McClintock Road

James Harvey McClintock, for which McClintock Road, McClintock High School, and the McClintock Hall at Arizona State University were named after, was born in Sacramento, California on February 23rd 1864. He first entered Arizona in June of 1879 at the age of 15 when his brother, Charles E. McClintock, offered him a job as a printer’s devil at the Salt River Herald (later known as the Arizona Republic). Two years later after his brother’s passing, James traveled to Globe, Arizona to pursue his journalistic interest, writing about the abundance of newly found copper and silver in Globe. He also wrote about the Apache Revolts that occurred while he was there.

At the age of 17, James moved to Prescott (then the capital of Arizona) in search of employment. When he was 22 he enrolled as a student at the Territorial Normal School in Tempe, where he earned his teaching certificate. His class of 33 students was the first class to graduate from what is now Arizona State University.

In 1889 Phoenix became the permanent capitol of Arizona, and McClintock decided to move there to help address the enormous water problem in the valley. While serving as a state representative, he was one of the three men that mapped locations for possible dams that would provide water to the future metropolis. All of those planned locations are now dammed and operated by SRP.

James McClintock was Teddy Roosevelt’s right-hand-man in the famous Rough Riders. During the Spanish-American War he rounded up volunteers to join the Rough Riders and commanded them as Company B. He became a Colonel in the Arizona National Guard in 1902 and served as Phoenix’s postmaster from 1902 to 1914.

McClintock wrote a two-volume history of Arizona, Arizona: The Youngest State.

James McClintock lived in Phoenix until his poor health forced him to move to Los Angeles, where he died on May 10th, 1934 at the age of 70.

“During his lifetime Phoenix was transformed from a western cow town to a great metropolis. And his contribution to this transformation was great.” – Dean Murdock

By Penny Bingham & Andrew Dunn