Business View Civil and Municipal | Volume 3, Issue 3

59 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 3 and that also support the local businesses here, especially on our Main Street.” Though small in size, Florence is home to dozens of tourist and recreational activities such as McFarland State Historic Park, Pinal County Historical Museum, Florence Aero Modeler Park, and the Charles Whitlow Rodeo Grounds. Its historic downtown also hosts several premiere events, including Road to Country Thunder (a day of country music and fun), the Junior Parada parade (the oldest junior rodeo in the U.S.), and Christmas on Main St.– an event and light parade during which food vendors, inflatables, and entertainment fill up Florence’s notable main strip. “Moving into February we have our Historic Home Tour, Memories on Main Classics car show, and the Florence Music Festival,” Walter adds. “They’re all signature events.” Besides the social landscapes and cultural landmarks that showcase Florence as a True Western town, the Gila River that runs through its heart adds yet another touch of history and prominence to this charming, rural location. “The Gila River was one of the desert rivers that flowed continuously in Arizona for a very long time,” explains Town Manager Brent Billingsly. “It no longer flows through this area due to irrigation diversions, but it helped define the boundary of the Gadsden Purchase and that’s a prominent history dating back to the 1800s. The river also made Florence a hive of activity as the Native American community – starting with the Hohokam people – who built canals, farmed, and lived adjacent to the Gila River.” The community of Florence was originally developed as a copper-mining trade center and stage stop, helping to establish copper as one of Arizona’s five Cs, or key economic drivers, which include cattle, cotton, citrus, and climate. “We’re one of the oldest towns in Arizona and we were one of the State’s largest cities in 1912, when Arizona was founded,” Billingsly shares. “Prescott, Tucson, Lawrence, and Phoenix were the four TOWN OF FLORENCE , AR I ZONA