Why? is an
unincorporated rural community in
Pima County
Pima County ( ) is a county in the south central region of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,043,433, making it Arizona's second-most populous county. The county seat is Tucson, where most of the populati ...
,
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. It lies near the western border of the
Tohono Oʼodham Indian Reservation and due north of
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is a U.S. national monument and UNESCO biosphere reserve located in extreme southern Arizona that shares a border with the Mexican state of Sonora. The park is the only place in the United States where the ...
in
Southern Arizona
Southern Arizona is a region of the United States comprising the southernmost portion of the State of Arizona. It sometimes goes by the name Gadsden or Baja Arizona, which means "Lower Arizona" in Spanish.
Geography
Although Southern Arizona' ...
. It is approximately north of the
Mexican border
Mexico shares international borders with three nations:
*To the north the United States–Mexico border, which extends for a length of through the states of Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas.
*To the southe ...
where
Lukeville, Arizona
Lukeville is a small unincorporated town on the Mexico–United States border in southern Pima County, Arizona, United States. It was named for World War I aviator Frank Luke, an Arizona native who was awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor.
Descr ...
, and
Sonoyta, Sonora,
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, border each other, and south of
Ajo, Arizona
Ajo ( ) is an unincorporated community in Pima County, Arizona, United States. It is the closest community to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. The population was 3,304 at the 2010 census. Ajo is located on State Route 85 just from the ...
.
The population in Why? at the
2010 census was approximately 167.
History
The town derives its name from the fact that two major
highways
A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...
, State Routes
85 and
86, originally intersected in a
Y-intersection. At the time of its naming, state law required all city names to have at least three letters, so the town's founders named the town "Why" as opposed to simply calling it "Y." The
Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) later removed the old Y-intersection for traffic safety reasons and built the two highways in a conventional
intersection south of the original intersection.
It has frequently been noted on lists of
unusual place names.
Demographics
See also
Notes
References
This is the sum of the populations of Blocks 1131–1153, Census Tract 49, Pima County, Arizona according t
US Census U.S. Census website
External links
{{coord, 32, 16, 07, N, 112, 44, 20, W, type:city_region:US-AZ, display=title
Unincorporated communities in Pima County, Arizona
Unincorporated communities in Arizona
Tohono O'odham Nation