Willcox is a city in

Cochise County Cochise County () is a county in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona. It is named after the Native American chief Cochise. The population was 125,447 at the 2020 census. The county seat is Bisbee and the most populous city ...

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 city is located in the

Sulphur Springs Valley The Sulphur Springs Valley is a valley in the eastern half of Cochise County, Arizona. The valley covers an approximated vertical rectangle west of the Chiricahua Mountains–Dos Cabezas Mountains complex. The Sulphur Springs Valley is the larg ...

, a flat and sparsely populated drainage basin dotted with seasonal lakes. The city is surrounded by Arizona's most prominent mountain ranges, including the

Pinaleño Mountains The Pinaleño Mountains (in Yavapai: Walkame—"pine mountains" or in Western Apache: Dził Nnilchí' Diyiléé—"pine-burdened mountain"), are a remote mountain range in southeastern Arizona, near Safford (Ich'į' Nahiłtį́į́), Arizona. ...

and the Chiricahua Mountains. Six of Arizona's ten largest mountains are located within a 70-mile radius including Mount Graham (31 miles north), which is Arizona's most prominent mountain, Chiricahua Peak (42 miles southeast), Mount Lemmon (57 miles west), Miller Peak (65 miles southwest),

Mica Mountain Mica Mountain is an peak in the Rincon Mountain District of Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park is an American national park in Pima County, southeastern Arizona. The park consists of two separate areas—the Tucson Mountain Distri ...

(41 miles west), and Mount Wrightson (70 miles southwest). Scores of birds, including

sandhill crane The sandhill crane (''Antigone canadensis'') is a species of large crane of North America and extreme northeastern Siberia. The common name of this bird refers to habitat like that at the Platte River, on the edge of Nebraska's Sandhills on ...

s, winter in the area, with some migrating from as far away as

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part ...

. A very large dry lakebed, the Willcox Playa, is located five miles south of the city. It is the remnant of the

Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...

-era Lake Cochise. Willcox's high desert climate gives it large

diurnal temperature variation In meteorology, diurnal temperature variation is the variation between a high air temperature and a low temperature that occurs during the same day. Temperature lag Temperature lag is an important factor in diurnal temperature variation: peak da ...

, making it ideal for

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented grapes. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different ...

cultivation.

History

Originally known as "Maley", the town was founded in 1880 as a whistlestop on the

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

because of its position approximately halfway between El Paso, Texas and Phoenix, Arizona. It was renamed in honor of a visit by General Orlando B. Willcox in 1889. In the early 20th century, Willcox was a national leader in

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ...

production. Agriculture remains important to the local economy, but

Interstate 10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally p ...

has replaced the railroad as the major transportation link, and much of the economy is now tied to the highway, which runs immediately north of the town. Willcox is the birthplace of Rex Allen, known as "The Arizona Cowboy", who wrote and recorded many songs, starred in several Westerns during the early 1950s and in the syndicated

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

'' Frontier Doctor'' (1958–1959). Parts of the 1993 American neo-noir film '' Red Rock West'' starring

Nicolas Cage Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. Born into the Coppola family, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Gui ...

, Lara Flynn Boyle,

J. T. Walsh James Thomas Patrick Walsh (September 28, 1943 – February 27, 1998) was an American character actor. His many films include ''Tin Men'' (1987), ''Good Morning, Vietnam'' (1987), '' A Few Good Men'' (1992), '' Hoffa'' (1992), ''Nixon'' (1995), ...

and

Dennis Hopper Dennis Lee Hopper (May 17, 1936 – May 29, 2010) was an American actor, filmmaker and photographer. He attended the Actors Studio, made his first television appearance in 1954, and soon after appeared in '' Giant'' (1956). In the next ten year ...

were filmed in Willcox. A short film documentary called "Lonesome Willcox" released in 2018 documented the town's country music radio station KHIL. Willcox became Arizona's second federally designated wine growing region in 2016.

Geography

Willcox is located in northern Cochise County, in the

. Interstate 10 serves the city with three exits and leads southwest to Benson and east to Lordsburg, New Mexico. 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 city has a total area of , of which is land and , or 2.13%, is water.

Notable Mountains

Climate

Willcox's high elevation gives it a milder climate than the nearby

Valley of the Sun A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

and

Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert ( es, Desierto de Sonora) is a desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States (in Ariz ...

. It also receives more rainfall than

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

and Phoenix due to the summer

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

rains and thus it has a

hot semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi- ...

(

Koppen Koppen is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Dan Koppen (born 1979), American football offensive lineman * Erwin Koppen (1929–1990), German literary scholar * Luise Koppen (1855–1922), German author * Wladimir Köppen (1846� ...

: BSh)

Economy

Willcox's primary industries are

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

, wine production, and

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

. Major employers in Willcox include Riverview LLP, NatureSweet greenhouse, Northern Cochise Community Hospital, Valley Telephone Cooperative, the Border Patrol,

Safeway Safeway is an American supermarket chain founded by Marion Barton Skaggs in April 1915 in American Falls, Idaho. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and features a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, del ...

, Willcox Unified School District, and

TravelCenters of America TravelCenters of America LLC is the largest publicly traded full-service truck stop and travel center company in the United States. The company operates full service centers, convenience stores, and restaurants under the TravelCenters of America, ...

, The wine industry employs over 400 people in the region. The agricultural producers in the area employ many hundreds of workers as well. Circle K and Speedway employ around thirty people as well.

Wine country

The Willcox wine region produces 74 percent of the wine grapes grown in the state of Arizona. Willcox is the largest-grape growing region in Arizona and grows more wine grapes than any other region in the state and offers a wide variety of wines to choose from. Grape varietals grown include Petite Sirah,

Malvasia Bianca Malvasia (, also known as Malvazia) is a group of wine grape varieties grown historically in the Mediterranean region, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands and the island of Madeira, but now grown in many of the winemaking regions of the world. ...

Sangiovese Sangiovese (, also , , ) is a red Italian wine grape variety that derives its name from the Latin ''sanguis Jovis'', "the blood of Jupiter". Though it is the grape of most of central Italy from Romagna down to Lazio (the most widespread grap ...

, Chenin blanc,

Syrah Syrah (), also known as Shiraz, is a dark-skinned grape variety grown throughout the world and used primarily to produce red wine. In 1999, Syrah was found to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza and Mondeuse ...

, Colombard,

Sauvignon blanc is a green-skinned grape variety that originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French words ''sauvage'' ("wild") and ''blanc'' ("white") due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in ...

, Corvina,

Merlot Merlot is a dark blue–colored wine grape variety, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of ''merle'', the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the ...

Malbec Malbec () is a purple grape variety used in making red wine. The grapes tend to have an inky dark color and robust tannins, and are known as one of the six grapes allowed in the blend of red Bordeaux wine. In France, plantations of Malbec are n ...

, Tannat,

Cabernet Franc Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire's Chinon. In addition to being u ...

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new ...

Tempranillo Tempranillo (also known as Ull de Llebre, Cencibel, Tinto Fino and Tinta del Pais in Spain, Aragonez or Tinta Roriz in Portugal, and several other synonyms elsewhere) is a black grape variety widely grown to make full-bodied red wines in its ...

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebanon ...

and

Mourvèdre Mourvèdre (also known as Mataro or Monastrell) is a red wine grape variety grown in many regions around the world including the Rhône and Provence regions of France, the Valencia and Jumilla and Yecla '' denominaciones de origen'' (DOs) of S ...

Arts, events, culture

Willcox has two festival seasons in the spring and fall. Spring events include the Willcox Wine Country Spring Festival, which takes place the third weekend of May, and the Willcox West Fest in April. Fall events include Rex Allen Days, which is a multi-day event that takes place the first weekend in October, the Willcox Wine Country Fall Festival, which takes place the 3rd weekend of October, the Willcox Flyer Bike Ride, which takes place the first Saturday of September, and the BoulderDash 13k/30k, which takes place in mid-October. Winter festivals include the Christmas Light Parade and Craft Fair in December, and Wings Over Willcox Birding Festival which takes place over Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend. Rex Allen Days was started in 1951 to honor Rex Allen. The event includes the annual parade, rodeos, fairs, car show and more. Willcox Wine Country's two festivals are usually the third weekends of May and October. The event grows in size every year and includes live music and multiple arts and crafts vendors. Willcox Wine Festivals is listed as one of the top 10 wine festivals in North America. Willcox West Fest celebrates Willcox's

cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the '' vaqu ...

culture which is still active today through generations of ranching families. The event consists of a rodeo and a chuck wagon cook-off and usually occurs in April.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 3,733 people, 1,383 households, and 947 families residing in the city. The population density was . The racial makeup of the city was 75.0%

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 ...

, 0.7%

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 ...

, 1.6% Native American, 0.8% 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 ...

, 17.6% from other races, and 4.2% from two or more races. 41.7% 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. The median income for a household in the city was $24,334. 21.6% of families and 27.0% 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 36.6% of those under age 18 and 24.6% of those age 65 or over. Seventeen miles north of Willcox on what was once the York ranch, there are now miles of apple orchards and pistachio groves.

Media

KHIL "Classic Country" 1250 AM and 98.1 FM has served the region since 1958. The Herald has listings and news for all of Cochise county including Willcox.

People

* Rex Allen (1920–1999), film and television actor, singer and songwriter *

Warren Earp Warren Baxter Earp (March 9, 1855 – July 6, 1900) was an American frontiersman and lawman. He was the youngest of Earp brothers, Wyatt, Morgan, Virgil, James, and Newton Earp. Although he was not present during the Gunfight at the O.K. Cor ...

(1855-1900), youngest of the Earp brothers, buried here. * Lilly McElroy (born 1980), photographer * Chalky Wright (1912–1957), boxing champion in

International Boxing Hall of Fame The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected by members of the Boxing Writers Association of America. The I ...

Tanya Tucker Tanya Denise Tucker (born October 10, 1958) is an American country music singer and songwriter who had her first hit, " Delta Dawn", in 1972 at the age of 13. Over the succeeding decades, Tucker became one of the few child performers to mature in ...

(born 1958), American country music artist, spent early childhood in Willcox, AZ * Ted DiBiase (born 1954), American former professional wrestler, manager, ordained minister and color commentator, moved to Willcox, Arizona to live with his grandparents * Vince Moreno, American country music artist and musician and stand-up comedian

References

External links

City of Willcox official website

''Arizona Range News''
– newspaper

Willcox, AZ Pinterest
{{authority control Cities in Cochise County, Arizona Cities in Arizona Populated places established in 1880 1880 establishments in Arizona Territory