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'Nogales' is a city in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States. The population was 20,878 at the 2000 census. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 20,833. Annual Estimates of the Population for All Incorporated Places in Arizona The city is the county seat of Santa Cruz County.
Nogales, Arizona, borders the city of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico and is Arizona's largest international border town. The southern terminus of Interstate 19 is located in Nogales at the U.S.-Mexico border; the highway continues south into Mexico as Mexico Federal Highway 15.
The origin of the city's name is obscure: the Spanish name of the place means "walnuts", and walnut trees can still be found around the town. The city is known in O'odham as ''Nowa:l''.

Contents

Geography

Economy

Demographics

Notable natives

Trivia

References

External links

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 53.9 km² (20.8 mi²), all land.
Elevation: 3,865 ft.

Economy

Most of Nogales' economy is based on agribusiness and produce distributors, all of which comes from large farms in the Mexican agri-belt. Despite its small population, Nogales actually receives much patronage from its bordering sister-city, Nogales, Sonora. Although recent census estimates in Mexico are commonly inaccurate, most observers guess the population of Nogales, Sonora at roughly 500,000 inhabitants.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 20,878 people, 5,985 households, and 4,937 families residing in the city. The population density was 387.0/km² (1,002.1/mi²). There were 6,501 housing units at an average density of 120.5/km² (312.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 77.83% White, 0.37% Black or African American, 0.57% Native American, 0.32% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 17.97% from other races, and 2.86% from two or more races. 93.59% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 5,985 households out of which 47.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.3% were married couples living together, 21.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 17.5% were non-families. 15.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.45 and the average family size was 3.86.
In the city the population was spread out with 34.6% under the age of 18, 9.5% from 18 to 24, 25.5% from 25 to 44, 19.5% from 45 to 64, and 10.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 88.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $22,306, and the median income for a family was $24,637. Males had a median income of $24,636 versus $18,403 for females. The per capita income for the city was $10,178. About 30.8% of families and 33.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 41.2% of those under age 18 and 32.9% of those age 65 or over.

Notable natives

★ Dr. Ootist Arana - Television personality, hair regrowth specialist. b. 5/23/1965.

★ Thomas Aranda, Jr. - Uruguay Ambassador 1981-85, b. 4/9/1934.

★ Bob Baffert - Champion Horse breeder and trainer, b. 1/13/1953.

★ Andrew Leo Bettwy - Arizona State Land Commissioner 1970-78, b. 5/31/1920, d. 12/1/2004.

★ Cesar Canez - Rear Admiral, Mexican Naval Reserve.

★ Travis Edmonson - of 1960's influential fold duo "Bud & Travis," b. 9/23/1932.

★ Christine McIntyre - Hollywood support actress. Starred in 22 feature films. Most notably as a steady supporting character for Three Stooges motion pictures from 1944 through 1950, b. 4/16/1911, d. 7/4/1984.

★ Charles Mingus - Jazz bass player, composer, and bandleader, b. 4/22/1922 in Nogales, d. 1/5/1979.

★ Roger Smith - Husband to Movie star Ann Margret

★ José Canchola - first Hispanic McDonald's franchise owner, philanthropist.

Trivia

In 1917 Nogales was the site of the last engagement in the Indian Wars.
The Santa Cruz County Historical Courthouse on Morley Street/Court Street has the statue of Lady Justice on top of the building. Lady Justice is supposed to have a blindfold on holding the scales of justice. This symbolizes that justice is blind. The Nogales version of Lady Justice is not wearing a blindfold.
The name "Nogales" is derived from the Spanish word for "Walnut" or "Walnut tree." It refers to the large stands of walnut trees that once stood in the mountain pass where Nogales is located.
Nogales, Arizona was the filming location for the motion picture version of the musical ''Oklahoma!'' (1955). Nogales was chosen because the it looked more like turn-of-the-century Oklahoma (when the musical is set) more than anywhere in Oklahoma did at that time. Oklahoma itself had apparently become far too developed by 1955. Nogales, Arizona was made an "honorary" part of the state of Oklahoma for the duration of the film shoot by order of the governor of Arizona.
Nogales was also known as ''Isaacson''. In 1880, Russian immigrant Jacob Isaacson built a trading post at present-day Nogales. The U.S. Postal Service opened the Isaacson Post Office but renamed it to Nogales in 1883.
A small part of William Gibson's ''The Gernsback Continuum'' short story is referred to the city of Nogales.

References

Nogales, Sonora, the "twin city" to Nogales, Arizona was filmed in part as the city of Tijuana, Mexico in the film "Traffic" starring Catherine Zeta Jones.

External links

★ Nogales-Santa Cruz County Chamber of Commerce

★ Official government website

★ Nogales Unified School District

★ Nogales International Newspaper

★ Photo gallery of past mayors of Nogales, Arizona