How They Got Them: A History of Tempe, Arizona Street Names [unpublished manuscript, draft, Tempe Historical Museum research files], 1999.
  • Richard K. Morse, "Familiar Streets and Forgotten Names," Arizona [magazine, The Arizona Republic/The Phoenix Gazette], 7 November 1976.
  • Sam Mittelsteadt and Carrie White, "Behind the Signs: Faces and History Line East Valley Streets," East Valley Tribune, D1-D2.