TEMPE

city, Maricopa county, south-central Arizona, U.S. It lies along the Salt River and is a southern suburb of Phoenix. First settled (1872) by Charles Hayden, father of former Arizona senator Carl Hayden, it was called Hayden's Ferry until renamed (1880) for the Vale of Tempe, Greece. It is the site of Arizona State University (1885), whose campus contains the Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright . After World War II Tempe experienced marked residential and economic growth with light-industrial development. Agriculture (through the Salt River Irrigation Project) also remains a basic economic factor. Since 1971 Tempe has been the host of the Fiesta Bowl (college football). Inc. town, 1894; city, 1964. Pop. (1992 est.) 148,320.