How Barry Goldwater saved Camelback Mountain


When Arizona Senator and resident of Paradise Valley, Barry Goldwater, lost the Presidential election to Lyndon Johnson in 1964, he found himself with more time on his hands than he had expected.

So he got together a group of his friends and neighbors and created a group to petition to make further development on Camelback Mountain, above a certain line, illegal. And they did it, in 1965.

By the 1960s, houses were being built up higher and higher on the mountain, with no end in sight. The image above, from a 1956 postcard, is the Camelback Mountain that Barry and his friends wanted to see. And while the city has grown all around the mountain, it didn't grow on top of it.

Thanks, Barry!
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