48th State

Efforts to secure Congressional approval for Arizona statehood began in 1892. Congress passed an enabling act in 1910, a constitution was drawn up and approved in 1911, and Arizona was admitted to the Union in 1912. After statehood was achieved, much progressive legislation was enacted, including a law granting woman suffrage in 1912.

Continued development of the state's resources dependent upon the supply of water. Major reclamation projects, such as Roosevelt Dam (1911), Coolidge Dam (1930), and Hoover Dam (1936), provided water for agricultural, domestic, and industrial needs.

The state's industrial boom did not begin until World War II. Defense activities attracted business and industry to Arizona. During the 1940's and 1950's, population nearly tripled, from 499,261 to 1,302,161. Water conservation and utilization, however, remained the key to continued economic and social development. A dispute with California and Nevada arose over proposed diversion of additional water from the Colorado River for the Central Arizona Project. In 1968 the U.S. Congress finally approved the project. Water began arriving in Phoenix in 1985 and Tucson in 1991.

In 1988 Governor Evan Mecham was impeached and convicted of misuse of state funds. Early in the 1990's, several legislators and lobbyists were implicated in an illegal gambling operation and a former Navajo tribal chairman was convicted of fraud. In 1998 elections, women were elected to all five of the highest statewide elected positions. Secretary of State Rose Mofford became the state's first female governor when she finished Mecham's term. The 1997 governor Fife Symington was also convicted, for bank fraud, and he later resigned; in 1999, his name was cleared. Jane Dee Hull, former Secretary of State and Symington's replacement, ran for a full turn as governor in 1998 and won.

Arizona was one of the nation's fastest-growing states between 1980 and 2000, with population increases between 35 and 40 percent. The economy remained strong throughout this period and the population growth shifted from rural to urban areas.