Village of Oak Creek is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

located within Big Park a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

(CDP) in

Yavapai County Yavapai County is near the center of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, its population was 236,209, making it the fourth-most populous county in Arizona. The county seat is Prescott. Yavapai County comprises the Prescott, AZ M ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, United States. The population was 6,147 at the 2010 census, up from 5,245 in 2000. Big Park is the name of the CDP while the community is more commonly known as the Village of Oak Creek (VOC), and is a

bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

for

Sedona Sedona is a city that straddles the county line between Coconino and Yavapai counties in the northern Verde Valley region of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2010 census, its population was 10,031. It is within the Coconino National Fo ...

, located seven miles away. Tourism and service to retirees and second-home owners are the basis for the local economy. Big Park, the pioneers' name for the large open area that became the Village of Oak Creek in the early 1960s, is set among scenic red-rock buttes and canyons. The Bell Rock scenic area adjoins the north end of VOC, and the town is surrounded by the

Coconino National Forest The Coconino National Forest is a 1.856-million acre (751,000 ha) United States National Forest located in northern Arizona in the vicinity of Flagstaff. Originally established in 1898 as the "San Francisco Mountains National Forest Reserve", th ...

. A Forest Service Visitor Center is located at the south end of VOC. Big Park's

FIPS code The Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) of the United States are a set of publicly announced standards that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed for use in computer systems of non-military, American ...

is 07570. Residents of VOC have a Sedona ZIP code, 86351.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the CDP has a total area of , all land. , Big Park / Village of Oak Creek is a designated Dark Sky Community.

Demographics

Village of Oak Creek first appeared as the Oak Creek Precinct in 1910. It did not reappear on the census again until 1990, when it was called Big Park and was made a census-designated place (CDP). In 2010, the name was changed to the present Village of Oak Creek (although alternatively called Big Park on census documents). As of the census of 2000, there were 5,245 people, 2,560 households, and 1,602 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 3,117 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 95.6%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 0.4%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.4% Native American, 0.6%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, <0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

, 1.5% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 1.6% from two or more races. 6.8% of the population were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race. There were 2,560 households, out of which 14.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.3% were married couples living together, 5.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.4% were non-families. 30.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.01 and the average family size was 2.44. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 12.7% under the age of 18, 3.1% from 18 to 24, 17.7% from 25 to 44, 33.0% from 45 to 64, and 33.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 56 years. For every 100 females, there were 83.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.5 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $38,477, and the median income for a family was $46,268. Males had a median income of $38,007 versus $24,826 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the CDP was $30,026. About 5.8% of families and 8.4% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 21.7% of those under age 18 and 2.6% of those age 65 or over.

Arts

The Verde Valley Music Festival was held on the first weekend of each October at the Verde Valley School, just west of VOC. The Festival was a fundraiser for Native American scholarships at VVS, and long benefited from the sponsorship and generosity of

Jackson Browne Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 18 million albums in the United States. Emerging as a precocious teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he h ...

, whose son attended the school. Normally a mostly-acoustical show, past headliners include Browne (who almost always performs),

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...

, and

Bruce Cockburn Bruce Douglas Cockburn ( ; born May 27, 1945) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. His song styles range from folk to jazz-influenced rock and his lyrics cover a broad range of topics including human rights, environmental issues, po ...

Education

The Village of Oak Creek is served by th
Sedona-Oak Creek Unified School District
and hosts th

(K-6), "Home of the Coyotes".

Verde Valley School Verde Valley School (VVS) is an international college preparatory boarding and day school for students in grades 9-12. The school is located in Sedona, Arizona, United States. History Founded by Hamilton and Barbara Warren, Verde Valley School o ...

, an International Baccalaureate boarding/college preparatory high school with many international and Native American students, is located between the Oak Creek and Red Rock Crossing. VVS was founded in 1948 by Hamilton and Barbara Warren. Scholars who helped found the school and guide its early years included Harvard anthropologist

Clyde Kluckhohn Clyde Kluckhohn (; January 11, 1905 in Le Mars, Iowa – July 28, 1960 near Santa Fe, New Mexico), was an American anthropologist and social theorist, best known for his long-term ethnographic work among the Navajo and his contributions to the de ...

, anthropologist

Margaret Mead Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural anthropologist who featured frequently as an author and speaker in the mass media during the 1960s and the 1970s. She earned her bachelor's degree at Barnard Co ...

, and

John Collier John Collier may refer to: Arts and entertainment *John Collier (caricaturist) (1708–1786), English caricaturist and satirical poet *John Payne Collier (1789–1883), English Shakespearian critic and forger *John Collier (painter) (1850–1934), ...

, Commissioner of Indian Affairs during the

Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

administration.

Notable people

English portrait and abstract artist

Kevin Geary Kevin Geary (born 1952 Lincoln, England.) is an English portrait and abstract artist and poet. Some of his works are in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery, London, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the Abbey Theatre, Dublin ...

moved to the Village of Oak Creek in 2008.

References

External links

*
Welcome to Red Rock Country!
Coconino National Forest.
Photos of area

The Jack and Helen Frye story
{{DEFAULTSORT:Village of Oak Creek, Arizona Census-designated places in Yavapai County, Arizona