Coolidge is a city in
Pinal County,
Arizona
Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
, United States. According to the
2020 census, the city's population is 13,218.
Coolidge is home of the
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument ( or ''Sivan Vahki'') is a United States national monument preserving a group of Classic Period () Hohokam structures in Coolidge, Arizona, northeast of Casa Grande.
History of the area
The national mon ...
. The monument was the first historic site to receive protected status by the
United States Government
The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States.
The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...
in 1892. Coolidge is also home to both
Central Arizona College and the
Central Arizona Valley Institute of Technology.
History
The area containing what is now the City of Coolidge was occupied by the
Hohokam
Hohokam was a culture in the Indigenous peoples of the North American Southwest, North American Southwest in what is now part of south-central Arizona, United States, and Sonora, Mexico. It existed between 300 and 1500 CE, with cultural p ...
, an indigenous ancient
Sonoran Desert
The Sonoran Desert () is a hot desert and ecoregion in North America that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the Southwestern United States (in Arizona and California). It ...
people who built a massive compound consisting many of
caliche structures and remained in the area for over 1,000 years. The only remaining and preserved structure from this compound is the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument.
The modern history of the city is centered around agriculture, particularly cotton. Coolidge was founded in 1925 when R.J. Jones laid out an site during the construction of the
Coolidge Dam on the nearby
Gila River
The Gila River (; O'odham ima Keli Akimel or simply Akimel, Quechan: Haa Siʼil, Maricopa language: Xiil) is a tributary of the Colorado River flowing through New Mexico and Arizona in the United States. The river drains an arid watershed of ...
, which was completed in 1930. Both the dam and the townsite were named for
Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States, serving from 1923 to 1929. A Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer from Massachusetts, he previously ...
, the 30th President of the United States. The dam made the sandy soil native to the area into very rich
farmland
Agricultural land is typically land ''devoted to'' agriculture, the systematic and controlled use of other forms of lifeparticularly the rearing of livestock and production of cropsto produce food for humans. It is generally synonymous with bot ...
, and soon vast expanses of desert were plowed and acres of cotton were planted. This is when the area's status as the hub of the Arizona cotton industry was solidified and led to the incorporation of Coolidge as a city in 1945.
Economy
Up until the 1950s, the city's economy was completely dependent on mining and cotton. It has since diversified to include manufacturing,
regional trade, and services for agricultural producers and farm families.
In 2019,
Nikola Motor Company purchased in Coolidge and operates a factory for
zero-emissions heavy trucks, with a production capacity of 2,500 trucks per year.
Geography
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the city has a total area of , all of it land. It contains no
mountains
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher ...
and is almost entirely flat, lying in a fertile valley located just south of the Gila River. The
Sacaton Mountains are visible to the west, and the Picacho Mountains are visible to the southeast.
Arizona State Route 87
State Route 87 (SR 87) is a north–south highway that travels from Interstate 10 in Arizona, I-10 near Picacho, Arizona, Picacho northward to Arizona State Route 264, State Route 264 near Second Mesa, Arizona, Second Mesa.
Route description
...
and
Arizona State Route 287 pass through the town, providing connections to the
Phoenix metropolitan area
The Phoenix metropolitan area, also known as the Valley of the Sun, the Salt River Valley, metro Phoenix, or The Valley, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the Southwestern United States, with its largest principal city being the c ...
,
Casa Grande, and
Eloy.
Interstate 10
Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost transcontinental highway in the Interstate Highway System of the United States. It is the fourth-longest Interstate in the country at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. It was part of the origina ...
is located approximately to the west. Coolidge is southeast of
Phoenix, northwest of
Tucson
Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...
, northeast of
Casa Grande and 11 miles southwest of
Florence
Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025.
Florence ...
.
Picacho Reservoir is just south of town.
Climate
Coolidge features a hot
desert
A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...
climate (
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
BWh), typical of the
Sonoran Desert
The Sonoran Desert () is a hot desert and ecoregion in North America that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the Southwestern United States (in Arizona and California). It ...
. Winters are characterized by abundant
sunshine and are typically brief and mild, consisting of daytime highs in the to range. Lows are usually between and , though several
freezes occur annually. Rain is infrequent, occurring 2–3 days per month usually following the passage of a
cold front
A cold front is the leading edge of a cooler mass of air at ground level that replaces a warmer mass of air and lies within a pronounced surface Trough (meteorology), trough of Low-pressure area, low pressure. It often forms behind an extratropica ...
. The record low temperature for the city is .
