Fort Thomas () is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

in Graham 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. Its population was 319 as of the 2020 census. The community has an elementary school and a high school. It is part of the Safford Micropolitan Statistical Area. Fort Thomas has a ZIP code of 85536.

History

The earliest military presence in the area was former Camp Goodwin, constructed in 1864 and named for Arizona's first territorial governor, John N. Goodwin. The camp was abandoned after a short time due to failed buildings and malaria from a nearby spring. In 1876, the current site of the community was chosen as a "new post on the Gila," selected to replace Camp Goodwin during the

Apache Wars The Apache Wars were a series of armed conflicts between the United States Army and various Apache tribal confederations fought in the Southwestern United States, southwest between 1849 and 1886, though minor hostilities continued until as l ...

. Initially, the site was named Camp Thomas in honor of

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

Major General George Henry Thomas. Until 1882 the area would be known by several names including Clantonville, Camp Thomas, Maxey and finally Fort Thomas. At its peak, the fort consisted of 27 buildings, all constructed by the occupants of the fort and made of adobe.

Malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

remained a problem throughout the occupation of the area, and led to Fort Thomas being called the "worst fort in the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

." The fort also had no government funding until the year 1884. After the capture of

Geronimo Gerónimo (, ; June 16, 1829 – February 17, 1909) was a military leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Ndendahe Apache people. From 1850 to 1886, Geronimo joined with members of three other Central Apache bands the Tchihen ...

in 1886, the Army gradually removed the troops stationed there until the fort was handed over to the

Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal lands and natural resources. It also administers programs relatin ...

in 1891. The early town had a poor reputation, and was home to several houses of

prostitution Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, no ...

and saloons. Camp Thomas was to be the destination of the pay wagons involved in the Wham Paymaster robbery of 1889. In 1895, the community grew significantly when the Southern Pacific railroad's construction in the area was halted due to native

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 ...

people refusing to let the railroad continue construction through their reservation. During this time, Fort Thomas also hosted a

Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with a significant global presence. The company operates in 35 countries and serves over 70 million customers worldwide. It is a systemically important fi ...

station.

Education

Fort Thomas has its own unified school district, the Fort Thomas Unified School District that serves the community of Fort Thomas, as well as students from nearby Bylas. The school district operates the Fort Thomas Elementary School and the Fort Thomas High School.

Demographics

Geography

Climate

Fort Thomas has a borderline

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 se ...

(Köppen ''BSh''/''BSk'') bordering upon an

arid climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk'') is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

(''BWh''/''BWk'') characterised by very hot summers and winters with mild days and cold nights. Although

frost Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor that deposits onto a freezing surface. Frost forms when the air contains more water vapor than it can normally hold at a specific temperature. The process is simila ...

s are frequent during the winter, occurring on an average of 60.2 nights during December, January and February, snow is exceptionally rare with a median of zero and a mean of . Daily temperatures are comfortable during winter – only 5.6 days do not top – but heat up rapidly as summer approaches, with half of all days by May topping and 35.5 days topping during an average entire year. Rainfall is rare, with monsoonal storms much less frequent than higher up or further south. Easily the wettest month since records began in 1966 has been January 1993 when fell – the only other totals above over a single month being in October 1983 and in October 2000. The wettest calendar year has been 1978 with and the driest 1989 with .

Pictorial Chronology

Notable person

* Melvin Jones – Founder of

Lions Clubs International Lions Clubs International, is an international service organization, currently headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois. , it had over 46,000 local clubs and more than 1.4 million members (including the youth wing Leo) in more than 200 geographic ...

Official history
from Fortthomas.org, retrieved November 21, 2008

References

External links

* * {{authority control Safford, Arizona micropolitan area Populated places established in 1876

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

Unincorporated communities in Arizona Census-designated places in Graham County, Arizona Census-designated places in Arizona 1876 establishments in Arizona Territory