Weedville, Arizona
Weedville is a populated place inside the city limits of Peoria in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. Weedville is in pockets of unincorporated land under the jurisdiction of Maricopa County. For all census and demographic purposes, Weedville is now considered part of Peoria, since it is inside the city limits.
History
Reverend Ora Rush Weed was a Methodist minister from Kansas. It is unknown why Weed decided to leave his hometown with his wife Phoebe and family. They moved and settled in Arizona. Some of the members of his Kansas ministry followed him and together they homesteaded the area north of Thunderbird Road and 75th Avenue, which was outside the city limits of Peoria at the time.By 1916, Weed established the Path Church and a boarding school. The name "Paths" comes from a Bible verse : "Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls." A small religious community flourished around the development of Weedville, which Weed had named after himself. By 1921, the community established a cemetery which was named the Old Paths Cemetery.
Besides running a small general store, Weed ran a farm producing broom grass, and established a broom factory that used the grass. He employed many ex-convicts who had gained experience as broom makers in prison. As such the factory helped support the small community economically.