duncan arizona sundown town

Many of the buildings along Route 66 are physical evidence of racial discrimination, providing a rich opportunity to reexamine Americas story of segregation, black migration, and the rise of the black leisure class. Knowing better than to say it was his, Rons father pretended to be a chauffeur. In 1956, 11-year-old William Flanagan was on his way to a little league baseball game and came across a black truck driver who was stranded and in need of food. The site of contemporary Duncan had its origin sometime in the 1870s. Birders report seeing common black-hawk, canyon wren, and ladderbacked woodpecker among others. Dr. John Aden is the Executive Director of the African American Historical Society Museum in Fort Wayne. This practice started in the late 19th century, but the impact continues today. Mexico became independent from Spain in 1821. Principal Economic Activities Monday - Thursday She wants to talk about the current townspeople. Do you find this information helpful? She had no answer, or maybe she just didnt know how to explain institutional racism to a 7-year-old. Published Jul 25, 2022 8:52 pm Last updated Jul 25, 2022 8:52 pm. The onsite motel court was built during the war specifically to offer lodgings to black soldiersbut Pearl Bailey and Little Richard stayed there as well. Peoples of the Upper Gila River from Pre-History to the Present. The website is also a very good source for knowledge about the region. Cambridge University Press. It looks like a movie set. But Springfield at least was helpful, with 26 listings: 13 tourist homes, four taverns, three beauty parlors, two service stations, and one restaurant, barbershop, drugstore, and hotel. Arizona is one of the top producers of citrus in the country. Leafy greens, cabbage, dates, melons, lemons, oranges, apples, potatoes and tomatoes are just some foods harvested from Arizonas nourishing soil. In the town, the population was spread out, with 35.2% under the age of 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 22.2% from 25 to 44, 21.2% from 45 to 64, and 10.8% who were 65 years of age or older. My name is George Stark and I am 42 years old. As we head back up the street on the other side, a thick berm of trees with cropland stretching away evokes the idea that children in T-shirts will play actual outside games when school ends for the day. A city at the center of several natural attractions, Safford is a haven for outdoor exploration and activities. Duncan (zip 85534)s population is 2,655 people. Published: Aug. 23, 2022 at 5:03 PM PDT. Office: (928) 865-4149Emergency: 911. There are primarily three reasons to visit Duncan. The site of contemporary Duncan had its origin sometime in the 1870s. The Gila River crested at a record-breaking 30.28 feet on Sunday night near Virden, New Mexico, a town just 7 miles from Duncan, Arizona. The town of Duncan in southeastern Arizona is under "mass evacuation" after the Gila River overflowed on Monday, reaching a "major flood stage" which . With the rail, settlement of the fertile, easily irrigated valley boomed. . If it does, I hope they appreciate it. [1][2][3][4], Francisco Vasquez de Coronado was a governor of a province in New Spain (in Mexico). However, all that is changing. The 40-acre ranch was situated on the edge of the Mojave Desert, with Joshua, yucca, and mesquite trees dotting the landscape. Of course, the Civil Rights Act did not fix racism, and discrimination persisted. Encyclopdia Britannica (11th ed.). A rustic service station with a genuinely old truck would invite them to clamber over it until their mothers call them home to supper. [1][2][11][4][9], Duncan had its origin on the north bank of the San Francisco River where two men, whose surname was Purdy, established a way station on the ore haulage line that ran between Clifton and Silver City, New Mexico. Arizona Highways 2039 W Lewis Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85009 602.712.2200. Cattle and calves and dairy are leading Arizona ag products, with cotton, lettuce and hay positioned as top-produced crops. Duncan belongs to the Gila, the storied river of the west, the ageless natural highway whose passage through the mountain and desert southwest has served humankind since prehistoric times. prehistoric times. The name derives from the posted and verbal warnings issued to Blacks that although they might be allowed to work or travel in a community during the daytime, they must leave by sundown. Nature & Wildlife Areas, Scenic Walking Areas. History and Social Justice Website Copyright 2023, Using Lies My Teacher Told Me and Teaching What Really Happened, Resources for Teaching with Lies My Teacher Told Me, Teachers Corner: Teaching with Lies My Teacher Told Me, Contact Jim Loewen to Speak to Your Group, Causing Change With Lies My Teacher Told Me, Works Inspired or Influenced by Lies My Teacher