Morenci is 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) and

company town A company town is a place where practically all stores and housing are owned by the one company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schools, markets and re ...

Greenlee County Greenlee County is a County (United States), county in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 9,563, making it Arizona's least populous county. The county seat i ...

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, and was founded by the

Detroit Copper Mining Company of Arizona The Detroit Copper Mining Company was an American copper mining and smelting operation based in Morenci, Arizona. Incorporated in July 1872, it existed as an independent company until 1897, when a controlling interest in the company was purchased ...

. The population was 2000 at the 2000 census and 1,489 at the 2010 census. The biggest employer in Morenci (and in nearby

Clifton Clifton may refer to: People *Clifton (surname) *Clifton (given name) Places Australia * Clifton, Queensland, a town **Shire of Clifton *Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong *Clifton, Western Australia Canada *Clifton, Nova Scotia ...

) and the owner of the town is

Freeport-McMoRan Freeport-McMoRan Inc., often called Freeport, is an American mining company based in the Freeport-McMoRan Center, in Phoenix, Arizona. The company is the world's largest producer of molybdenum, is a major copper producer and operates the world's ...

, the owner of the

Morenci Mine The Morenci Mine is a large copper mine located near Morenci, Arizona, United States. Morenci represents one of the largest copper reserves in the United States and in the world, having estimated reserves of of ore grading 0.16% copper. It is loc ...

, the largest

copper mining Copper extraction refers to the methods used to obtain copper from its ores. The conversion of copper consists of a series of physical and electrochemical processes. Methods have evolved and vary with country depending on the ore source, loca ...

operation in North America, and one of the largest copper mines in the world. The town was a site of the

Arizona Copper Mine Strike of 1983 The 1983 Arizona copper mine strike began as a bargaining dispute between the Phelps Dodge Corporation and a group of union copper miners and mill workers, led by the United Steelworkers. The subsequent strike lasted nearly three years and res ...

. The large open-pit mine is north of the town.

Geography

Morenci is located in central Greenlee County at (33.049804, -109.327856). It lies on the northeaster border of the town of

, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

U.S. Route 191 U.S. Route 191 (US 191) is a spur of U.S. Route 91 that has two branches. The southern branch runs for from Douglas, Arizona on the Mexican border to the southern part of Yellowstone National Park. The northern branch runs for from the north ...

(the Coronado Trail) passes through the northern part of the community, leading east and downhill into Clifton and north through the

Apache National Forest Apache National Forest was established by the U.S. Forest Service in Arizona and New Mexico on July 1, 1908, with from portions of Black Mesa National Forest. In 1974 the entire forest was administratively combined with Sitgreaves National For ...

Eagar Eagar is a town in Apache County, Arizona, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town was 4,885. Eagar was first settled in 1871. History Brothers William Walter John Thomas and Joel Sixtus settled the area under the dir ...

. 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 Morenci CDP has a total area of , of which is land and , or 2.23%, is water.

Climate

This region experiences hot and dry summers, with average monthly high temperatures above 80 °F for seven months a year. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

system, Morenci has a

warm-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps.

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 2000, there were 1,879 people, 672 households, and 454 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 754 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 68.0%

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 ...

, 0.5%

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 ...

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 ...

, 2.1% Native American, 0.5%

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 ...

, 25.0% 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 3.9% from two or more races. 44.5% 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 672 households, out of which 45.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.7% were married couples living together, 6.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.3% were non-families. 30.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 0.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.80 and the average family size was 3.55. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 35.6% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 34.4% from 25 to 44, 22.1% from 45 to 64, and 0.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 119.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 128.7 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $46,010, and the median income for a family was $54,583. Males had a median income of $41,875 versus $26,063 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 $18,695. About 2.7% of families and 3.0% 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 2.9% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

Economy

The economy of Morenci as well as that of the surrounding area is almost completely dependent on the

.Rudolf, John Collin. "Copper's Every Dip Is Felt in Arizona." ''New York Times.'' November 27, 2008. Between 2003 and 2008, the worldwide rise in copper prices led the mine to double its work force to 4,000 employees and increase production by 55 percent to an average of one million tons of ore per day. Several hundred new homes were built, leading to a boom in the construction industry. All the homes in Morenci, new and old, remain owned by Freeport-McMoRan. Image:Morenci_Mine.jpg, One of the active pits at the Morenci Mine. The horizontal shelves are the mining benches. The fan-like slopes are leached material, dumped into mined-out portions of the pit. File: Glendale-Sahuaro Central Railroad Museum-Porter 0-4-0-1887.jpg , This ''Porter 0-4-0'' is an 18" gauge locomotive that was once used as a copper mining locomotive in Morenci. The locomotive is currently on exhibit in the Sahuaro Central Railroad Museum in Glendale, Az. Image:MorenciConc1942.jpg, Old Morenci Concentrator, 1942 File:Azurite-Malachite-27233.jpg,

Malachite Malachite is a copper carbonate hydroxide mineral, with the formula Cu2CO3(OH)2. This opaque, green-banded mineral crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system, and most often forms botryoidal, fibrous, or stalagmitic masses, in fractures ...

and

Azurite Azurite is a soft, deep-blue copper mineral produced by weathering of copper ore deposits. During the early 19th century, it was also known as chessylite, after the Type locality (geology), type locality at Chessy, Rhône, Chessy-les-Mines near ...

from the

, which produces many fine specimens for

mineral collector Mineral collecting is the hobby of systematically collecting, identifying and displaying mineral specimens. Mineral collecting can also be a part of the profession of mineralogy and allied geologic specialties. Individual collectors often sp ...

s. File:Azurite-284714.jpg,

from Morenci

Education

It is in the Morenci Unified School District.

Notable people

Ettore DeGrazia Ettore "Ted" DeGrazia (June 14, 1909 – September 17, 1982) was an American impressionist, painter, sculptor, composer, actor, director, designer, architect, jeweler, and lithographer. Described as "the world's most reproduced artist", DeGraz ...

, Southwestern Impressionist painter *The Marines of Morenci were the nine graduates of Morenci High who enlisted as a group in the Marine Corps. Their service began on Independence Day, 1966. Only three returned home.''The Morenci Marines: A Tale of Small Town America and the Vietnam War (Modern War Studies)''; by Kyle Longley (Author); ; Publisher: University Press of Kansas; . *

Christine Nofchissey McHorse Christine McHorse (December 21, 1948 – February 17, 2021), also known as Christine Nofchissey McHorse, was a Navajo Pottery, ceramic artist from Santa Fe, New Mexico. Early life and education Born Christine Nofchissey on December 21, 1949, in ...

, Diné ceramic artist and sculptor

References

External links

* {{authority control Census-designated places in Greenlee County, Arizona Mining communities in Arizona Safford, Arizona micropolitan area Company towns in Arizona