There are many firsts in the world.

First man on the moon.

First woman to serve as vice president of the United States.

First baby born in any given year.

Few people, however, can say they are the first resident to live in a brand-new community.

Sally Atchinson has that unique distinction. Atchinson was the first person to move into a house in Fountain Hills. She and her two children moved from an Apache Junction house at the base of the Superstitions to their home on Calaveras Drive 50 years ago Feb. 12. This is a family who loves remote settings.

When she and her family first moved to Fountain Hills in 1972, there wasn’t much in the way of busy in a familiar way. But bulldozers were everywhere, creating roads, housing sites, places where people would eventually be.

The only access into town was two-lane Beeline Highway to Shea, then Saguaro Boulevard into the heart of town, the fountain.

There were no cell phones or landlines. To make or receive a call, people had to drive to the phone booth at Saguaro and Shea.

“I wasn’t intimidated to move here,” Atchinson said. “I just know that we loved it.”

They visited the community after seeing advertising about the development. She said they fell in love with the pristine desert and knew Fountain Hills would not be like every other subdivision.

“From the very beginning, Fountain Hills was special,” she said.

While there were other people living in town, they were in a trailer park located at the site where the high school now sits. They were construction people.

“Other houses were being built by our house, but ours was the first one to be occupied,” Atchinson noted.

Building started in that section of town because of the proposed Orme Lake.

“We wanted that view, and that location,” she said.

But the lake never materialized. Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation leaders called on the federal government to stop the plan. The lake would have displaced most of the residents at Fort McDowell and inundated the land there.

The change didn’t change their minds. Atchinson and her children loved their new hometown.

“My son, Steve, told me he and his friends used to run through the sewer pipes and hang out inside them,” Atchinson said. “I’m sure they (the pipes) were a great place for rattlesnakes to be when it was hot. Fortunately, nothing bad ever happened.”

The new community was a haven for children. There were places to explore, lots of empty spaces, areas for kids to pretend whatever they wanted.

While the growth was evident, Atchinson said she likes the way Fountain Hills has developed.

“It has been built in stages, and it is a friendly, warm town,” she said. “It is a really remarkable place.”

The changes are significant. Time was residents of both Fountain Hills and Fort McDowell shared space at the Verde River. People swam, played, fished and made campfires along the river.

The tribe decided to close access to the river after visitors continually left trash and other evidence of being there.

You could climb to the top of Red Rock and hike along its base. But the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community also closed access to its sacred place.

In a written remembrance, Atchinson said she remembers ascending the biscuit on top of Red Rock with friends.

“There was a jar with paper and pencil tucked in a crevice on top with comments by successful climbers,” she wrote. “Our friends wrote ‘and Tony and Sally danced.’

“I’m just not sure why people go to a natural place and not respect it,” Atchinson said. “We have always had an amazing relationship with Fort McDowell, and we have been able to maintain it, but they have strong beliefs and respect for nature. Some people just don’t.”

The adventures and experiences have been many. Steve and daughter Sheryl were bused to schools in Mesa. Atchinson said they were “mostly happy,” although they had their moments.

“That isn’t unusual for kids and parents,” she said. “They adapted pretty well to everything.”

Sheryl died of cancer some years back, and Atchinson said she misses her now as much as ever.

“That was – is – a really hard thing,” she said. “It’s just not easy.”

Son Steve lives in a cabin on Hunter Creek, near Christopher Creek. He comes to Fountain Hills now and then to see his mom and to help her if she needs it.

“He loves it there,” his mother said. “He obviously got my outdoor genes.”

Atchinson moved from her first house in the community in 1989. After Sally married her second husband, Tony Atchinson, they built a custom home on Stoneridge Court. After he died, Sally moved to her condo at The Village at Towne Center.

“I do like living here,” she said of her condo. “I can walk everywhere.”

Atchinson spends a good amount of time with her art, which fills her home.

She is a member of the Fountain Hills Artists’ Gallery and also had her work at On the Edge Gallery in Scottsdale, another art co-op featuring Fountain Hills artists, along with others from other communities.

She has left On the Edge and brought her work from there home. So, she has beautiful art – paintings of flowers, nature, animals – hanging everywhere. She calls it her garden.

Commenting on the public art in Fountain Hills, Atchinson said she considers it “the signature for the town. There are some really major pieces throughout the town. I love that the town supports the program.”

Atchinson continues showing her work at Fountain Hills Artists’ Gallery and has two pieces in the collection at the Community Center.

Atchinson has few negative things to say about living in this community for 50 years. She loves the people, the beauty, the wide sky.

She said her only regret is that the downtown didn’t develop the way she had hoped.

“I hoped downtown would be a busy street, the hub of everything,” she said. “But I love it here. I am blessed to be here. Arizona is home.”

When she first came to Arizona, she knew she had found her space on Earth.

“There is so much to explore,” she said. “The natural world here really spoke to me.”