Aravaipa, formerly Dunlap, a former
populated place
In geography, statistics and archaeology, a settlement, locality or populated place is a community of people living in a particular place. The complexity of a settlement can range from a minuscule number of dwellings grouped together to t ...
,
on
Arizona Gulch, a tributary of
Deer Creek, tributary to
Aravaipa Creek
Aravaipa Creek is a drainage between three mountain ranges in southwest Graham County, Arizona – the Galiuro Mountains, the Santa Teresa Mountains and the Pinaleno Mountains. These mountains are part of the high altitude Madrean Sky Island ...
north of
Klondyke in
Graham County, Arizona
Graham County is a county in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, the population was 38,533, making it the third-least populous county in Arizona. The county seat is Safford.
Graham County composes the ...
. Aravaipa lies at an elevation of 4600 feet.
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]
History
Originally a ranch
A ranch (from /Mexican Spanish) is an area of landscape, land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of farm. These terms are most often ap ...
headquarters, named Dunlap after Burt Dunlap, the local rancher who established it in 1882. Burt Dunlap was the postmaster of the post office from 1883 until 1892. He also served several terms in the territorial legislature. When it was found there was already a post office with the same name, the post office and town were renamed after the local Aravaipa Apache
The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...
. In 1893 the post office was closed.
Aravaipa's population was 17 in 1900, and 12 in 1920.
Aravaipa, a mining and ranching town, boasted a school, store, and a pool hall. Today there are a few buildings and outhouses left.Aravaipa
from ghosttowns.com accessed, February 21, 2014
References
{{Graham County, Arizona
Ghost towns in Arizona
Former populated places in Graham County, Arizona
History of Graham County, Arizona
1882 establishments in Arizona Territory