Surprise is a city in Maricopa County, in the U.S. state of Arizona. The city was founded in 1938 by Flora Mae Statler, who named it Surprise as she “would be surprised if the town ever amounted to much”. Surprise officials previously thought the city was founded by Statler’s husband, real estate developer and state legislator Homer C. Ludden, but in 2010 property records were discovered which listed Statler owning the land before she met Ludden.

Although there were only a few houses and a gas station on the one-square-mile (1.6 km) parcel of land when it was subdivided to build inexpensive houses for agricultural workers, Surprise has experienced tremendous growth in the years since. It incorporated into a city in 1960, the townsite being bounded by Greenway Road on the south, El Mirage Road on the east, Bell Road on the north, and Dysart Road on the west. City Hall is located on the site of one of Luke Air Force Base’s former auxiliary airfields.

The population was 30,848 at the 2000 census; however, rapid expansion has boosted the city’s population to 117,517 at the 2010 census, an increase of 281%.

As such, it is the second-fastest-expanding municipality in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area (after Gilbert) and, between 1990 and 2000, it was the sixth-fastest-expanding place among all cities and towns in Arizona. Census estimates in 2017 continue this accelerated growth pattern, with the population now estimated at 134,085.

The city of Surprise has provided a 10,562 square-foot (981.2 m2) Aquatics Center and has the Maricopa County’s northwest regional library, a $5.5 million, 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m2) library, along with a 100.3 cost of living index. Additionally, Surprise has a state of the art Municipal building.

The city is the spring training home of the Kansas City Royals and the Texas Rangers baseball teams. These Major League Baseball teams use Surprise Stadium for their activities.

The city also hosted a Golden Baseball League team in 2005, the Surprise Fightin’ Falcons and the Recreation Campus ballpark and is the home city for a team in the Arizona Fall League, the Surprise Saguaros. It also hosted ESPN SportsCenter’s 50 States in 50 Days segment on August 11, 2005.

As part of the city’s Recreation Campus, Surprise is also home to the well-designed Surprise Tennis and Racquet Complex (STRC). Since its opening in August 2007, the complex has received numerous awards, including being named the 2008 Outstanding Facility of the year award by the USTA.

The complex hosts various professional events throughout the year, including the Outback Champion Series tour, a USTA Pro Circuit event, and many USTA regional and sectional events. In 2009 the complex was chosen as the site for the Fed Cup Quarter Final between the U.S. and Argentina.

Tens of thousands of retirees moved to the city in the 1990s and early 2000s to live in Sun City Grand, an age-restricted resort-like community, with homes built by the property development firm Del Webb. Surprise is about five miles (8 km) northwest of Del Webb’s original Sun City development and adjacent to Sun City West.

Sun City Grand has become a large contributor to the city’s population, which more than septupled (7 times) from 10,187 to about 75,000 in 2004. Rapid growth has led city officials to estimate the population at over 103,000 as of 2007, a figure the city maintains in spite of more conservative population estimates by the Census Bureau.

There are many small and medium-sized businesses in Surprise as well as a major shopping area on the corner of West Bell Road and Grand Avenue where Lowes and Home Depot anchor the centers.

Many of these small and medium-sized city of Surprise area businesses have partnered with The Mobile Stylists to support their communities. The Mobile Stylists would like to introduce you to some of these businesses and other companies who will give you a discount on products and services just for connecting with them.

We encourage you to continue to show your support for Surprise small business and the local merchants as local residents and visitors. Connect with them right here.