Douglas

City of Douglas, Arizona
—  City  —
Lobby of Gadsden Hotel, Douglas
Location in Cochise County and the state of Arizona
Coordinates: 31°20′42″N 109°32′29″W / 31.345°N 109.54139°W / 31.345; -109.54139
Country	United States
State	Arizona
County	Cochise
Incorporated	May 15, 1905
Government
- Type	City
- Mayor	Dr Mike Gomez
Area
- Total	7.7 sq mi (20.0 km2)
- Land	7.7 sq mi (20.0 km2)
- Water	0.3 sq mi (0.6 km2)
Elevation	4,006 ft (1,221 m)
Population (2008)[1]
- Total	20,316
- Density	1,852.7/sq mi (715.3/km2)
Time zone	MST (no DST) (UTC-7)
ZIP codes	85607, 85608, 85655
Area code(s)	520
FIPS code
Website	www.douglasaz.gov

Douglas is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, USA. Douglas has a border crossing with Mexico and a history of mining.

The population was 14,312 at the 2000 census. According to 2008 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 20,316.^[2]

Geography

Douglas is located at 31°20′42″N 109°32′29″W / 31.345°N 109.54139°W / 31.345; -109.54139 (31.344911, -109.541376).^[3]

Douglas stands on the U.S.-Mexico border, across from the city of Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico.

History

Panoramic view in 1904

Douglas was founded as a smelter town, to treat the copper ores of nearby Bisbee, Arizona. The town is named after mining pioneer James Douglas. Two copper smelters operated at the site. The Calumet and Arizona Company Smelter was built in 1902. The Copper Queen operated in Douglas from 1904 until 1931, when the Phelps Dodge Corporation purchased the Calumet and Arizona Company and took over their smelter. The Calumet and Arizona smelter then became the Douglas Reduction Works. Douglas was the site of the Phelps-Dodge Corporation Douglas Reduction Works until its closure in 1987. The smoke stacks of the smelter were not taken down until January 13, 1991.

The town was a site of the Arizona Copper Mine Strike of 1983.

The "Cowboys Home Saloon " was the location of the fatal shooting of bar owner Lorenzo "Lon" Bass. The accused was Arizona Ranger William W. Webb. The date was February 8, 1903. A full report can be read in The Arizona Rangers by Bill ONeal pub, Eakin Press Austin Texas.

Growth

Douglas has experienced growth both residential and economic. Construction has completed on a new call center called Advance Call Center Technologies (ACT) which will bring 700 new jobs to the city. Douglas has also seen construction on a new Carl's Jr., Aaron's Furniture,and a Best Western 69-room three-story hotel projected to open in June 2009. The city has also approved a Hampton Inn hotel next to the Best Western. One home project in Douglas is Rancho Perilla Estates, a 500-acre development for more than 1000 new homes,a gas station, and retail stores. Another home development is the Coronado Hills currently with about 60 houses. There is also an approved new border entry with nine entrances, including for commercial trucks; construction is planned for 2012. Over the past four years 5th St. has been covered with fast food restaurants and retail shops.

Rancho Perilla Estates

Climate

Douglas has a semi-arid steppe climate, which is less hot and more rainy than a typical arid climate classification. In the winter months, Douglas 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 97°F (35°C). Nighttime lows for the summer months remain in the upper 50s and lower 60s for the duration of the season. June and July typically see eight inches or more of combined rainfall, which brings the average annual precipitation for Douglas to about 19 in (483 mm).

Douglas' all-time highest recorded temperature is 111°F which was reached on July, 1905. The all-time lowest recorded temperature that thermometers dipped to was -7°F , which occurred on January, 1913.

Sights

Also see Chiricahua National Monument

Chiricahua Mountains

Douglas is home to the historic Gadsden Hotel, which opened in 1907. Named for the Gadsden Purchase, the stately five-story, 160-room hotel became a home away from home for cattlemen, ranchers, miners, and businessmen. The hotel was leveled by fire and rebuilt in 1929. The Gadsden is recognized as a National Historic Site. The Gadsden's spacious main lobby is majestically set with a solid white Italian marble staircase and four soaring marble columns. An authentic Tiffany & Co. stained glass mural extends forty-two feet across one wall of the massive mezzanine. An impressive oil painting by Audley Jean Nichols is just below the Tiffany window. Vaulted stained glass skylights run the full length of the lobby.

