Nogales, Arizona
Encyclopedia
Nogales is a city in Santa Cruz County
Santa Cruz County, Arizona
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*73.5% White*0.4% Black*0.7% Native American*0.5% Asian*0.0% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*2.0% Two or more races*22.9% Other races*82.8% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...

, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The population was 21,017 at the 2010 census. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 20,833. The city is the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....

 of Santa Cruz County
Santa Cruz County, Arizona
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*73.5% White*0.4% Black*0.7% Native American*0.5% Asian*0.0% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*2.0% Two or more races*22.9% Other races*82.8% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...

.

Nogales, Arizona, borders the city of Nogales
Nogales, Sonora
Heroica Nogales , more commonly known as Nogales, is a city and its surrounding municipality on the northern border of the Mexican State of Sonora. The municipality covers an area of 1,675 km², and borders to the north the city of Nogales, Arizona, United States, across the U.S.-Mexico border...

, Sonora
Sonora
Sonora officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities; the capital city is Hermosillo....

, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, and is Arizona's largest international border town. The southern terminus of Interstate 19
Interstate 19
Interstate 19 is an intrastate Interstate Highway located entirely within the state of Arizona. I-19 runs from Nogales, roughly 1,500 feet from the Mexican border, to Tucson, at Interstate 10...

 is located in Nogales at the U.S.-Mexico border; the highway continues south into Mexico as Mexico Federal Highway 15.

Known in O'odham
O'odham language
O'odham is an Uto-Aztecan language of southern Arizona and northern Sonora where the Tohono O'odham and Pima reside. As of the year 2000, there were estimated to be approximately 9750 speakers in the United States and Mexico combined, although there may be more due to underreporting...

 as Nowa:l, the name Nogales means "black walnuts" in Spanish, and the walnut trees which once grew abundantly in the mountain pass between the cities of Nogales, Arizona, and Nogales, Sonora, can still be found around the town.

Nogales is known for being one of the most heavily used entry points for illegal immigrants crossing into the U.S. from Mexico.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the city has a total area of 20.8 square miles (53.9 km²), all of it land.

Elevation: 3,865 ft (1.178 mts)

Climate

Nogales has a semi-arid
Semi-arid
A semi-arid climate or steppe climate describes climatic regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not extremely...

 steppe climate, which is less hot and more rainy than a typical arid
Arid
A region is said to be arid when it is characterized by a severe lack of available water, to the extent of hindering or even preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life...

 climate classification. In the winter months, Nogales averages in the mid to upper 60s, with both January and February averaging daily highs of 64°F (18°C). Lows typically settle just below the freezing mark (32°F/0°C) on a majority of nights, but it is not uncommon to see temperatures tumble below 25°F (-4°C) on some winter nights.

On the other hand, in the summer months, highs average between 90°F (32°C) and 100°F (38°C), with the month of June being the hottest with an average daytime high of 96°F (36°C). Nighttime lows for the summer months remain in the upper 50s and lower 60s for the duration of the season. July and August typically see eight inches or more of combined rainfall, which brings the average annual precipitation
Precipitation (meteorology)
In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation...

 for Nogales to about 19 in (483 mm).

Nogales' all-time highest recorded temperature is 112°F (44°C), which was reached on June 26, 1990. The lowest recorded temperature was -4°F (-20°C) on December 8, 1978.

History

The name "Nogales" is derived from the Spanish word for "walnut" or "walnut tree." It refers to the large stands of walnut trees that once stood in the mountain pass where Nogales is located.

Nogales was at the beginning of the 1775-1776 Juan Bautista de Anza
Juan Bautista de Anza
Juan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto was a Novo-Spanish explorer and Governor of New Mexico for the Spanish Empire.-Early life:...

 Expedition as it entered the present day U.S. from New Spain
New Spain
New Spain, formally called the Viceroyalty of New Spain , was a viceroyalty of the Spanish colonial empire, comprising primarily territories in what was known then as 'América Septentrional' or North America. Its capital was Mexico City, formerly Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire...

, and the town is now is on the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail
Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail
thumb|325px|MAP: [[Juan Bautista de Anza]] National Historic Trail routes in [[Arizona]] and [[California]].The Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail is a National Park Service unit in the United States National Historic Trail and National Millennium Trail programs...

