You can walk a century of Arizona history in one afternoon in Old Town Scottsdale

Arizona’s oldest streets still ring with history

Old Town Scottsdale sits on the exact patch of desert where the city began, and it hasn’t strayed far from its roots.

You can walk the whole district in an afternoon, crossing a hundred years of Arizona history from one block to the next. Bronze horses rise out of fountains.

Adobe walls that settlers shaped by hand still stand. And on Thursday nights, the galleries throw open their doors.

This is where Scottsdale started, and it’s still where the best of it lives.

The Army chaplain who put Scottsdale on the map

The city traces back to a U.S. Army chaplain named Winfield Scott and his wife Helen, who put down roots here in the late 1880s.

By 1894, a man named Albert G. Utley had drawn up a formal townsite, first called Orangedale, then renamed Scottsdale that same year. The town officially incorporated in 1951.

A handful of buildings from the early 1900s still stand in Old Town, and the neighborhood that grew up around ranching and farming eventually found a third industry: people who came to look at all of it.

Thursday nights belong to the galleries

Since 1975, the Scottsdale ArtWalk has run every Thursday evening without a break, making it the oldest continuous art walk of its kind in the country.

Galleries throughout the Arts District open up along Main Street and Marshall Way, and you move through at whatever pace you want. Some stops have artist demonstrations.

Others have live music spilling out onto the sidewalk. On select nights, themed Gold Palette ArtWalks bring extra programming into the mix.

There’s no set route and no admission, so you follow whatever catches your eye.

More than 40 galleries in six walkable blocks

The Arts District runs along Main Street and up Marshall Way to the horse fountain on 5th Avenue, and more than 40 galleries fill that stretch. Main Street alone holds close to 20.

You’ll find Western paintings and bronze sculptures alongside contemporary work and art glass. Jewelry and ceramics share wall space with abstract pieces from artists around the world.

Between stops, tree-covered courtyards and fountain plazas give you a place to slow down. The walk stays interesting because no two galleries are showing the same thing.

Sit inside a room and watch the desert sky change color

The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art opened in 1999 inside a converted movie theater, redesigned by architect Will Bruder.

Its most talked-about work is “Knight Rise,” a permanent installation by artist James Turrell.

You sit inside a room shaped like an egg, look up through a circular opening in the ceiling, and watch the color of the sky shift as the light changes. The effect is hard to explain until you’ve sat there.

It hits hardest at sunrise and sunset, when the desert light does its most dramatic work.

The West in 55,000 square feet

Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West opened in January 2015 and holds the distinction of being Scottsdale’s only Smithsonian Affiliate museum.

The building now spans 55,000 square feet, after a 12,000-square-foot expansion in March 2026 added four new galleries.

Inside, the collection covers the art, culture, and history of the American West across 19 states, plus parts of Western Canada and Mexico.

Cowboy gear, Native American artifacts, paintings, and bronzes fill the exhibits. It’s a serious collection, and the new galleries give it room to breathe.

A two-room schoolhouse that wore many hats

The Little Red Schoolhouse went up in 1909, built from red brick and designed for two classrooms. Over the decades, it took on almost every civic role a small town could ask of one building.

It served as a school, then a church, then a community center, then city hall, then a public library. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994 and now holds the Scottsdale Historical Museum.

One classroom has been restored to look the way it did around 1910, with period artifacts and photographs showing how the city grew up around it.

14,000 adobe bricks shaped by hand

Completed in 1933, the Old Adobe Mission went up block by block, built by Mexican immigrant settlers who made every brick themselves. Each one weighed about 50 pounds, shaped from native clay, sand, and straw.

Architect Robert T. Evans gave the building its Spanish Colonial Revival style. Fifteen stained-glass windows came from local tinsmith Bernabe Herrera.

The church identifies itself as the oldest standing church in Scottsdale, and it still holds special services and events. Running your hand along the wall, you can feel the weight of what it took to build it.

A blacksmith shop still making sparks after a century

Cavalliere’s Blacksmith Shop has stood in its adobe building on the same spot since 1920, and the Cavalliere family has run it every year since.

Founder George “Cavie” Cavalliere came to Arizona to work on the Arizona Canal, then stayed and set up his shop. Today the place still takes on standard blacksmith work alongside decorative ironwork.

It’s one of Old Town’s oldest businesses, older than most of what surrounds it. You can stop in and watch the trade that helped build this part of Arizona.

Bronze horses frozen mid-rear in a traffic circle

The Bronze Horse Fountain by Bob Parks puts five champion Arabian horses rearing out of the water at full height, and it sits in a traffic circle at the heart of the arts district.

It’s one of the most photographed spots in Scottsdale, which makes sense once you see it. Nearby, Ed Mell’s “Jack Knife” shows a cowboy on a bucking bronco, modeled after the city’s official seal.

A few steps away, “The Yearlings” by George-Ann Tognoni captures three young horses at a full gallop. The whole district turns into a sculpture garden if you walk slowly enough.

Turquoise, leather, and the 5th Avenue shopping district

Old Town has a long-standing reputation for boutique shopping with a Southwestern lean. Shops carry turquoise jewelry, Native American art, leather goods, and handmade pieces you won’t find at a chain store.

The 5th Avenue shopping district is a longtime anchor, full of small independent stores that have been holding their ground for decades.

Western-style facades, hitching posts, and century-old storefronts frame the whole thing.

Scottsdale Fashion Square, a few minutes away, is the largest shopping destination in the Southwest, if you want to extend the day.

Murals, markets, and a free trolley through it all

The district is built for walking, with wide sidewalks and shade enough to keep you moving. Murals and painted walls show up around nearly every corner, and most of them are worth stopping for.

A free trolley runs through Old Town if your feet need a break. Horse-drawn carriage rides run on certain evenings.

The Old Town farmers market brings local produce and goods into the neighborhood on a regular schedule.

Public fountains and shaded courtyards are scattered throughout, and you’ll find yourself grateful for every one of them by mid-afternoon.

Explore Old Town Scottsdale in Arizona

You can start your visit any day of the week, but Thursday evening, when the ArtWalk runs from 7 to 9 p.m., gives you the most happening version of the district.

Old Town sits in the center of Scottsdale, with several parking areas and garages nearby and a free trolley connecting the main stops.

Most museums keep extended hours on Thursday nights during parts of the year, so check each venue before you go. Summer highs regularly top 100 degrees, so plan for morning or evening visits between June and September.

Check the official website for current hours, admission prices, and event schedules.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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