Summers are long and very hot, with temperatures of to almost daily from the end of May until September, with temperatures above not uncommon. The record high temperature for the city is . Summertime lows are usually above , with occasional periods of lows above . Coolidge is affected by the
North American Monsoon, which brings brief heavy downpours and gusty winds in the second half of summer. Severe events can sometimes cause
haboob
A haboob () is a type of intense dust storm carried by the wind of a weather front or thunderstorm. Haboobs occur regularly in arid, dry land area regions throughout the world, including off-Earth, and can be dangerous.
Formation and charac ...
s and
flash flooding.
Demographics
As of the census
of 2000, there were 7,786 people, 2,585 households, and 1,938 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 3,212 housing units at an average density of .
The racial makeup of the city was 57.9%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 8.3%
Black
Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
or
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 5.6%
Native American, 0.7%
Asian, 0.1%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 23.6% from
other races, and 3.8% from two or more races. 39.2% of the population were
Hispanic
The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or
Latino of any race.
There were 2,585 households, out of which 38.5% had children under age 18 living with them, 48.8% were married couples living together, 19.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.0% were non-families. 20.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.00 and the average family size was 3.44.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 32.9% under age 18, 10.4% aged 18–24, 24.4% aged 25–44, 18.9% aged 45–64, and 13.4% who were aged 65 years or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $29,049, and the median income for a family was $33,536. Males had a median income of $29,159 versus $21,472 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,663. About 20.9% of families and 24.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30.9% of those under age 18 and 20.5% of those age 65 or over.
In 2010, Coolidge had a population of 11,825. The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 43.6% non-Hispanic white, 7.3% non-Hispanic black, 0.5% Hispanic blacks, 3.8% non-Hispanic Native American, 1.9% Hispanic or Latino Native American, 1.0% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.1% non-Hispanic from some other race, 5.0% from two or more races and 42.0% Hispanic or Latino.
Education
*
Coolidge High School, a high school located in the central part of the city.
* West Elementary School, a K-5 school located in the western part of the city.
* Imagine Schools Coolidge Elementary, a K-5 charter school located in the northern part of the city.
* Imagine Prep Coolidge, a 6–12 charter school located adjacent to Imagine Coolidge Elementary.
*
Central Arizona College
*
Central Arizona Valley Institute of Technology
* Coolidge Junior High School, a junior high school with grades 6-8
Transportation
The City of Coolidge operates the Cotton Express, which provides local bus service. The City of Coolidge also operates Central Arizona Regional Transit (CART), which provides transportation between
Florence
Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025.
Florence ...
, Coolidge,
Central Arizona College and
Casa Grande.
The town was home to
a station for
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
; it closed in June 1996.
The
Coolidge Municipal Airport, which has two asphalt
runway
In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...
s, is located southeast of the city and had 56,050 aircraft operations in the yearly period ending April 2, 2020.
[, effective December 3, 2020] The closest major airports to Coolidge are
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and
Tucson International Airport
Tucson International Airport is a civil-military airport owned by the City of Tucson
south of downtown Tucson, in Pima County, Arizona, United States. It is the second busiest airport in Arizona, after Phoenix Sky Harbor International Air ...
. Casa Grande Shuttle provides an
airport shuttle to Sky Harbor.
Notable people
*
Duane Eddy
Duane Eddy (April 26, 1938 – April 30, 2024) was an American guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he had a string of hit records produced by Lee Hazlewood which were noted for their characteristically "twangy" guitar sound, including ...
– rock & roll guitarist and record producer, Coolidge High School graduate
*
Lee Hazlewood – disc jockey, singer, songwriter, and record producer
*
Waylon Jennings
Waylon Arnold Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He is considered one of the pioneers of the Outlaw country, outlaw movement in country music.
Jennings started playing ...
– singer,
Country Music Hall of Fame
The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the world's largest museums and research centers dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of American vernacular music. Chartered in 1964, the museum has amass ...
*
Sammi Smith
Jewel Fay "Sammi" Smith (August 5, 1943 – February 12, 2005) was an American country music singer and songwriter. She is best known for her 1971 crossover hit " Help Me Make It Through the Night", which was written by Kris Kristofferson. Sh ...
– country music recording artist and songwriter
Historic properties
See also
*
Central Arizona College
*
Central Arizona Valley Institute of Technology
*
Coolidge Municipal Airport
*
Coolidge Dam
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{authority control
Cities in Arizona
Cities in Pinal County, Arizona
Populated places established in 1945
Phoenix metropolitan area