The Town of Queen Creek's name originated over a hundred miles away. Up in the eastern mountains surrounding the Town of Superior, the land is rich with supplies of ore. One of the many mines that opened up in those mountains was the Silver Queen. (Another was the Silver King, but it was later renamed the Magma Mine.) At the base of the Silver Queen Mine there was a creek known as the Picket Post Creek. It was named after the oddly shaped mountain above it (the one you can see today above the Boyce Thompson Arboretum). When the Silver Queen Mine opened for production, the name of the Picket Post Creek was changed to Queen Creek. That creek runs down from the mountains, past the mine, through the Queen Creek Canyon, into the area surrounding the present day Town of Queen Creek.

Before the scattered farm community was called Queen Creek, it had a different name. The area was known as Rittenhouse because of the railroad spur located near Rittenhouse and Ellsworth roads. People used to flag down the train to get a ride into Phoenix. As the community grew, and the use of the railroad stop diminished, the community changed its name and took on the name Queen Creek.

Today, the Town's General Plan calls for the preservation of the Queen Creek Wash and the Sonoqui Wash as public trails and open space. These washes are usually dry and home to many kinds of birds and wildlife. There might have been a time when the washes and the creeks throughout the valley had more water in them more often than they do today. But early in the 20th Century, a series of dams and reservoirs changed the waterways in the southwest. Today, during the rainy season, and when the dams release water from the reservoirs, the creek beds and washes still do fill up and the water will run, even through the Town of Queen Creek. And in the event of a 100-year flood, the washes and creeks will be important to keep the floodwater from damaging homes and property.