Agua Caliente in

Maricopa County, Arizona Maricopa County is in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 4,420,568, making it the state's most populous county, and List of the most populous counties in the ...

on the border with Yuma County, is a place north of the Gila River near

Hyder, Arizona The Camp Hyder was a sub camp of the US Army, Desert Training Center in Riverside County, California. The main headquarters for the Desert Training Center was Camp Young, this is where General Patton's 3rd Armored Division was stationed. C ...

. Named 'Santa Maria del Agua Caliente' in 1744 by Father Jacob Sedelmayer. In 1775, Father Francisco Garces used the current short form. The location was the site of a resort established at the site of nearby hot springs. Agua Caliente, a name derived from Spanish meaning "hot water", received its name from nearby hot springs which were originally used by the local Indians.

Demographics

Agua Caliente's population was 113 in 1900. Agua Caliente appeared as the Agua Caliente Precinct of Maricopa County on the 1910 U.S. Census. It appeared again in 1920 as Precinct 54 and 1930 simply as Agua Caliente Precinct again. In the latter census, it reported a White majority. With the combination of all Arizona county precincts into 3 districts each in 1940, it did not formally appear again on the census to date. Agua Caliente's population in 1940 was 60.

Flap-Jack Ranch, Grinnell's and Stanwix Station

By 1858 Flap-Jack Ranch was located six miles from the Agua Caliente hot springs along the Gila River, from

Fort Yuma Fort Yuma was a fort in California located in Imperial County, across the Colorado River from Yuma, Arizona. It was on the Butterfield Overland Mail route from 1858 until 1861 and was abandoned May 16, 1883, and transferred to the Department o ...

. It was established as stagecoach station of the

Butterfield Overland Mail Butterfield Overland Mail (officially the Overland Mail Company)Waterman L. Ormsby, edited by Lyle H. Wright and Josephine M. Bynum, "The Butterfield Overland Mail", The Huntington Library, San Marino, California, 1991. was a stagecoach service i ...

. In 1862, it was called Grinnel's Ranch and was listed on the itinerary of the

California Column The California Column was a force of Union volunteers sent to Arizona and New Mexico during the American Civil War. The command marched over from California through Arizona and New Mexico Territory to the Rio Grande and as far east as El Paso, ...

in the same place as Flap Jack Ranch, (84 miles), from Fort Yuma on the route to Tucson. So too was what Union Army reports called Stanwix Ranch or Stanwix Station which became the site of the westernmost skirmish of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

. In the early part of the 20th century, the alignment of U.S. Route 80 in Arizona passed in front of the property, increasing traffic and making it a tourist stop on the cross national highway, until the road bypassed the area.

Agua Caliente Ranch

John Ross Browne John Ross Browne (February 11, 1821 in Beggars Bush, Dublin, Ireland – December 9, 1875 in Oakland, California), often called J. Ross Browne, date of birth sometimes given as 1817, was an Irish-born American traveler, artist, writer and govern ...

described his visit to the Agua Caliente Springs from Grinnel's Station in 1864: In 1873, Agua Caliente Ranch, still owned by King S. Woolsey, had become well known and visited by many people. A resort was built there in 1897 with 22 rooms and a swimming pool in which the hot waters from the spring collected for the use of the visitors. The remains of the hotel has survived into the present but the hot springs dried up as ground water was pumped out for irrigation. Sam Hughes currently owns the Agua Caliente property that includes the hotel, which is no longer open, the caretakers quarters and approximately of surrounding property. Some of the acreage is currently farmed; most of it is in its natural undisturbed state. There are also ruins of an old stone house, an old store and other old buildings in various states of decay.

References

External links

Ghosttowns.com, Maricopa County, Agua Caliente

From Sharlot Hall Museum, Photographs, Buildings – Stage Stations {{DEFAULTSORT:Agua Caliente, Arizona Ghost towns in Arizona Butterfield Overland Mail in New Mexico Territory American frontier Stagecoach stops in the United States History of Arizona 1858 establishments in New Mexico Territory Hot springs of Arizona Former populated places in Maricopa County, Arizona Bodies of water of Maricopa County, Arizona

Demographics

Flap-Jack Ranch, Grinnell's and Stanwix Station

Agua Caliente Ranch

See also

References

External links