Told Me, Useful Quotations about History and Social Justice, Native American Issues, Including the Explorers, Teaching Slavery, the Civil War, and Reconstruction, Civil Rights Movement to Modern Times: c. 1945 Now, Alphabetical Map of Sundown Towns by State, How to Research and Teach About Sundown Towns, Using Research Information to Help a Sundown Town Overcome Its Past, Loewens Work on Standardized Testing Used by Others, Embarrassing Questions about Standardized Tests. To avoid the humiliation of being turned away, they often traveled with portable toilets, bedding, gas cans, and ice coolers. Victor H. Green, a black postal worker from Harlem, New York, published his guide from 1936 until 1966. A quick history for those of you who may not knowhere in Minden, Nevada, this was known as a 'sundowner' town. Sometimes entire counties went sundown, usually when their county seats did. Read our Review here. The Purdy post office was relocated to the new location of Purdy and thus the settlement was renamed Duncan. I may be the only black woman to have written a travel guide about Route 66. Laws and policies that enforced racial exclusion have largely disappeared, but de facto sundown towns existed into the 1980s, and some may still be in evidence today. With the rail, settlement of the fertile, easily irrigated valley boomed. At that time, the town was located on the north bank of the Gila. But Americans should not be so quick to pat themselves on the backs just because, nowadays, black people can drive U.S. highways mostly without incident. Call 911 for emergencies, Greenlee County Sheriff's Department Businesses that served Black customers or hired Black employees would be boycotted by the white townspeople, ensuring that Blacks had few, if any, job opportunities in those communities. Simpson Hotel (former Hotel Hobbs) - 1914, River Front Lounge (former Bonnie Heather Bar/Pool Hall) - 1925, Old Duncan Bus Station now Hotel Duncan - 1920. The following historic structures are listed as contributing factors within Duncan. 928-381-1881. But, yes Prescott area is one of the whitest areas in this state. The public schools in Safford are above average. The National Park Service included the Threatt Filling Station on its National Register of Historic Places in 1995. The Anasazi are considered by historians to have been an advanced ancient native-American civilization. Carol McGrath, a Black woman, has lived in Glendale for 17 years and experienced racism as recently as two years ago. In Safford, the summers are sweltering and partly cloudy and the winters are cold, dry, and mostly clear. In 1930, 44 out of the 89 counties that lined Route 66 were all-white communities known as sundown townsplaces that banned black people from entering city limits after dark. Courtesy Gilpin County Historical Society. The town of Duncan was actually established in 1883 with the coming of the railroad, but the early settlement here was started in the 1870s along the Gila River on an important stage & freight route. For black soldiers stationed at Fort Leonard Wood near Rolla, Missouri, for example, their best option for a little R&R was a full 80 miles away: Grahams Rib Station in Springfield, Missouri, an integrated local landmark that opened in 1932 and was owned by an African American couple, James and Zelma Graham. The city council of New Lying five miles from the New Mexico border, in the deep southeastern corner of Greenlee County, Duncan seems a world away from the wild mountains surrounding it. It will guide you to more than 50 points of historical interest.The Visitor Center shares space with an interesting little shop called Country Chic Art Gallery & Crafts Boutique at 205 SE Old West Highway: 928-359-1955. The existence of sundown towns has been recirculating on Black Twitter. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 35F to 101F and is rarely below 26F or above 107F. Remembering James W. Loewen Duncan Arizona Basic Information Type of Place Independent City or Town Metro Area Politics c. 1860? Required fields are marked *. A small donation would help us keep this available to all. Click HERE to see some of the interesting places not far from Duncan. Segregation was in full force throughout the country. They began to proliferate during the Great Migration, starting in about 1910, when large numbers of African Americans left the South to escape racism and poverty. [4] U.S. Route 70 passes through downtown, leading west 39 miles (63km) to Safford, Arizona, and southeast 35 miles (56km) to Lordsburg, New Mexico, and Interstate 10. In 1930, the black columnist George Schuyler wrote, Blacks who drove expensive cars offended white sensibilities, and some black people kept to older models so as not to give the dangerous impression of being above themselves., In the 1950s, my stepfather, Ron, experienced this firsthand as a