About 85 years ago the area now known as Fountain Hills was desert land that, once settled, would first be called the P-Bar Ranch.

An entire town evolved from those humble beginnings, with a small family of ranchers eventually growing to a community of more than 20,000.

Fountain Hills is in the midst of its “30/50 Celebration,” commemorating the 30th year since the town was incorporated and the 50th year since the world-famous fountain was first turned on. Before all of that, though, was the P-Bar Ranch.

Over the next 12 months, The Times will look back at the history of the town, beginning this week with the origins of the P-Bar Ranch on page 9A. This story was first told back in 2001 by a couple of the original settlers, and it’s just as interesting today as it was nearly 20 years ago.

In the coming months the series will take a look at many other facets of the town’s history, covering everything from local schools and government to area parks, the evolving business community, public safety, service organizations and more. Alan Cruikshank will also put an emphasis on the history of the town in this year’s columns.

We’ve got a few other projects lined up for this coming year, too, but we’ll wait until those are ready to roll before diving into too many details. In short, anyone interested in the history of Fountain Hills will want to stay tuned.

In the meantime, we encourage our readers to follow The Times on this monthly journey digging into the community’s roots. It promises to be an informative and entertaining adventure.