Giant Arrow Points to Phoenix
PHOENIX — More than 50 years ago, the Valley of the Sun was a whole lot of desert sprinkled with a few towns, mostly of them small.
Rock formation points to Phoenix. Photo Credit: Sam Lowe
Phoenix had the only airport and it was also small and, because it was in the middle of some pretty barren landscape, it was sometimes hard to spot from the air. But then, some Phoenix Boy Scouts came to the rescue.
In the 1950s, the Scouts cleared away brush and arranged rocks to spell “PHOENIX” on the southern slopes of one of the peaks in the Usery Mountains in north Mesa. They painted the rocks white, and it was fronted by a large white arrow pointing to the airport, located almost almost thirty miles away. Now, due to better guidance systems and high-tech instruments, the sign no longer serves its original purpose.
But it’s still there, and still quite visible from both land and air along US 60 and the 202 Expressway.
Back when hwy 60 was just 2 lanes and we were headed home from Salt River Canyon, I always felt good when I saw the big arrow. It was a sign (no pun intended) that we were just not far away from home. I didn’t know, then, that Scouts had made it, but I always thought it was remarkable that someone made it so precisely on such rugged terrain. I used to imagine that they must have cut out a giant pattern and lain it out on the hillside first. I hope someone continues to maintain that piece of history.
Actually, rumor has it, that the Phoenix sign was built by the US Air Force. Members from Williams Air Force Base, built the sign in the 50’s to direct the new Jet Jockeys back to Luke AFB area. They would fly their newly acquired Jets in a triangle, taking off from Williams, (the first AFB to train jet pilots) fly toward Luke AFB then on down toward Yuma and back to Willy. I believe each letter is over 100 feet tall. Now days the Boy Scouts maintain it, by weeding & painting the letters.
My AT&T office is on that road along the sign, so i am lucky enough to drive past it weekly.
My father, Dennis R. Stark was one of the boy scouts who helped build the sign under the direction of his Scoutmaster, Mr. Merritt. There was an article who named all of the boys in the Arizona Republic in the 50’s.
[…] that some Arizona Oddities have differing stories behind their origins. Take, for example, the big sign made of rocks on Signal Butte in the Usery Mountains. The most common belief is that in the 1950s, Boy Scouts scouted up the […]
As a past Past Adviser of Phoenix’s Air Explorer Post 13, I can verify that the air marker was conceived and constructed by members of our Post. Originally called Squadron 13 and later changed to Air Explorer 13, its members constructed the air marker over a 5 1/2 period, 1950 to 1956.
It was in 1949 that Charles E Merritt, the Post Adviser, was looking for a worthwhile project for the Post members. He had many years of flying experience in aviation’s earlier years. He understood the need for navigational aids in helping lost pilots find their way.
The early days of aviation did not have the advantages of the modern electronics for navigation. Air markers were constructed to assist pilots in navigation and finding their way to their destinations. For national security purposes, during WWII, the nations air markers were removed or covered up. As we emerged from the war, those air markers began to re-emerge.
The Arrow points in the direction of Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, 23 miles to the west. Also, it was pointing to an emergency landing area that the Post members had made. Although it appears that paint was just applied to the mountain side for the making of the sign, there was a lot of preparation work before the whitewash paint was applied.
The mountain side was very steep in angle and was not a flat surface in which to lay out the lettering on. It took a lot of engineering to lay out the letters would be even and they would appear as one word. Every letter began with a trench excavation. Each trench was cut into the mountain side. Where needed, dynamite was used in making the trench and breaking up large boulders that were used to back fill the trenches. All of those letters are made up of well placed rocks and boulders.
The paint job was done with a mixture of white cement (1 bag), lime (5 bags), milk (2 1/2 gallons) and salt (5 lbs). All of the ingredients were mixed with water in a 55 gallon barrel and hand brushed onto the rocks. The initial paint job used around 800 gallons of paint. A repainting in 1980, used around 1100 gallons.
From 1950 till 1956, Williams Air Force Base provided bus transportation for the Phoenix Post members to work on the marker.
Check out the latest update to this oddity! https://arizonaoddities.com/2012/07/oddities-need-updating-too/