. On the second floor of the 1904 Nogales Courthouse is a small room dedicated to the 1775-76 Anza Expedition.

In 1841, a land grant from the Mexican government to the Elías family established Los Nogales de Elías. Following the Gadsden purchase
Gadsden Purchase
The Gadsden Purchase is a region of present-day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico that was purchased by the United States in a treaty signed by James Gadsden, the American ambassador to Mexico at the time, on December 30, 1853. It was then ratified, with changes, by the U.S...

 in 1853, Nogales became a part of the United States of America. In 1880, Russian immigrant Jacob Isaacson built a trading post at present-day Nogales. The U.S. Postal Service opened the Isaacson post office but renamed it as Nogales in 1883.

On August 27, 1918, a battle
Battle of Ambos Nogales
The Battle of Ambos Nogales , or the Third Battle of Nogales, was an engagement fought on August 27, 1918 between United States Army forces, stationed in Nogales, Arizona, and the Carrancista garrison of Nogales, Sonora...

 between United States Army forces and a Mexican Army Garrison aided by German military advisors occurred.

Economy

Most of Nogales' economy is based on agribusiness
Agribusiness
In agriculture, agribusiness is a generic term for the various businesses involved in food production, including farming and contract farming, seed supply, agrichemicals, farm machinery, wholesale and distribution, processing, marketing, and retail sales....

 and produce distributors, which comes from large farms in the Mexican agri-belt. Despite its small population, Nogales actually receives much patronage from its bordering sister-city, Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. Most observers guess the population of Nogales, Sonora, at roughly 300,000. International commerce is a big part of Nogales’ economy. More than 60 percent of Nogales’ sales tax comes from Mexican shoppers crossing the border daily. Nogales, Arizona, and Nogales, Sonora, are home to one of the largest maquiladora
Maquiladora
A maquiladora or maquila is a concept often referred to as an operation that involves manufacturing in a country that is not the client's and as such has an interesting duty or tariff treatment...

 clusters. This enables American manufacturing plants on both sides of the border to take advantage of favorable wage and operating costs and excellent transportation and distribution networks.

The Consulate-General of El Salvador in Nogales
Diplomatic missions of El Salvador
This is a list of diplomatic missions of El Salvador, excluding honorary consulates. El Salvador is a small Central American country with a modest number of diplomatic missions abroad....

 is located in Suite 3 at 840 North Grand Avenue. The Consulate-General of Mexico in Nogales
Diplomatic missions of Mexico
This is a list of diplomatic missions of Mexico, excluding honorary consulates. Mexico's foreign service started in 1822, the year after the signing of the Treaty of Cordoba which marked the beginning of Mexico's independence...

 is located on 135 W. Cardwell St.,

Community Facilities

The city of Nogales has a wide range of community facilities. These include nine parks, a museum, an art gallery, a film theater, four recreation centers, four swimming pools, eight athletic fields, a library, six tennis courts and four golf courses. It has public elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools. Its financial institutions include six banks. Its governmental agencies include a staffed city and local fire department and a city police department. It is home to Nogales International Airport
Nogales International Airport
Nogales International Airport is a county-owned public-use airport located seven nautical miles northeast of the central business district of Nogales, a city in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States. It is also a port of entry into the United States...

, which includes a 7,200 ft. runway and a terminal with a customs facility, passenger waiting areas, and a coffee shop. It has three regional health care facilities.

Nogales is one of the few (if not the only) communities in the United States to operate school bus
School bus
A school bus is a type of bus designed and manufactured for student transport: carrying children and teenagers to and from school and school events...

es in city bus service. These buses are privately owned and operated, and are not subject to any oversight. Because of this, in 2008, the city of Nogales will provide new vehicles that have air conditioning and are compliant with all regulations.

Scenic Attractions

The county of Santa Cruz and the city of Nogales have 200 properties listed in the National Register of Historic Sites, including Tumacacori National Monument visited by Father Kino in 1691 and Tubac Presidio, established by the Spanish in 1752 on an Indian village site. Others include the Old Tubac Schoolhouse, Old Nogales City Hall, Santa Cruz County Courthouse, and Patagonia Railroad Depot. The Patgonia-Sonoita Creek Sanctuary, 19 miles east, attracts worldwide visitors to see its diverse bird life. It is also host to ghost towns and mining camps, curio shops, first-class restaurants and night clubs.

