Palm Walk, Phoenix

The Palm Walk is a pedestrian mall located on Arizona State University's Tempe campus that is lined with one hundred and five Mexican fan palms. Running from the foot of the University bridge to the north, to the Student Recreation Complex to the south, the path runs for almost four-tenths of a mile. The path itself follows the old alignment of Normal Avenue, before it was incorporated into the expanding college's campus.

The history of the palm walk dates to an early attempt at campus beautification by Tempe Normal School President Arthur John Matthews. The best estimates for when the trees were planted vary from 1916 to 1919, although there also exist orders for trees in 1917 and 1918, the latter of which mentions the purchase of palm trees. Originally planted on the northern end of the walk near the original Normal School campus, the trees were later planted to the south, as the college expanded.

As the Palm Walk runs along the former alignment of Normal Avenue to what would have been the eastern edge of the main campus as it was built, it marked the eastern boundary for campus. As the college expanded over the years, it has become a local landmark for the university. The University Archives maintains a Web site that displays photos of Palm Walk from the 1930s, 1946, 1957, 1966, and the 1990s.

Originally, there was no official name for the Palm Walk, as a 1926 catalog for the school called it College Palms. By 1932, the name was simplified and called The Palms, and the earliest known use of the current name was from a 1967 pamphlet that used palm walk.