Yuma, Arizona

City of Yuma, Arizona
City
Old Yuma Post Office
Location of Yuma, Arizona
Country	United States
State	Arizona
County	Yuma
Incorporated	1914
Government
• Mayor	Lawrence K. Nelson (R)
Area
• Total	106.7 sq mi (276.4 km2)
• Land	106.7 sq mi (276.2 km2)
• Water	0.1 sq mi (0.2 km2)  0.07%
Elevation	138 ft (43 m)
Population  (2007)
• Total	88,687
• Density	726.8/sq mi (280.6/km2)
Time zone	UTC-7 (MST (no DST))
Area code	928
FIPS code	04-85540
Website	http://www.YumaAZ.gov/

Yuma is a city in and the county seatTemplate:GR of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The population of the city was 77,515 at the 2000 census, with a 2006 Census Bureau estimated population of 87,423.

Yuma is the principal city of the Yuma, Arizona Metropolitan Statistical Area, which consists of Yuma County. According to the United States Census Bureau, the 2007 estimated population of the Yuma MSA is 190,557, though more than 85,000 winter visitors make Yuma their winter residence.

History

Yuma Crossing and RR bridge in 1886. The bridge was built in 1877.

The area's first settlers were Native American tribes whose descendants now occupy the Cocopah and Quechan reservations. In 1540, expeditions under Hernando de Alarcon and Melchior Diaz visited the area and immediately saw the natural crossing of the Colorado River as an ideal spot for a city. Later military expeditions that crossed the Colorado River at the Yuma Crossing include Juan Bautista de Anza (1774), the Mormon Battalion (1848) and the California Column(1862).

Following the establishment of Fort Yuma, a town sprang up on the New Mexico (now Arizona) side of the Colorado. The townsite was duly registered in San Diego, which could not have been done if both banks of the Colorado River just below its junction with the Gila had not been recognized as being within the jurisdiction of the State of California. The county of San Diego collected taxes from there for many years. The town, initially called Colorado City was renamed Arizona City in 1858 and took the name Yuma in 1873.

Steamboats at Yuma Landing, ca. 1880

From the 1850s through the 1870s, the Yuma Crossing was known for its steamboat crossing, and spot for them to stop on the way up and down the river. The steamboats transported passengers and equipment for the various mines and military outposts. The Yuma Quartermaster Depot, today a state historic park, supplied all forts in present-day Arizona as well large parts of New Mexico, Colorado, New Mexico. Yuma served as the gateway to the new Republic (later State) of California, as it was one of the few natural spots to cross the very wide Colorado River.

The Southern Pacific Railroad bridged the river in 1870. Yuma became the county seat for the area in 1864.

Farm labor organizer Cesar Chavez was born immediately east of Yuma in 1927. Having spent most of his adult life in California, he died a few miles south of Yuma in the town of San Luis, Arizona in 1993.

Geography

Yuma is located at 32°41′32″N 114°36′55″W (32.692148, -114.615389)Template:GR, near the borders of California to the west and Mexico to the south, and just west of the Gila River's confluence with the Colorado.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 106.7 square miles (276.4 km²), of which, 106.6 square miles (276.2 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.2 km²) of it (0.07%) is water.

Climate

Yuma
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     0.4     70 46     0.3     75 49     0.3     80 53     0.1     87 58     0.1     95 65     0     104 73     0.2     107 81     0.6     106 81     0.3     101 75     0.3     90 64     0.1     77 52     0.4     69 46 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F █ Precipitation totals in inches Source: Weather.com / NWS
Metric conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     9.7     21 8     7.1     24 9     6.9     27 12     2.3     31 14     1.3     35 18     0.5     40 23     5.8     42 27     15     41 27     6.6     38 24     6.6     32 18     3.6     25 11     11     21 8 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °C █ Precipitation totals in mm

Yuma is one of the hottest cities of any size in the United States, with average July high temperatures of 107°F (42 °C). (By way of comparison, the corresponding figure for Death Valley is 115 °F.) Average January highs are around 70 °F (21 °C). According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Yuma is the sunniest place on earth. Of the possible 4,456 hours of daylight each year, the sun shines in Yuma for roughly 4,050 hours, or about 90% of the time. The near perfect flying weather year round attracts military interest in training their pilots here. On average Yuma receives about 3 inches of rain annually.

On July 28 1995 Yuma reached its all-time high at 124 °F (51 °C). The lowest recorded temperature fell to 13 °F (-11 °C) on the Yuma mesa in January 2007. The temperature fell to 13 °F (−11 °C) for approximately 2 hours and was detrimental to the many crops grown in and around Yuma. The crop that suffered the most damage was the citrus on the Yuma mesa, most notably the Lemon crop which suffered a 75 to 95% loss of not only crop, but trees and stated by the Arizona Department of Agriculture in a February 2007 report.

In 1997, the desert city sustained a full tropical storm after Hurricane Nora made landfall at the mouth of the Colorado River and quickly moved due north along it. The extraordinarily rare event cut power to 12,000 customers in Yuma, and dropped 3.59 inches or over 90mm of rain at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma.

