Editing Naco, Arizona

{{Short description|CDP in Cochise County, Arizona}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name            = Naco, Arizona
|settlement_type          = [[Census-designated place|CDP]]
|nickname                 = 
|motto                    =

<!-- Images -->
|image_skyline            = United States border at Naco, Mexico.jpg
|imagesize                = 250px
|image_caption            = US Customhouse at Naco, Arizona
|image_flag               = 
|image_seal               =

<!-- Maps -->
|image_map                = 
|mapsize                  = 250px
|map_caption              = Location of Naco, Arizona
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|map_caption1             = 
|pushpin_map              = Arizona#USA
|pushpin_label            = Naco
|pushpin_label_position   = top
|pushpin_map_caption      = Location in the United States
<!-- Location -->
| subdivision_type        = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
| subdivision_name        = {{USA}}
| subdivision_type1       = [[U.S. state|State]]
| subdivision_name1       = {{flag|Arizona}}
|subdivision_type2        = [[List of counties in Arizona|County]]
|subdivision_name2        = [[Cochise County, Arizona|Cochise]]
|government_footnotes     = 
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|leader_name1             = 
|established_title        = 
|established_date         =

<!-- Area -->
|unit_pref                = Imperial
|area_footnotes           = <ref name="CenPopGazetteer2020">{{cite web|title=2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2020_Gazetteer/2020_gaz_place_04.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=October 29, 2021}}</ref>
|area_magnitude           = 
|area_total_km2           = 8.37
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|area_total_sq_mi         = 3.23
|area_land_sq_mi          = 3.23
|area_water_sq_mi         = 0.00

<!-- Population -->
|population_as_of         = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
|population_footnotes     = 
|population_total         = 824
|population_density_km2   = 98.45
|population_density_sq_mi = 254.95
<!-- General information -->
|timezone                 = [[Mountain Time Zone|Mountain (MST)]]
|utc_offset               = -7
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|elevation_footnotes      = <ref name=gnis/>
|elevation_ft             = 4570
|coordinates              = {{coord|31|20|36|N|109|56|00|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title}}
|postal_code_type         = [[ZIP code]]
|postal_code              = 85620
|area_code                = [[Area code 520|520]]
|area_code_type           = [[North American Numbering Plan|Area code]]
|blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
|blank_info               = 04-48310
|blank1_name              = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank1_info              = 2408897<ref name=gnis>{{GNIS|2408897}}</ref>
|website                  = 
|footnotes                = 
}}
'''Naco''' is a [[census-designated place]] (CDP) located in [[Cochise County, Arizona|Cochise County]], [[Arizona]], United States. Naco had a recorded population of 1,046 at the [[2010 United States Census]]. Located directly across the [[United States–Mexico border]] from its sister city of [[Naco, Sonora]], Naco is best known for an accidental [[Bombing of Naco|1929 air raid]] and is the first and only municipality in the Continental United States to have been [[Aerial bombing of cities|aerially bombed]] by foreigners.<ref name="Price, pg. 63-67">{{cite book|last=Price|first=Ethel Jackson|title=Sierra Vista: Young City with a Past |publisher=Arcadia|year=2003|isbn=0738524344}}</ref>

==History==
The present-day unincorporated town of Naco, Arizona, was established in the early 20th century. The area was originally settled by the Nahua and [[Opata people|Opata]] Indians. ''Naco'' means "[[nopal]] cactus" in  the [[Opata language]].{{citation needed|date=February 2013}} The U.S. Congress officially established Naco as a [[Naco Arizona Port of Entry|Port of Entry]] on June 28, 1902.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Naco, Arizona Port of Entry: Archaeology on the Border|url=http://www.nps.gov/seac/naco/indexeng.htm|publisher=U.S. National Park Service|access-date=November 4, 2012}}</ref> Today, the [[Naco Arizona Port of Entry|Naco port of entry]] is open 24 hours per day.

Occasionally the people on both sides of the border use the border fence as the net in a [[volleyball]] game.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-mexico-volleyball-idUSN1421559720070414|title=Both teams at home in U.S.-Mexico border volleyball|date=April 14, 2007|work=Reuters|access-date=February 14, 2019|language=en}}</ref>

===1929 air raid===
The accidental 1929 [[Bombing of Naco]] by Irish-American mercenary [[Patrick Murphy (pilot)|Patrick Murphy]] is notable for being the first and only instance where a town in the Continental United States was bombed by aircraft working for a foreign power.<ref name="Price, pg. 63-67"/> The 1942 [[Lookout Air Raids]], when a Japanese [[floatplane]] pilot made two unsuccessful attempts to start forest fires in rural [[Oregon]], and the 1944-45 unmanned Fu-Go [[Fire balloon]] attacks, also by the Japanese, are the only other cases of the Continental United States enduring aerial bombing by a foreign power. Such events are exceptionally rare in American history because during 20th century conflicts, most notably [[World War I]] and [[World War II]], the continental United States escaped the large-scale [[Aerial bombing of cities|aerial bombings]] that devastated many Asian and European cities.

