Lizard Acres was a former cattle ranch, subdivision, and train stop situated in

Maricopa County, Arizona Maricopa County () is a County (United States), county in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the population was 4,420,568, or about 62% of the state's total, making it the List ...

, near the present day town of Surprise. It has an estimated elevation of above sea level. Lizard Acres (noted as Lizard on topographic maps) was a train stop just north of

Surprise, Arizona Surprise is a city in Maricopa County, in the U.S. state of Arizona. The population was 143,148 at the 2020 census, up from 117,517 in 2010 and just 30,848 in 2000. Surprise is the spring training location of the Kansas City Royals and the ...

. The stop is near current day Grand Avenue and Bell Road in

. The site also held a cattle farm.

History

In the 1940s, ranchers from

Holbrook, Arizona Holbrook () is a city in Navajo County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city was 5,053. The city is the county seat of Navajo County. Holbrook was founded in 1881 or 1882, when the railroad was bu ...

, R. S. Spurlock and J. C. Wetzler were looking for land for a proposed 1,900 acre site for a new ranch. Their search led them to land one mile east of where the intersection of Grand Avenue and Bell Road is today. Spurlock is rumored to have declared "Jumpin' Jehosophat, this country isn't fit for raising anything but lizards!" As a result, the ranch was nicknamed "Lizard Acres,” but officially was called Circle One Livestock Company. In the early 1960s, the ranch held 13,000 cattle. The Circle One Livestock Company ranch was one of the leading cattle operations in the southwest. Throughout the 1960s and into the early 1970s, the ranch began selling parts of its land to Del E. Webb to build

Sun City West, Arizona Sun City West is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Maricopa County, Arizona, Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. The population was 25,806 at the 2020 United States census, 2 ...

, a retirement community.

Legacy

Although the ranch known as “Lizard Acres” is gone, a sign bearing the name remains along the

BNSF BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that provide ...

(former Santa Fe) railroad tracks that run adjacent to Grand Avenue, 1/2 mile north of Bell Road. A pub in Sun City West also bears the name, paying homage to the cattle ranch that stood on the land it now calls home. An art installation in

Scottsdale, Arizona Scottsdale is a city in eastern Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and is part of the Phoenix metropolitan area. Named Scottsdale in 1894 after its founder Winfield Scott (chaplain), Winfield Scott, a retired Chaplain Corps (United States ...

is named after the former ranch as well. Designed by artist Joe Tyler, who remembers the ranch from his childhood, it features many steel animals and plants.

References

{{Maricopa County, Arizona Populated places in Maricopa County, Arizona