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1870	1,144		—
1880	1,200		4.9%
1890	1,773		47.8%
1900	1,519		−14.3%
1910	2,914		91.8%
1920	4,237		45.4%
1930	4,892		15.5%
1940	5,325		8.9%
1950	9,145		71.7%
1960	23,974		162.2%
1970	29,007		21.0%
1980	42,481		46.5%
1990	56,966		34.1%
2000	77,515		36.1%
2007 (est.)	88,687

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 77,515 people, 26,649 households, and 19,613 families residing in the city. The population density was 726.8 people per square mile (280.6/km²). There were 34,475 housing units at an average density of 323.3/sq mi (124.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 68.33% White, 3.21% Black or African American, 1.51% Native American, 1.50% Asian, 0.19% Pacific Islander, 21.36% from other races, and 3.90% from two or more races. 45.67% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 26,649 households out of which 38.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.6% were married couples living together, 13.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.4% were non-families. 21.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.79 and the average family size was 3.27.

In the city the population was spread out with 29.6% under the age of 18, 11.9% from 18 to 24, 27.1% from 25 to 44, 17.5% from 45 to 64, and 13.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 99.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.2 males.

According to the 2006 American Community Survey estimate, the median income for a household in the city was $39,885, and the median income for a family was $41,588. Males had a median income of $35,440 versus $27,035 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,393. About 14.1% of families and 16.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.4% of those under age 18 and 13.9% of those age 65 or over. The high poverty rate may be due to unemployment, as Yuma tops CareerBuilder.com's list of 20 U.S. cities with the highest unemployment rates.

High unemployment remains an issue in Yuma. Citing April 2009 data, the Bureau of Labor Statistics ranked Yuma as #2 among the 13 U.S. cities that post unemployment rates above 15 percent. Yuma came in at 20.3 percent, under the 26.9 percent in El Centro, California. Yuma's agricultural workforce, which adjusts to the picking season, is cited as the reason for the high unemployment by the Arizona Department of Commerce.

Arts and culture

4th Avenue Junior High School

File:Pic 021.jpg

Desert near Yuma in 2005.

Yuma contains the historical Yuma Territorial Prison, the Yuma Quartermaster Depot State Historic Park (formerly known as the Yuma Crossing Historic Park), and a historic downtown area. Yuma is an Arizona Main Street City. Some of the scenes in the 2007 movie 3:10 to Yuma were filmed in Yuma.

Near Yuma are the Kofa Mountain Range and wildlife refuge, Martinez and Mittry Lakes, and the Algodones Dunes.

The city is also the location of the Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, which conducts an annual air show and many large-scale military exercises. There is also the Yuma Proving Ground, an Army base which tests new military equipment.

Another point of interest in Yuma is the Colorado River which runs along the north and west side of town dividing Arizona and California. Yuma is an important station for trucking industry movement of goods between California, Arizona, and Mexico.

The Rialto once owned a Kilgen pipe organ, one of the most glamorous and expensive pipe organs to have ever been made, historically; though originally it was played as an accompaniment to silent films, it has since been relocated to the Yuma Theater in Yuma, Arizona.

Sports

Yuma has a minor league ballpark, Desert Sun Stadium home to the Yuma Scorpions of the Golden Baseball League and site of home games of two (was four) teams for the Arizona Winter League. The San Diego Padres used the field as a spring training facility from 1969 until 1993. and a Japanese baseball team, the Yakult Swallows used the field for spring training for 20 years.

Education

The Yuma area has 9 high schools: Yuma Union High School (or simply Yuma High), Kofa High School, Cibola High School, the newly built Gila Ridge High School, the private Yuma Catholic High School and Calvary Baptist School, as well as the San Luis, Arizona area San Luis High School. Yuma also has two special program and charter high schools: Vista High School and YPIC Charter High School. Yuma has two main elementary school districts, District One and Crane District, which include several schools as well as junior high schools.

Arizona Western College is Yuma's community college serving primarily as a choice for transfer students and those with shorter career goals.

Northern Arizona University has a branch campus in Yuma.

Yuma is served by a main county library with several branches in nearby Somerton, AZ, Wellton, AZ and San Luis, AZ. A new main state of the art library is now open.

Transportation

• Yuma County Area Transit (YCAT)
• Yuma International Airport
• Yuma (Amtrak station)

Notable natives and residents

• Cesar Chavez
• Curley Culp
• Lou Dobbs
• Bengie Molina
• Cain Velasquez
• Mike Marshall (outfielder) Current Manager of the Yuma Scorpions. Won 2 World Series ring with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

See also

• Winterhaven, California
• Imperial Sand Dunes
• Yuma Territorial Prison

External links

• City of Yuma Website
• Yuma Convention and Visitors Bureau Website
• MCAS Yuma Official Website
• Yuma Stats
• Northern Arizona University, Yuma Campus