The Santa Cruz County Historical Courthouse on Morley Street/Court Street has the statue of Lady Justice
Lady Justice
Lady Justice |Dike]]) is an allegorical personification of the moral force in judicial systems.-Depiction:The personification of justice balancing the scales of truth and fairness dates back to the Goddess Maat, and later Isis, of ancient Egypt. The Hellenic deities Themis and Dike were later...

 on top of the building. The Nogales version of Lady Justice is not wearing a blindfold.

Demographics

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 20,878 people, 5,985 households, and 4,937 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 1,002.1 people per square mile (387.0/km²). There were 6,501 housing units at an average density of 312.0 per square mile (120.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 77.83% White
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, 0.37% Black
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

 or African American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, 0.57% Native American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, 0.32% Asian
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, 0.07% Pacific Islander
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, 17.97% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 2.86% from two or more races. 93.59% of the population were Hispanic
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

 or Latino
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

 of any race.

There were 5,985 households out of which 47.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.3% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 21.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 17.5% were non-families. 15.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.45 and the average family size was 3.86.

In the city, the population was spread out with 34.6% under the age of 18, 9.5% from 18 to 24, 25.5% from 25 to 44, 19.5% from 45 to 64, and 10.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 88.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $22,306, and the median income for a family was $24,637. Males had a median income of $24,636 versus $18,403 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the city was $10,178. About 30.8% of families and 33.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 41.2% of those under age 18 and 32.9% of those age 65 or over.
Historical figures
Year Population
1900 1,200
1940 5,100
1950 6,200
1960 7,300
1970 8,900
1980 15,700
1990 19,500
2000 20,900

City management

  • Mayor: Arturo Garino
On November 21, 2007, Mayor Ignacio Barraza died at the age of 38. He was the second mayor to die in office. Having not appointed a vice-mayor, Nogales lacked a clear line of succession for the office. In April 2008 Octavio Garcia-Von Borstel, 28, was named Mayor of the City of Nogales.
  • City Council:
    • Olga Valdez
    • Esther Melendez-Lopez
    • Ceasar Parrada
    • Nubar Hanessian
    • Arturo Garino

  • City Manager: Shane D. Dille
  • Assistant City Manager: John Kissinger
  • City Attorney: Joe Machado
  • City Clerk/City Treasurer: Leticia Robinson

Depiction in media

Nogales, Arizona, was the filming location for the motion picture version of the musical, Oklahoma! (1955). Nogales was chosen because it looked more like turn-of-the-century Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

 (when the musical is set) more than anywhere in Oklahoma did at that time. It was made an "honorary" part of the state of Oklahoma for the duration of the film shoot by order of the governor of Arizona.
A small part of William Gibson
William Gibson
William Gibson is an American-Canadian science fiction author.William Gibson may also refer to:-Association football:*Will Gibson , Scottish footballer...

's The Gernsback Continuum short story refers to the city of Nogales. Also, the 1951 biblical motion picture David and Bathsheba
David and Bathsheba
David and Bathsheba is a 1951 historical Technicolor epic film about King David made by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Henry King, produced by Darryl F. Zanuck, from a screenplay by Philip Dunne. The music score was by Alfred Newman and the cinematography by Leon Shamroy...

was filmed here.
Nogales was mentioned as a border crossing point in Carlos Castaneda
Carlos Castaneda
Carlos Castaneda was a Peruvian-born American anthropologist and author....

's "Don Juan" series, and a gateway into the Mexican Yaqui communities of Sonora. Nogales is also mentioned in Men in Black
Men in Black
Men in Black , in American popular culture and in UFO conspiracy theories, are men dressed in black suits who claim to be government agents who harass or threaten UFO witnesses to keep them quiet about what they have seen. It is sometimes implied that they may be aliens themselves...

and recently in a PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...

 video game advertisement: MAG. Massive Action Game.
Nogales is a locale for filming some of the TV reality documentary, "Border Wars". Nogales is discussed in Season 1, Episode 2 in detail (as it relates to the subject matter of the show).

Notable natives

  • Thomas Aranda, Jr. - US Ambassador to Uruguay
    Uruguay
    Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...

