Peoria is a popular outdoor recreational spot. Visitors can choose from boating and camping at Lake Pleasant to Spring Training at the Peoria Sports Complex. It is a growing town, which began as a small agricultural town site. Today Peoria’s population is 78,310. It sits at an elevation of 1,140 feet. The southwest climate of Peoria has summer highs of 107 degrees and winter lows of 34 degrees. Peoria began as a vision of a farming town from one man and has grown to a vibrant desert city.

Peoria has a terrific attraction in town. The Peoria Sports Complex is one of the nation’s largest spring training facilities. It is home for the Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres with 10,000 seats and 12 lighted practice fields. The complex is used for concerts, car shows and other baseball leagues when spring training in not in full force.
There are many outdoor activities to choose from in Peoria. Lake Pleasant Regional Park is a 24,000-acre area, which includes the second largest lake in Arizona . Visitors can choose from camping, picnicking and hiking. The Pleasant Harbor Marina at Lake Pleasant is the perfect launching spot for boats. There are fishing excursions and watercraft rentals available here too. 

History
In the 1880’s, William J. Murphy was in the area when he made his prediction. He predicted the land that is now Peoria would become very valuable after the Arizona Canal was built. So Murphy decided he would head east to convince others of his prediction. He just knew that the land would be fertile with the new canal system.
He was successful in persuading four families from Illinois to come out. They purchased 5,00 acres and tried their hand at farming. In 1885, the Arizona Canal was built and soon the desert landscape turned into farmland. Murphy’s prediction came true. But it took until 1987, before the group filed their original Plat of the Townsite of Peoria, Arizona . Eventually, more families followed the original families and the town began to grow. Then in 1889, the post office and school were established. Peoria remained an agricultural community up until 1954, when it was incorporated. At the time the town was incorporated, the town consisted of one square mile. 
Since then, Peoria has grown in size by annexations. These annexations have increased the town’s size to 144 square miles. One of Peoria’s recent annexations included Lake Pleasant, which is Arizona ’s second largest lake. 

Today, Peoria continues to grow. It is one of the largest cities in Arizona in size of area and in population.