Surprise Wedding

 - Total est. (2005)  - Density

88,265 171.4/km

Latitude Longitude

3339'6' N 11223'50' W

Surprise is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, USA. The population was 30,848 at the 2000 census. The city population is estimated to be 88,265 according to a 2005 mid-decade census survey, although current growth rates would indicate the city has now attained a population of over 100,000 [1]. As such, it is the second fastest-growing municipality in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area (after Gilbert), and between 1990 and 2000, it was the sixth fastest-growing place among all cities and towns in Arizona.

The city was founded in 1937 by real estate developer and state legislator Homer C. Ludden, who named it after his hometown of Surprise, Nebraska. Although there were only a few houses and a gas station on the one-mile-square parcel of land when Ludden subdivided it to build inexpensive houses for agricultural workers, Surprise has experienced tremendous growth in the years since.