child. And, although its no longer open to the public, the building still stands. Cliftons closed for a few years starting in 2011 to undergo a $10 million renovation before reopening last year. All manner of black and white celebrities visited, from Lena Horne and Joe Louis to Hedda Hopper and Clara Bow. What makes Route 66 different is that the open-road branding associated with it celebrated a time when black Americans had to navigate racial violence and the Jim Crow policies that shut them out of businesses and recreational sites. Graham. It is an entire community (or even county) that for decades was "all white" on purpose. Eventually the Apaches, who were hunters, gatherers, and raiders, would become the dominant native-American force. CANNOT RECOGNIZE What county is Safford AZ in? As a professional camping teacher I can tell you a lot of important things you should know for your nextcamping trip. At that time, the town was located on the north bank of the Gila. In fact, even before Route 66 was officially connected and enshrined, the roads that would come to form it linked one atrocity to the next. I only learned about the Green Book after being commissioned to write a Moon Series travel guide on Route 66. But only Duncan hurtles me into the 1960s, in the best way. Between the 1890s and the 1940s, Sundown Towns became a popular trend in Northern states. Alot of small Arizona towns have qualities of bygone years: frontier days, Victorian homes. Greenlee County Sheriff's Department Office: (928) 865-4149 Emergency: 911 Automobile travel symbolized freedom in America, and the Green Book was a resourceful, innovative solution to a horrific problem. The sundown town practices existed in Glendale until the 1990s, according to Peterson. Bank of Duncan - built in 1908 and located in 118 Main Street. [2] In 2018 the estimated population was 789.[3]. Surrounding smaller towns such as Franklin and York in Arizona and Virden, New Mexico, use Duncan public works and public schools. Town Hall 506 SE Old West Hwy Duncan, Arizona 85534. Rainfall is generally scanty outside of the monsoon season, with substantial falls from winter storms being very rare, although December 1991 did see 4.76 inches or 120.9 millimetres of rain. Then, a battered wooden sign for the Stage Stop Mini Mart & Liquor Store advertises gas priced a good 50 cents less per gallon than city prices. The town of Duncan has been destroyed twice by flood and once by fire. If you were black and didnt have this information, how would you know where to go? Wildlife viewing is good year-round but birding is best during the spring and fall migrations or the summer nesting season. In 1930, 44 out of the 89 counties that lined Route 66 were all-white communities known as "sundown towns"places that banned black people from entering city limits after dark. The railroad stop in Duncan made the town a marketing center for farm produce and a shipping point for ore and cattle. With more hope than resources, Dust Bowl migrants and others escaping poverty caused by the Great Depression could motor west on Route 66 in search of a better life. From hot springs to sand dunes to rock fields, Safford brings together many features that make Arizona famous in one place, creating the perfect family vacation destination. Pearl Bailey ultimately bought the property in 1955 but sold it in the mid-1960s. Since the 1970s, the black male prison population has skyrocketed by 700 percent, and Justice Department data now predicts that one in three black male babies born in America will be incarcerated in their lifetimes. Havent tried the lasagna yet. In Nevada, Sundown Town History Has Cultural Impacts For Washoe Tribal Members. The Simpson Hotel has a wooden toy pony in a first-floor window. Ha, there's no Sundown Towns her in AZ. The median income for a household in the town was $27,368, and the median income for a family was $33,750. Glendale is the first city in CA to apologize for its history as a Sundown Town. How to start ultralight backpacking frugally? What are some of the best ultralight camping gear options? Green modeled his book after Jewish travel guides created for the Borsht Belt in the 1930s. Duncan receded then into a quiet farming and Whats the lightest weight backpacking gear youve used? The siren that sounds every day at noon and 5 p.m. in Minden, Nevada is associated with the town's discriminatory history excluding Native Americans. In the late 19th century, Chinese miners lived in the Dostal Alley section of Central City in Gilpin County, Colorado. Being a Sundown Town meant for decades, Blacks and other groups were prevented from being out at night. This may be a regrettable fact to the Negroes, but it is nevertheless a fact, and must be reckoned with [T]he Negroes could make a definite contribution to good race relationship by remaining away from beaches where their presence is resented. How do I convince my parents that I dont want to go camping? No franchises. Duncan is a small farming town 5 miles west of the New Mexico border on Hwy 70 (Old West Highway). At that time, American soldiers fought for human rights overseas, but the troops were still segregated at home. