Springerville is a town in

Apache County Apache County is in the northeast corner of the U.S. state of Arizona. Shaped in a long rectangle running north to south, as of the 2020 census, its population was 66,021. The county seat is St. Johns. Most of the county is occupied by par ...

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, within the White Mountains. Its postal ZIP Code is 85938. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town was 1,961. Springerville sits at an elevation of above sea level. Along with its neighbor Eagar, the communities make up the place known as Round Valley, which is in the central-eastern part of Arizona close to the

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...

border.

History

The town that grew around Henry Springer's trading post was officially given its name on May 10, 1876. Before that time it had gone by names such as Colorado Chiquito, Milligan Settlement, and Valle Redondo (Round Valley). Outlaw Cowboy

Ike Clanton Joseph Isaac Clanton (1847 – June 1, 1887) was a member of a loose association of outlaws known as The Cowboys who clashed with lawmen Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan Earp as well as Doc Holliday. On October 26, 1881, Clanton was present at the ...

, who was present at the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, was shot dead in Springerville on June 1, 1887, by detective Jonas V. Brighton when he resisted arrest on charges of

cattle rustling Cattle raiding is the act of stealing cattle. In Australia, such stealing is often referred to as duffing, and the perpetrator as a duffer.Baker, Sidney John (1945) ''The Australian language : an examination of the English language and English ...

. Springerville is the home of Arizona's ''

Madonna of the Trail ''Madonna of the Trail'' is a series of 12 identical monuments dedicated to the spirit of pioneer women in the United States. The monuments were commissioned by the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR). They w ...

'' statue, unveiled on September 29, 1928. The town was incorporated in 1948. In 1951, Twentieth Century Fox filmed an adaptation of Fred Gipson's novel ''The Home Place'' titled ''

Return of the Texan ''Return of the Texan'' is a 1952 American Western film directed by Delmer Daves and starring Dale Robertson and Joanne Dru.a nearby wildfire.

Geography

Springerville is located at (34.136342, -109.279227). 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 th ...

, the town has a total area of , of which is land and , or 1.4%, is water. Springerville has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen ''Csb'').

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,972 people, 753 households, and 499 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 896 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 79.5%

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 ...

, 0.2%

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 ha ...

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 ...

, 6.5% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 10.2% from other races, and 3.0% from two or more races. 25.2% of the population were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, 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 viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race. There were 753 households, out of which 34.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.6% were married couples living together, 11.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.7% were non-families. 30.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.18. In the town, the age distribution of the population shows 29.2% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 25.2% from 25 to 44, 23.4% from 45 to 64, and 14.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.4 males. The median income for a household in the town was $30,769, and the median income for a family was $36,331. Males had a median income of $32,313 versus $19,519 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 town was $13,830. About 14.7% of families and 21.0% 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 ...

, including 25.4% of those under age 18 and 26.1% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The town is served by the Round Valley Unified School District. The school's mascot is the elk and its school colors are black and gold. The St. Johns Redskins are the school's biggest rival. Round Valley Primary School is located in the town and serves the town. Round Valley Intermediate School, Round Valley Middle School, and Round Valley High School serve the town, but are in nearby Eagar. In addition, White Mountain Academy, a K–12 charter school, is located in Eagar. The high school's football stadium, The Round Valley Ensphere located in Eagar, is the eighth biggest geodesic dome in the world with a diameter of 440 feet / 134 m. The school board voted to give the Dome a pinkish looking color, and it was completed in 1992. It was used as a shelter for evacuees from the

Rodeo–Chediski Fire The Rodeo–Chediski Fire was a wildfire that burned in east-central Arizona beginning on June 18, 2002, and was not controlled until July 7.http://www.floa.org/rodeo_chediski/fire_photos12.htm Rodeo-Chediski fire, Forest lakes owners associati ...

in 2002. Round Valley is the only high school in the world to have a domed stadium. The first Springerville School House was dedicated September 3, 1884. In 1969—the Springerville, Eagar, Vernon, Nutrioso, Greer, and Colter Schools consolidated with each other to form the Round Valley Unified School District.

Transportation

The Springerville Municipal Airport is a town-owned public-use airport located one

nautical mile A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( of a degree) of latitude. Tod ...

(1.85 km) west of the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

of Springerville.

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

provides freight service to the Springerville generating station on its Springerville subdivision.

Economy

Tucson Electric Power Tucson Electric Power (TEP) is an electric utility company serving southern Arizona in the United States. It is a subsidiary of Fortis, which announced its acquisition of parent company UNS Energy in 2013. Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium, a ba ...

operates the Springerville Generating Station in Springerville.

Attractions

Casa Malpaís is located near Springerville. It is a nationally recognized archeological site. The name ''Casa Malpais'' means "House built from Malapai", which describes the type volcanic vesicular basalt from which the ancient village was constructed. It is thought that the name was given to the village by early Basque sheepherders. The Springerville volcanic field contains over 400

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates ...

es within a radius of Springerville, making it the third largest volcanic field in the continental United States. The first visit to Casa Malpais by a professional

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms an ...

was in 1883, when Frank Cushing, living at Zuni, visited a site at "El Valle Redondo on the Colorado Chiquito", and was impressed by what he termed "the fissure type pueblo" he found there. In his journal he sketched dry masonry, bridging fissures, upon which the pueblo is constructed. Unique and unusual features characterize the site. The Great Kiva, painstakingly constructed of volcanic rock, is the centerpiece. A steep

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90 ...

staircase set into a crevice of the high red cliff wall leads to the top of the mesa. Both the Hopi and Zuni people still consider Casa Malpais a sacred ancestral place. The town contains one of the twelve ''

'' monuments created by sculptor August Leimbach. The town is close to the

Apache–Sitgreaves National Forests The Apache–Sitgreaves National Forest is a United States National Forest which runs along the Mogollon Rim and the White Mountains in east-central Arizona and into the U.S. state of New Mexico. Formerly two forest, it is currently managed as ...

, which run along the Mogollon Rim. It is also close to the Sunrise Ski Resort. The El Rio opened in 1915, making it the oldest movie theater in Arizona. It was originally called the Apache Theater, until it was changed in 1937 to the El Rio.

Notable people

* Mark Gastineau, former football player for the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The ...

* Alex Madrid, baseball player for the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

and

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

* Billie Maxwell, credited with being the first female singer to record country music * Jerry D. Thompson, historian of the American Southwest, was born in Springerville but reared in western

. * Daniel I. J. Thornton, the governor of Colorado from 1951 to 1955, operated a ranch near Springerville in the late 1930s.

Quotes

:"I was the one who had Apache county separated from Yavapai. Everything was very high at that time, and I used to haul my goods from

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding i ...

to live on. I was hauling goods one time from Henry Springer's store in Albuquerque, and I told Henry Springer he had better come into Round Valley, as it was called then, and put in a store; that the people were coming in and we would name the postoffice and little village after him, Springerville, and that was old Henry Springer." :——James G. H. Colter fro
History of Arizona, Volume VI

References

External links

Town of Springerville official website

Round Valley History

Springerville News

at City-Data.com

Madonna of the Trail , August Leimbach website

{{Authority control White Mountains (Arizona) Towns in Apache County, Arizona Populated places established in 1876 1876 establishments in Arizona Territory