Fun Facts About Eloy
Eloy isn’t a relatively new city when we look at Arizona, it has however seen a huge growth spurt within the last two decades. Most of the area surrounding the Central Phoenix area has been farmland for a very long time, but that’s starting to change. Let’s talk about one of the new up and coming cities in Arizona that Phoenix Title Loans has recently expanded into!
Eloy… aka King of Jumping
Skydive Arizona in Eloy, Arizona is one of the best skydiving spots in our state and a world famous drop zone. They are open all year since the weather is only unpleasant a few times to constitute a day off. This year in march a group of 42 skydivers broke the “Vertical Night Record” as they free-fell from 16,000 feet in the air with remote-activated fireworks strapped to their feet. However, if heights are one of the most common fears so the city also offers SkyVenture.
- SkyVenture offers an indoor skydiving wind tunnel which allows the flyer to experience the feeling of skydiving but cuts the airplane out of the picture.
Eloy’s Meteor Crater
The city just so happens to have the largest impact crater found in the United States. The impact occurred around 50,000 years and weighed several hundred thousand tons leaving a crater that is about 4000 feet wide and 600 feet deep. The museum offers guided rim tours, a collision 4d theatre, and many lookout points for everyone to take a closer look at the marvelous sight. And before you leave take a stop at the Gift & Mineral Shop to take a piece history with you.
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument
In addition to to a historical crater, there is another preservation of history near Coolidge, Arizona about 25 minutes away from Eloy. The Casa Grande Ruins National Monument preserves an ancient Hohokam farming community around 800 years old and the “Great House”. Not to mention, the museum offers children’s programs for families and tours with insights into the rich history behind the monument.
Eloy Race Track
A forgotten part of Eloy’s large past is that it was home to a giant street racetrack. By the end of the 1970s, street race tracks had mostly become a thing of the past as cities weren’t wiling to sponsor them and were also a bit afraid of the dangers of having lightning fast vehicles whip around their buildings. Eloy was one of the last street tracks to actually still exist during this time, with a sprawling .7 mile track.
The Arizona Sport Racing Association were the ones able to talk Eloy into it, and even by 1984 were able to turn it into a two-hour telecast bringing attention to the new up and coming city. It actually only had 6,500 people during this time! A tiny, tiny fraction of the 16,000+ it has today. The track actually had a bunch of 90 degree turns meaning it couldn’t really exceed speeds of around 70 miles per hour, but given the distance it probably really didn’t have to.
Credits to http://hooniverse.com/2015/03/02/forgotten-racetracks-the-eloy-grand-prix/ for the photo