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was born in El Paso, Texas, but grew up near Duncan on the Lazy B ranch, which straddles the border between Arizona and New Mexico. Soon Duncan was shipping far beyond the Southwest, to markets north and east. Shes been cutting her own meat in her two-room enterprise for 14 years. The vast American landscape meant long, lonely stretches of perilously empty roads, and places like Grahams and other Green Book properties were vital sources of refuge. Freeport-McMoRan is the largest area employer. station on an ore haulage line that linked the railhead in Clifton with Silver City, New Mexico. In the 1940s, Edmond, Oklahoma promoted itself on postcards with the slogan, A Good Place to LiveNo Negroes. The town of Mena, Arkansas advertised its many charms: Cool Summers, Mild Winters, No Blizzards, No Negroes. In other cases, the policy was enforced through less formal norms and sanctions. Duncan receded then into a quiet farming and ranching town for several decades, and its downtown slowly disintegrated. More generally, sundown town is used to describe a place where the resident population was through deliberate action made to be overwhelmingly composed of white people. Duncan might attract people who now realize they can work remotely from anywhere. The most dangerous cities in Arizona include Winslow, Page, Tolleson, Tucson, and more. 1 weather alerts 1 closings/delays Watch Now Just one year before construction on Route 66 began, the Chicago Tribune suggested in an editorial on August 29, 1925, that black people avoid recreational sites altogether: We should be doing no service to the Negroes if we did not point out that to a very large section of the white population the presence of a Negro, however well behaved, among white bathers is an irritation. [14] Also pictured is the antique town clock located in Spezia Square Park and the 1950 Chevrolet 6400 2-ton fire truck once used in Duncan. Black veterans were once blocked from taking advantage of the GI Bill, missing out on valuable educational resources. In 1930, for instance, 44 of the 89 counties along the famed Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles featured no motels or restaurants and prohibited Blacks from entering after dark. South of Phoenix, in Chandler, the Gila River Indian Community invites visitors to learn about the two tribesthe Akimel Ootham and the Pee Poshwho make up the community at the HuHugam Heritage Center, a museum filled with historical artifacts, rotating exhibitions and classes that educate the public about the . 506 SE Old West Hwy , Coronado Trail National Scenic Byway. You can get a self-guided walking tour map at the Duncan Visitor Center on the main highway through town. The most snowfall ever in Duncan was 15.0 inches or 0.38 metres during the record Western cold wave of January 1949. Terrorism is not new, and to think so is a grievous slight to the nations native peoples, to its multitudes of immigrants, and to its legions of black Americansall of whom have long been terrorized for calling America home. His family quarried the native sandstone on their homestead land to build the filling station, which bordered their property at the intersection of Route 66 and Pottawatomie Road. REGULAR TOWN MEETING MAY 11, 2023 AT 4:00 P.M. DUE TO NEW METER INSTALLS, OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS, YOU MAY EXPERIENCE MINOR ISSUES WITH WATER AVAILABILITY. Its now possibly the largest and most unusual cafeteria in the worldwith five floors of history and taxidermy and a giant fake redwood tree rising up through the center. "At that time, the Fire District was requested to . Sundown towns once drove out people of color or prohibited them from living within city limits. It is part of the Safford Micropolitan Statistical Area. The Duncan Pride Society has identified various structures as significantly historical. "Mass evacuations" were . O'Connor later wrote a book titled Lazy B: Growing up on a Cattle Ranch in the American Southwest about her childhood experiences on the ranch with her brother H. Alan Day. Lordsburg, New Mexico, to meet the Southern Pacific line. While you might not find big-town amenities here, you will discover. (Excluding Federal Holidays) Even once black travelers reached a multiracial city, such as Albuquerque, New Mexico, only 6 percent of the more than 100 motels along Albuquerques slice of Route 66 admitted them. This is why the cover of the Green Book warned, Always Carry Your Green Book With YouYou May Need It. In Chicago, for example, there were no Green