Paradise Valley is Home to a Mountain of a Mummy

by Russ Lyonrealty Whoever heard of a mountain named after an Egyptian burial symbol?

Well, if you own a home in Paradise Valley, Arizona, Mummy Mountain is part and parcel of your daily life and visual landscape.

But how did this rugged mountain get its funky name?

Back in the day, this saguaro-studded mountain was known by some as Windy Gulch while others called it Horseshoe Mountain, but according to the Town of Paradise Valley website, it was long-time resident Charlie Mieg who finally named it Mummy Mountain. Charlie, a Swiss by birth, made his money in real estate and banking in New York City. Later, he continued to hit it rich in Florida, before relocating to Arizona in the early 1940s and making his home in the area that would become Scottsdale and Paradise Valley.

Good old Charlie, who was now prospecting for gold, was so enamored by the barren beauty of the area that it is said he borrowed $8,000 of the $12,000 purchase price from his mother-in-law so that he could purchase real estate all along the north and east sides of Windy Gulch. You see, in addition to being a miner, Charlie was a savvy businessman. He knew that the mountain views were exceptional, and that people would some day want to build homes in the valley. Ergo, he tossed off his miner?s hardhat and went back into the real estate biz so he could sell parcels of land from all around his mountain property.

Okay, finally, we?re getting to the part about the mummy. The historical grapevine has it that Mieg felt ?Horseshoe Mountain? and ?Windy Gulch? weren?t particularly sexy and didn?t have much marketing appeal. One day, he took a long look and decided that the mountain closely resembled an Egyptian mummy lying down, and apparently believing that a more interesting name would help sell his properties, voila - Mummy Mountain was born.

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Created on Dec 31st 1969 18:00. Viewed 0 times.

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