The background to the bombing of Naco started in early 1929, when José Gonzalo Escobar led a [[Escobar Rebellion|rebellion]] against the government of [[Emilio Portes Gil]]. Mexican federal troops dug in around [[Naco, Sonora|Naco]],

Patrick Murphy was an aviator who owned his own bi-winged airplane and performed tricks with it. Murphy decided to help the rebels by offering to build homemade bombs and drop them on federal positions. His offer was accepted by the rebels, who promised a reward.  Three of his bombs inadvertently landed on the Arizona side of the border, hitting various buildings in Naco.<ref name="natgeo">{{cite journal |date=May 2007 |title= U.S.-Mexico Border |journal= National Geographic |url= http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/05/us-mexican-border/bowden-text.html|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080803011725/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/05/us-mexican-border/bowden-text.html|url-status= dead|archive-date= August 3, 2008}}</ref><ref name="eppinga">{{cite book |title= Nogales: Life and Times on the Frontier |last= Eppinga |first= Jane |year=2002 |publisher= Arcadia Publishing |location=Ardmore, OK |isbn=0-7385-2405-0 |pages=212–213}}</ref>

==Geography==

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the CDP has a total area of {{convert|3.4|sqmi|km2}}, all  land.

==Attractions==
Naco was home to the Turquoise Valley Golf Course, the oldest continuously operated golf course in Arizona—the first to reach 100 continuous years of age.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.turquoisevalley.com/ |title=Welcome to Turquoise Valley |website=www.turquoisevalley.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991128174117/http://turquoisevalley.com/ |archive-date=November 28, 1999}}</ref> It was purchased from long time owner Pete Lawson by HGM Golf Enterprises in May 2015. The ownership changed hands three more times when Joseph Lewis, a real estate developer from Phoenix, in June 2018.  The course was permanently closed in June 2019.

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|2020= 824
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|access-date=June 4, 2016}}</ref>
}}
As of the U.S. 2010 census,<ref name="GR2">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=January 31, 2008 |title=U.S. Census website }}</ref> there were 1046 people, 334 households, and 284 families residing in the CDP.  The population density was {{convert|307.6|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The racial makeup of the CDP was 62.8% [[Race (United States Census)|White]], 0.67% [[Race (United States Census)|Native American]], 33.7% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 2.88% from two or more races.  83.9% of the population were [[Race (United States Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Race (United States Census)|Latino]] of any race.

There were 334 households, out of which 146 had children under the age of 18 living with them.

In the CDP, the age distribution of the population shows 40.5% under the age of 18, 5.9% from 18 to 24, 11% from 25 to 34, 15.8% from 35 to 49, 15% from 50 to 64, and 11.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The population of Naco, by 2010 census estimates, is 48.7% male, 51.3% female.

According to the 2000 census, the median income for a household in the CDP was $22,045, and the median income for a family was $25,227. Males had a median income of $21,923 versus $15,882 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the CDP was $9,169. About 33.0% of families and 34.2% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 46.1% of those under age 18 and 25.4% of those age 65 or over.

==Prehistoric Naco==
The [[Naco-Mammoth Kill Site]] is located near Naco. Excavations from this archeological site in the 1950s revealed mammoth bones with embedded [[Clovis points]], providing evidence of the hunting activities of [[Paleo-Indians]] some 13,000 years ago.<ref>[http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=12338291 Barbara Grijalva. Arizona ice age: Man vs. mammoth. KOLD News. Posted: Apr 19, 2010]. Kold.com. Retrieved on May 27, 2011.</ref>

==Fort Naco==
[[File:Fort Newell.jpg|thumb|right|180px|[[Fort Naco]], located on the outskirts of Naco, Arizona]]

[[Fort Naco]] is a former military post on the outskirts of Naco. Subsequent to [[Pancho Villa]]'s [[Battle of Columbus (1916)|raid]] on [[Columbus, New Mexico]], in 1916, Fort Naco was a staging area for American troops protecting the border. It was the headquarters of the 1st Infantry Regiment of the [[Arizona National Guard]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://svherald.com/articles/2007/11/26/news/doc474a79b11ee62662339160.txt |title=Camp Naco preservation |access-date=August 22, 2017 |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20071213094409/http://svherald.com/articles/2007/11/26/news/doc474a79b11ee62662339160.txt |archive-date=December 13, 2007 |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref>

==Transportation==
The Bisbee Bus provides transportation from Naco to [[Bisbee, Arizona|Bisbee]].<ref>{{Cite web| title = Bisbee Bus Program {{!}} Bisbee, AZ - Official Website| access-date = January 27, 2020| url = https://www.bisbeeaz.gov/2331/Bisbee-Bus-Program}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Bombing of Naco]] – the first ever aerial bombardment of the contiguous United States by a foreign power

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.nps.gov/history/seac/naco/index.htm Naco history and prehistory], by [[National Park Service]] (English & Spanish)

{{Cochise County, Arizona}}

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[[Category:Census-designated places in Cochise County, Arizona]]
[[Category:Census-designated places in Arizona]]
[[Category:Mexico–United States border crossings]]
[[Category:1902 establishments in Arizona Territory]]