Book businesses on Route 66 at all for nearly three decades. There are 10 cities in Arizona that stand out for their crime rates, so let's take a look at them and see which cities you should avoid. But the current passion for gentrification and suburban sprawl is expunging the past: Most Green Book properties have been razed and many more are slated for demolition. High Desert RV Park, High Street, 928-359-3030 Nine Rail RV Camp, Highway 75, 928-359-9107 Stephens RV Park, Madison Street off Highway 70, 928-359-2113. The conflict with the Apaches lasted 26 years. The farther west anyone traveled, the fewer services were availablefor white people and especially for black people. For black Americans who hit the road with a copy of the Green Book, a guide expressly created to keep them safe in a wildly perilous landscape, they surely already understood that the hopeful Mark Twain quote gracing almost every Green Book coverTravel is fatal to prejudicewas purely aspirational. The motor lodge was slated for demolition when the city purchased it in 2003. News Arizona Flash Floods Flooding Weather. The town of Duncan was actually established in 1883 with the coming of the railroad, but the early settlement here was started in the 1870s along the Gila River on an important stage & freight route. He failed in his mission. Willcox is home to the Cowboy Hall of Fame, the Chiricahua Regional Museum and Research Center, and the Rex Allen Museum. Sundown towns, or grey towns, were all-white neighborhoods in the United States that used discriminatory local laws, intimidation, or violence to keep their town all-white. Learn More >. Take, for example, one violent night in 1906 in Springfield, Missouri, which would soon become the birthplace of Route 66; though the road starts out in Chicago, the route was officially designated as 66 in Springfield. Although 6 million black people hit the road to escape the Jim Crow South, they quickly learned that Jim Crow had no borders. The following is in accordance to the NRHP: Applicable Criteria: Architecture/Engineering Person; Architectural Styles: Queen Anne; Areas Of Significance: Commerce, Architecture; Periods Of Significance: 19001924[16] Sandra Day OConnor, the first female justice of the United States Supreme Court, grew up on the Lazy B, a cattle ranch near Duncan.[17]. It was not uncommon for Black motorists passing through these communities to be followed by police or local residents to the city limits. The society's first project was Spezia Square, placed on a historical corner located on the Old West Highway. Sundown Towns are all-white communities, neighborhoods, or counties that exclude Blacks and other minorities through the use of discriminatory laws, harassment, and threats or use of violence. Simpson Hotel. The other room of Hildas kingdom is a diner. The original ownera white man, a Christian, and the son of missionariesClifford Clinton, had traveled with his parents to China, where he witnessed that countrys brutal and abject poverty firsthand. Unheard of by many, loved by everyone who calls it home. EASTERN ARIZONA Living in Safford offers residents a sparse suburban feel and most residents own their homes. [12][8][9][13], The Duncan Pride Society was established on March 8, 2001. Here are our recommendations for Things To Do In Duncan Arizona; plus dining, lodging, & local history. I said, Mom, isnt slavery over?, I said, Why are all of these black men in chains working in a field?. The new highway re-directed traffic away from Duncan and businesses began leaving the area. Greenlee County was created in 1909 and named for Mason Greenlee, who was an early settler in the Clifton area. Duncan is in the Gila River valley, four miles (6 km) west of the Arizona-New Mexico border. Those of Duncans 800 residents out today could not be any friendlier. (1911). The population density was 317.6 inhabitants per square mile (122.6/km2). The median age was 28 years. To accommodate the new "Arizona and New Mexico Railroad," the people of Purdy moved their settlement to the south bank of Sundown suburbs formed a little later, mostly from 1900 to 1968." Third, the Simpson Hotel B&B is located here. Alan Threatt Sr., a black man, owned the gas station and served black motorists from 1915 to the 1950s in Luther, Oklahoma. Tucson is located in the Sonoran Desert approximately 100 miles south of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the Mexico border. For much of the 20th century, thousands of all-white American towns forbade Black people from . Thats why the National Park Services Route 66 Preservation Program approached me in 2014 to document Green Book sites on Route 66 and to produce a short video. To accommodate the new Arizona and New Mexico Railroad, the people of Purdy moved their settlement to the south bank of the river and renamed it Duncan, after Duncan Smith, the managing director