     1981-85, b. 4/9/1934.
  • Bob Baffert
    Bob Baffert
    Robert A. "Bob" Baffert is an American horse owner and trainer, whose horses have won three Kentucky Derbies, five Preakness Stakes, one Belmont Stakes and two Kentucky Oaks. He graduated from the University of Arizona's with a Bachelor of Science degree. -Early career:Bob Baffert began his...

     - Champion horse
    Horse
    The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...

     breeder and trainer, b. 1/13/1953.
  • Andrew Leo Bettwy
    Andrew Leo Bettwy
    Andrew Leo Bettwy, a Republican, served as Arizona State Land Commissioner from 1970 to 1978 under four Arizona governors.-Land Commissioner Years:...

     - Arizona State Land Commissioner
    Arizona State Land Commissioner
    The Arizona State Land Department is a department of the state government in the U.S. state of Arizona dedicated to the management of state-owned lands and property.-Mission statement:...

     1970-78, b. 5/31/1920, d. 12/1/2004.
  • Louis Arana Serratrice - Retired French professor, NHS Hall of Fame
  • José Canchola - Businessman, philanthropist. First Hispanic McDonald's franchise owner.
  • Movita Castaneda
    Movita Castaneda
    Maria "Movita" Castaneda is an American actress best known for being the second wife of actor Marlon Brando. She was six years older than Brando. In films, she played exotic women/singers, such as in Flying Down to Rio and Mutiny on the Bounty , of which she is the last surviving cast member....

     - Actress best known for being the second wife of actor Marlon Brando.
  • Gil Heredia
    Gil Heredia
    Gilbert Heredia is a former right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from 1991–1996 and 1998-2001.-External links:...

     - Ten year Major League Baseball pitcher and University of Arizona Sports Hall of Fame member. Born 1965.
  • Travis Edmonson
    Travis Edmonson
    Travis Edmonson was an American folk singer, who performed both as a soloist and in the group Bud and Travis.-Early life:...

     - of 1960's influential folk duo "Bud & Travis"
  • John Frederick (Jack) Hannah - Academy Award winning Disney Studios artist and director.
  • Elena Mix Johnson - b.1889 - d.1939, Still life and landscape artist.
  • Emilia Arana - Abstract artist.
  • Christine McIntyre
    Christine McIntyre
    Christine Cecilia McIntyre was an actress who appeared in many movies in the 1930s and 1940s but is mainly known as the beautiful blonde actress who appeared in many Three Stooges shorts produced by Columbia Pictures....

     - Actress. Starred in 22 feature films. Most notably as supporting character in Three Stooges films.
  • Charles Mingus
    Charles Mingus
    Charles Mingus Jr. was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.Mingus's compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop and drew heavily from black gospel music while sometimes drawing on elements of Third stream, free jazz, and classical music...

     - Jazz
    Jazz
    Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

     bass player, composer, and bandleader, b. 4/22/1922 in Nogales, d. 1/5/1979.
  • Alberto Alvaro Ríos - Author, poet. Won the 1981 Walt Whitman award for "Whispering to Fool the Wind"
  • Roger Smith
    Roger Smith (actor)
    Roger LaVerne Smith is an American television and film actor and screenwriter. He starred in the television detective series 77 Sunset Strip. He is married to the actress Ann-Margret.-Early life:...

     - Husband to Movie star Ann Margret
  • Verita Bouvaire-Thompson - Actress, hairdresser. Humphrey Bogart's mistress from 1942 to 1955.
  • J. (James) David Lowell - One of the world's most successful exploration geologists and is 2003's 30th recipient of the Penrose Gold Medal for outstanding contributions to economic geology. b. February 1928.
  • J.P.S. (Joseph Paul Summers) Brown - Journalist, Marine veteran, renowned cattleman, 1952 University of Notre Dame graduate and book author. Based on his own experiences, his two best known books from the 1970s "Jim Kane" (made into the film "Pocket Money" that starred Paul Newman and Lee Marvin) and "The Outfit" are classics today. b.1930.
  • Jack (John Woolf) O'Conner - The longtime firearms editor for "Outdoor Life" magazine, O'Connor hunted and collected trophies throughout the world, and introduced millions of readers to hunting and firearms. His influence, both directly and indirectly, on sporting and American sportsmen was considerable. b. January 22, 1902, d. January 20, 1978.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK