History & Culture of Black Canyon City

Some of the previous names for Black Canyon City have Black Canyon, Canon and Goddard. It was used mostly as a stage stop enroute to Prescott or military reservations further north. The stage stop began around 1872 on the ranch of Jack Swilling.

Swilling was a local man who tried about everything and was successful at it. He first began re-doing abandoned irrigation ditches in what would later become Phoenix in about 1867. He then moved up into the Bradshaws to pursue mining. Here, he built a ranch and a cabin which he kept even after moving to Gilbert. He lived in Gilbert until his death in 1878.