of the Arizona Copper Company. Researched, written and directed by esteemed Oklahoma storyteller DWe William s, the new play about a family's sundown town experience will debut at 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, June 9-11, at the Studio of the Sooner Theatre in downtown Norman. For every 100 females, there were 90.6 males. In 1883, a post office was established in Purdy. But, after a young black man was wrongfully accused of assaulting a white woman, an angry lynch mob broke out. In 2018 the estimated population was 789. But it was also the home of U.S. Sen. Everett Dirksen, whose support helped ensure the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The state of Arizona gave us our own license plate, and we'd like you to take us for a ride. Duncan is located in southern Greenlee County at 324333N 109552W / 32.72583N 109.09778W / 32.72583; -109.09778 (32.725828, -109.097686). In 1881 . One of the finest B&Bs in all of Southern Arizona. DUNCAN, Ariz. - Evacuation orders for a small eastern Arizona town have been lifted after heavy rain overflowed the Gila River, spilling water into portions of the area. Sept. 27, 2020. Gila Box Riparian National Conservation Area. The guide was published from 1936 to 1966, and at its height of popularity was used by two million people. It was one of the nations most devastating acts of terrorism against African Americans. My neighbor ladies and I walk every day, she says. Hover over the pictures in the slideshow above to see the captions. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town was 696. The Spanish-Pueblo Revival style of the building features a conference room with seven 20-foot murals painted by a Zuni artist. After being stopped by a sheriff while on vacation with his family, the sheriff asked Rons dad where he got the car. Compton was also very rural at this time. 25.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. Cliff dwellers, conquistadors, Apache warriors, mountain men, westering immigrants each in their time has traveled its banks. Citrus Trees: All Citrus Clinton followed what he called the Cafeteria Golden Rule. His menu read, Pay What You Wish and Dine Free Unless Delighted.. [1][2][4][8][9], In 1845, Mexico severed its relations with the United States because of the annexation of Texas by the United States. James W. Loewen, Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism (New York: The New Press, 2005); Candacy Taylor, The Roots of Route 66, The Atlantic, November 3, 2016, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/11/the-roots-of-route-66/506255/; Sundown Towns, Encyclopedia of Arkansas, https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/sundown-towns-3658/. Excellent pizza and calzones. And driving was the most popular pastime. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town was 696. In Safford there are a lot of parks. One in Alix, Arkansas, in the 1930s, for instance, read, N-r, Dont Let the Sun Go Down On You In Alix. Others stated, Whites Only After Dark. Many sundown towns used discriminatory housing covenants to ensure no non-white person would be allowed to purchase or rent a home. Arizona State Route 75 leads north from Duncan 28 miles (45km) to Clifton. Zinc and copper mines were established in the hills around Duncan. The book stayed in publication until 1967, three years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, which greatly reduced the number of sundown towns in America. He couldnt understand how America, a country with so much wealth, could allow its citizens to go hungry. Valley residents are using the day to educate others about the history of African Americans in Arizona. A rustic service station with a genuinely old truck would invite them to clamber over it until their mothers call them home to supper. Today, they still play a critical role in U.S. history, revealing the untold story of black travel. They named their home Duncan, after Duncan Smith, the companys managing director. Report to the President: Japanese-American Internment Sites Preservation. In the early 20th century, Bisbee was a mining town . For instance, the Ku Klux Klan ran Fantastic Caverns, a popular tourist site near Springfield. In his book, Loewen profiles three Indiana towns; Elwood, Huntington and Martinsville. Not when a struggle for social mobility continues to take a debilitating toll on black Americans. During a typical year 131.6 nights will fall below 32F (0C), but only 7.8 days fail to top 50F (10C), and there are only seven occurrences of nights falling to 0F (17.8C) or lower, notably on December 24, 1953, and January 11, 1962, when the record low of 2F (18.9C) was set. Next door, a half-moon sign announces that the turquoise front surrounded by cream-colored, textured brick houses the Bank of Duncan, established in 1908.
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