Three generations of the Trekell family together during in World War II era./Submitted via Casa Grande Dispatch

Thornton Road — Henry D. Thornton, a native of rural Illinois, moved to Casa Grande to farm a quarter section west of Casa Grande in 1920. Thornton had grown up learning that trade but went to a polytechnic school in Peoria, Illinois, to study watchmaking. In 1941, Thornton and his wife opened Thornton’s, a jewelry store, at Florence and First streets. Thornton Road, which runs along the border of the former Thornton farm, is named in honor of the pioneering family. In 1979, the estate sold the property to Energy Development Co., an affiliate of Arizona Public Service Co., which developed it into Thornton Industrial Park.

Cottonwood Lane — In March 1919, Floyd C. Templeton, a real estate agent from Phoenix, built a home on what would become Cottonwood Lane. Templeton and his brothers turned a weir box on his property into a swimming pool, and it soon became a popular spot for early residents of Casa Grande to swim in the summers. The Templetons developed the property into a recreation center — which they named The Cottonwoods — with a baseball diamond, picnic area, swimming pool and dozens of cottonwood trees they dug up from the banks of the Gila River. The area was the gathering place on Fourth of July for many years. Cottonwood Lane is named for the once-popular private utopia.

Continued: