Yucca, Arizona

Yucca, Arizona
—  Unincorporated community  —
Water tank in Yucca, Arizona
State	Arizona
County	Mohave
Founded	1883
Population	282
Time zone	MST
ZIP codes	86438
Area code(s)	928

Yucca is an unincorporated community in Mohave County, Arizona, United States. Located along Interstate 40, it lies southwest of Kingman, just east of the southern section of the Black Mountains and west of the Hualapai and McCracken Mountains in the Sacramento Valley. Yucca has a ZIP Code of 86438; in 2000, the population of the 86438 ZCTA was 282. Students in Yucca attend schools in the Kingman Unified School District.

Location and climate

Yucca is located about 35 miles north of Lake Havasu City, Arizona; 33 miles southwest of Kingman, Arizona; and 45 miles east of Needles, California. The climate of Yucca is fairly moderate all year long with mild winter temperatures and cooler summers compared to other parts of the state. Summer temperatures may reach in the low 100's. In the winters, the temperatures may occasionally go into the low 20's. The average temperatures in the winter are usually 30-45 degrees (-1-7 degrees celsius) The sun shines throughout the winter with almost all the rain falling in the summer with tropical monsoons.

Yucca's average annual precipitation is 7.69 inches per year (195 millimeters)

The average low temperature is 53.7 degrees farenheit (12 degrees celsius)

The average high temperature is 87 degrees farenheit (30,5 degrees celsius)

History

Yucca started as an order office and water fill station for Atlantic and Pacific Railroad (affiliated with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway) in the 1880s. It was part of a rail line commissioned by congress spanning from St. Louis, Missouri to Needles, California. This rail line grew to be transcontinental and is a major freight corridor to Southern California.

During World War II, the United States Army Air Forces purchased 2,284 acres (9.24 km²) of land and developed the Yucca Army Airfield for training pilots. In 1954 the air base was purchased by Ford Motor Company and along with additional land, was turned into the Arizona Proving Ground comprising nearly 4,000 acres (16 km²). Chrysler purchased the proving grounds in November 2007 from Ford for $34.9 million.

Yucca became part of Route 66 in 1952 when the highway was realigned bypassing Oatman, Arizona. This was the heyday for the small town when motels, cafes, and a Whiting brothers truck stop operated. In the early 1970s Interstate 40 replaced the section of Route 66 going through Yucca. The motels and truck stop went out of business as people used facilities in larger Kingman, Arizona, and Needles, California. A small general store/cafe, post office, automotive service center, real estate office, and bar were the only retail businesses remaining by 2008.^{[citation needed]}

In 1997 a land exchange between the Santa Fe Railroad and the US Government of approximately 70,000 acres (280 km²) was completed just southwest of Yucca. Much of the land subsequently owned by the railroad was subdivided into typically 40-acre (160,000 m²) parcels and offered to the general public as the Stage Coach Trails development. This land has primarily been purchased by individuals for residential use or long term investment. Other smaller developments opened just north of Yucca in 2006. Over time these residential developments may spur renewed business growth in the area.