Call 911 for emergencies, Greenlee County Sheriff's Department DUNCAN, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) Dozens of residents of a small town in eastern Arizona have evacuated after the Gila River reached a major flood stage early Monday morning, spilling water into parts of . Peoples of the Upper Gila River from Pre-History to the Present. The town and area are primarily populated by ranchers and miners (especially from the Freeport-McMoran copper mines in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico). About 14.0% of families and 16.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.4% of those under age 18 and 23.2% of those age 65 or over. Some Detroit suburbs reckon with history as anti-Black 'sundown towns Additionally, citrus is a vital economic force, and the Grand Canyon State ranks second in the nation for cantaloupe, honeydew melons and lemon production. Greenlee County Sheriff's Department Office: (928) 865-4149 Emergency: 911 In extreme cases, hostility toward African Americans resulted in extrajudicial killing. 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. "He just came out of the woods to . There are primarily three reasons to visit Duncan. The most snowfall ever in Duncan was 15.0 inches or 0.38 metres during the record Western cold wave of January 1949. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.3 males. 'Mass evacuations' lifted in Duncan, Arizona amid flooding - FOX 10 Phoenix Victor H. Green, a black postal worker from Harlem, New York, published his guide from 1936 until 1966. As I paged through all the kitschy advertising of postwar suburban white families in Airstream Trailers and chrome-finned Chevys getting their kicks at campy Americana landmarks, I wondered: Where are the black people? sundown. Copyright 2023 Arizona Department of Transportation, State of Arizona. Birding and Wildlife in Duncan and Greenlee County, Arizona At that time, the town was located on the north bank of the Gila. They named their home Duncan, after Duncan Smith, the companys managing director. 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. This 2,440-mile Road of Dreams speckled with romantic and unconventional attractions symbolized a pathway to easier times. Black people who were caught in these sundown towns often faced threats of violence if they hadn't made their way to the Detroit border by sundown. I keep waiting for the present to swing a fist through the illusion. With the rail, settlement of the fertile, easily irrigated valley boomed. On day two, Martin Luther King led a march on Washington. Although the term most often refers to the forced exclusion of Blacks, the history of sundown towns also includes prohibitions against Jews, Native Americans, Chinese, Japanese, and other minority groups. 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. Sundown suburbs formed a little later, mostly from 1900 to 1968." Since 2020, it has had a population growth of 6.7%. Almost every level acre is under cultivation, thickets of cottonwood trees shelter old farmhouses and ranches, and cattle and horses seem to outnumber people. 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. Don't Know Unions, Organized Labor? Of course, the Civil Rights Act did not fix racism, and discrimination persisted. Later, Arizona Copper Co. money built a narrow-gauge railway from Clifton all the way to Lordsburg, New Mexico, and a grateful population moved from the northern bank of the river to the southern bank to accommodate the new railway. Ive estimated that nearly 75 percent of Green Book sites have been demolished or radically modified, and the majority that remain have fallen into disrepair, so its crucial to preserve whatever sites are left. "We didn't have Jim Crow [laws] here in California, but we did have sundown town laws," said Peterson . Willcox is home to the Cowboy Hall of Fame, the Chiricahua Regional Museum and Research Center, and the Rex Allen Museum. The site is on Gila River Indian Tribal land. Rich history of the Gila River Valley and the Town of Duncan, Arizona Businesses have earnest, hardworking signage. The citrus industry in Arizona even predates statehood by decades. 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. The 15 Most Dangerous Cities In Arizona: 2022's Ultimate List The first time we visited Duncan we were on a 3-day road trip that included Clifton & Morenci as well as Black Hills Back Country Byway. 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. The median income for a household in the town was $27,368, and the median income for a family was $33,750. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Duncan is in the Gila River valley, four miles (6 km) west of the Arizona-New Mexico border. Special Report: A Hidden History of Ozark Sundown Towns - KNWA FOX24 The Federal Housing Association redlined neighborhoods and denied loans to black people, preventing them from accessing wealth-building opportunities freely given to white people. And it is too early to celebrate the nations racial tolerance when ongoing racism and xenophobia is camouflaged under the banner of patriotism. She wants to talk about the current townspeople. Your email address will not be published. and last updated 10:00 AM, Sep 21, 2022. Duncan was founded in the mid 19th century, and the land was added to the United States as a part of the Mexican Cession. On Route 66, every mile was a minefield. Arizona north of the Gila River was taken by the United States under the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo at the end of the war. 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. Americas favorite highway usually evokes kitschy nostalgia. Cattle and calves and dairy are leading Arizona ag products, with cotton, lettuce and hay positioned as top-produced crops. African American History: Research Guides & Websites, Global African History: Research Guides & Websites, African American Scientists and Technicians of the Manhattan Project, Envoys, Diplomatic Ministers, & Ambassadors, Racial Conflict - Segregation/Integration, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/11/the-roots-of-route-66/506255/, https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/sundown-towns-3658/, Foundation, Organization, and Corporate Supporters. It serves as an excellent base from which to explore the surrounding countryside for several days. Arizona State Route 75 leads north from Duncan 28 miles (45km) to Clifton. DUNCAN, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) - The flooding that inundated the town of Duncan was made worse by the failure of a levee that was meant to protect the town of . In 2018 the estimated population was 789. Duncan High School (mascot: Wildkats; school colors: red, grey, and white) competes in many sports, but is renowned for their football team. 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. It was one of the few U.S. highways laid out diagonally, and it cut across the country like a shortcut to freedom. There are three different campgrounds for lakeside camping as well as fishing, bird watching and water activities. The colorful historic sites of Route 66 have been mostly lost to time and neglect. Background: The Gila River Relocation Center was located about 50 miles south of Phoenix and 9 miles west of Sacaton in Pinal County, Arizona. One month after flooding, town of Duncan still recovering At that time, the town was located on the north bank of the Gila. Sundown Town History Coalition for an Anti-Racist Glendale The median age was 28 years. Soon Duncan was shipping far beyond the Southwest, to markets north and east. 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. Arizonas location within the U.S. Gila County comprises the Payson, Arizona Micropolitan Statistical Area. Read our Review here. [15], An individual structure listed in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Benjamin F. Billingsley House listed on August 25, 1983, reference: #83002998. 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. Duncan is a small farming town 5 miles west of the New Mexico border on Hwy 70 (Old West Highway). That means places such as the Threatt Filling Station, a one-story sandstone bungalow with a slightly pitched and gabled roof, wide eaves, and a wooden door. 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. Conflicts between the Apaches and the advancing Anglo settlers resulted in a war known as the Apache Wars. On July 3, 1919, active members of the Army's segregated 10th Cavalry Regiment ("Buffalo Soldiers") were in Bisbee, Arizona, to participate in the town's Independence Day parade. In 1881 and 1882, when the Arizona Copper Company was formed at Clifton-Morenci, an influx of Scottish capital financed the building of a narrow-gauge railway from Clifton to Lordsburg, New Mexico, to meet the Southern Pacific line. How to start ultralight backpacking frugally? During a grisly lynching on Easter weekend, a vigilante white mob dragged Horace Duncan and Fred Coker to the town square, hanged them, burned their bodies while thousands watched, and then distributed their body parts among the crowd as keepsakes. If it does, I hope they appreciate it. In Safford, the summers are sweltering and partly cloudy and the winters are cold, dry, and mostly clear. In the Pulitzer Prizewinning The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of Americas Great Migration, the writer Isabel Wilkerson recounts Dr. Robert Fosters harrowing journey in the West, where he would fall asleep at the wheel from exhaustion simply because he had been turned away from every motel he stopped at for being black. But for black Americans, the Mother Roads lonely expanses were rife with danger. Duncan, Arizona 85534, Hours: How do I convince my parents that I dont want to go camping? The county seat is Globe. Well, first that Flagstaff doesn't make any of the pre-World War II editions.
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