• San Bernardino Ranch

The San Bernardino Ranch, was originally established in Mexico and covered thousands of acres. The new US-Mexico border of the Gadsden Purchase sliced through the ranch, thus reducing its US size. It is still called San Bernardino Ranch today (2009), but is still affectionately called "Slaughter's Ranch" almost 100 years after the death of John Slaughter, the owner in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

"Centuries before the first white explorers discovered the land now called Arizona, this fertile valley served as a major corridor for migrating Indians. In time, the grasses and streams attracted wandering Athabaskan peoples, the Apaches, who would prove so troublesome to Anglo-American pioneers. Next to arrive were the Spanish, in an imperial procession of conquistadors, missionaries, soldiers, colonists. Although Slaughter was born in Louisiana, his family moved to Texas when he was a baby where they were known for their huge cattle ranches. Slaughter became acquainted with the ways of the Indian growing up and became an excellent tracker and marksman which proved valuable in later life. Slaughter was small in stature but that did not deter him from becoming a man to be feared and respected by those on the side of the law—and by those who were not—when he was elected Sheriff of Cochise County in 1886. In 1822, an original Mexican land grant of 73,240 acres (296.4 km²) was sold to Ignacio Perez for 90 pesos plus fees. An earthquake in 1887 destroyed the original buildings which Slaughter had built for his in-laws. After his second term as sheriff, he moved to the ranch and the present house was built in 1893. "Our future lay within it and it was beautiful."^{[citation needed]} Little did she realize the impact her husband and this ranch would have for generations to come. It became a beautiful oasis in the desert.

• El Paso and Southwestern Railroad depot was an important train station. It transported copper to large manufacturing concerns in the east. The depot is considered one of the finest examples of railway architecture of the early 1900s. The building is now used for the Douglas police station and is just one of 400 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Douglas.

• The Douglas Grand Theatre was built in 1919 and was the largest and most beautiful theater between Los Angeles and San Antonio. Ginger Rogers, Anna Pavlova and John Philip Sousa are some of the famous faces to have graced the theater’s stage. It also housed a tea room, candy store and barbershop in its glory days. For several Halloweens the Grand Theater was used as a "Haunted House" attraction. Today (2009) the theater is undergoing reconstruction, using private donations of money, supplies and labor.

Notable residents

• "Texas John" Slaughter, Cochise County Sheriff (1886-1896), rancher, gunfighter, cattleman, businessman, community leader in Douglas' early years, and a champion for Arizona's statehood. He and his wife Viola are buried in Calvary Cemetery in Douglas.
• Western songwriter Stan Jones, (June 14, 1914 to December 13, 1963) who wrote "Ghost Riders in the Sky," and is in the Western Music Association Hall of Fame, was born and raised in Douglas.
• Bill Melendez, born Jose Cuauhtemoc Melendez in Mexico in 1916, was educated in the public schools of Douglas as a child. A character animator, film producer and film director, he is best known for his work as the voice of Snoopy in the Charlie Brown series.
• Manny Farber, an iconoclastic stylist who achieved prominence first as film critic and later as a painter was born in Douglas in 1917.
• Effie Anderson Smith, also known as Mrs. A.Y. Smith (1869-1955), an early Arizona Impressionist painter of desert landscapes around Cochise County, and especially of the Grand Canyon. Often referred to in newspaper and magazine articles of the period as the "Dean of Arizona Women Artists".
• Thornton Wilder, the Pulitzer Prize winning playwright and novelist, once made Douglas his temporary home. He started his longest novel, The Eighth Day while living in Douglas. On his initial visit to the city, he stayed at the historic Gadsden Hotel.^{[citation needed]}

Demographics

As of the census^[4] of 2000, there were 14,312 people, 4,526 households, and 3,453 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,852.7 people per square mile (715.8/km²). There were 5,186 housing units at an average density of 671.3/sq mi (259.4/km²). Hispanic 86.0%,Other race 31.8%,White Non-Hispanic 12.1%,Two or more races 2.9%,American Indian 1.3%. There were 4,526 households out of which 42.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.1% were married couples living together, 22.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.7% were non-families. 21.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.07 and the average family size was 3.59.

In the city the population was spread out with 33.5% under the age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 25.0% from 25 to 44, 18.6% from 45 to 64, and 13.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 92.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $20,567, and the median income for a family was $22,425. Males had a median income of $25,320 versus $18,447 for females. The per capita income for the city was $10,232. About 32.1% of families and 36.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 49.0% of those under age 18 and 21.7% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

• Douglas, AZ website
• The Douglas Daily Dispatch
• CityData
• The Smelter City of the Southwest, National Magazine, July 1905 (with historic photos)

• Douglas, Arizona is at coordinates 31°20′42″N 109°32′29″W / 31.344911°N 109.541376°W / 31.344911; -109.541376 (Douglas, Arizona)Coordinates: 31°20′42″N 109°32′29″W / 31.344911°N 109.541376°W / 31.344911; -109.541376 (Douglas, Arizona)

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