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Quartzsite is a town in
La Paz County, Arizona La Paz County () is the 15th County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Arizona, located in the western part of the state. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 16,557, making it the List of counties ...
, United States. According to the 2020 census, the population was 2,413.
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 ...
runs directly through Quartzsite which is at the intersection of
U.S. Route 95 U.S. Route 95 (US 95) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway System, United States Highway in the western United States. It travels through the states of Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Idaho, staying inland ...
and Arizona State Route 95 with I-10.


History

Quartzsite's current location was the site of a waterhole from 1863 to the 1880s and was later a stage station, called Tyson's Wells, along the La Paz - Wikenburg Road on Tyson Wash, in what was then Yuma County, in the newly created
Arizona Territory The Territory of Arizona, commonly known as the Arizona Territory, was a territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863, until February 14, 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the ...
. It was about 20 miles from the
Colorado River The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...
steamboat landing of
La Paz La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...
and 25 miles from the landing of Erhenburg from 1866. The next stop was 25 miles to the east at Desert Station. Richard Josiah Hinton, The Handbook to Arizona: Its Resources, History, Towns, Mines, Ruins, and Scenery, Payot, Upham & Company, San Francisco, 1878
/ref> Official Map Of The Territory Of Arizona, With All The Recent Explorations. Compiled by Richard Gird C.E. Commissioner. Approved By John N. Goodwin, Governor. In Accordance With An Act Of The Legislature, Approved Oct. 23d. 1864. We hereby certify that this is the Official Map of the Territory of Arizona, and approve the same. Prescott October 12th 1865. (with signed seal dated 1863). Published By A. Gensoul, Pacific Map Depot. No. 511 Montgomery St. San Francisco. Lith. Britton & Co. San Francisco. From davidrumsey.com, accessed on 6/21/2016
/ref> Official Map Of The Territory Of Arizona Compiled from Surveys, Reconnaissances and other Sources. By E.A. Eckhoff And P. Riecker, Civil Engineers, 1880. Drawn by Eckhoff & Riecker. The Graphic Co. Photo-Lith. 39 & 41 Park Place, N.Y. Entered ... 1879, by Emil Eckhoff and Paul Riecker ... Washington, D.C., 1880
“Official Map of the Territory of Arizona” showing La Paz – Wikenburg Road and Hardyville – Prescott Road with mileage between locations along the roads, from davidrumsey.com, accessed on June 21, 2016
Tyson's Wells in 1875 was described by Martha Summerhayes, in her book ''Vanished Arizona'': In the valley around Tyson's Wells were places known to have been successfully worked by individual prospectors since the beginning of the Colorado River Gold Rush of the 1860s up until the 1950s. Some large scale operations in the early 20th century were failures. On July 31, 1978,
serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...
Randy Greenawalt killed four people in a mass shooting, including a one year old, a 15 year old, and two adults in their twenties. In March 2006, 70-year-old Betty Lou Japel and 73-year-old Kenneth Miller were shot and killed by Gregory Cole. Japel remained unidentified for two years after her death.


Geography and climate

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 ...
Quartzsite is all land and has a total area of . Quartzsite lies on the western portion of the
La Posa Plain The La Posa Plain is a wide, generally flat plain in western Arizona near the Colorado River and is on the west and northwest border of the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge. The plain lies to the east of the Colorado River Indian Reservation and east ...
along Tyson Wash. The Dome Rock Mountains overlook the town on the west with Granite Mountain on the southwest edge of the town and Oldman Mountain on the northwest. The
Plomosa Mountains The Plomosa Mountains are a mountain range in La Paz County, Arizona, running generally south of Bouse, Arizona near the Arizona/California border. Quartzsite lies to the west across the La Posa Plain. The Harcuvar Mountains and Little Har ...
lie across the La Posa Plain to the east. The town has a
hot desert 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 ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
''BWh'') with mild to warm winters from November to March and hot to extreme summers for the remainder of the year. In the middle of summer, Quartzsite is one of the hottest places in the United States and has recorded temperatures as high as on July 28, 1995. There is very little precipitation with only falling during an average year, while in May and June more than 80 percent of years do not have measurable rainfall. Since records began in 1928 the wettest month has been September 1939 with which was part of the wettest year with and featuring on September 5 the wettest day with . This moisture was due to the remnants of a rare Gulf of California hurricane. The driest calendar year was 1928 with . However, between July 2001 and August 2002 as little as fell over thirteen months.


Demographics

As of the
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2000, there were 3,354 people, 1,850 households, and 1,176 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 3,186 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 94.5%
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 ...
, 0.2%
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 ...
, 1.2% Native American, 0.3% 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 ...
, 2.6% from other races, and 1.2% from two or more races. 5.0% 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 1,850 households, out of which 5.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.0% were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 2.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.4% were non-families. 31.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.81 and the average family size was 2.18. In the town, the population was spread out, with 5.7% under the age of 18, 1.8% from 18 to 24, 7.7% from 25 to 44, 29.9% from 45 to 64, and 54.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 66 years. For every 100 females, there were 102.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.9 males. The median income for a household in the town was $23,053, and the median income for a family was $26,382. Males had a median income of $20,313 versus $16,080 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the town was $15,889. About 7.8% of families and 13.5% 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 20.3% of those under age 18 and 10.0% of those age 65 or over.


Tourism

Quartzsite is a popular
recreational vehicle A recreational vehicle, often abbreviated as RV, is a motor vehicle or trailer that includes living quarters designed for accommodation. Types of RVs include motorhomes, campervans, coaches, caravans (also known as travel trailers and ca ...
camping area for winter visitors with
tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...
being the major contributor to Quartzsite's economy. The Rubber Tramp Rendezvous, an annual gathering of vandwellers, takes place in January. Nine major gem and mineral shows, and 15 general
swap meet A flea market (or swap meet) is a type of street market that provides space for vendors to sell Used good, previously owned (secondhand) goods. This type of market is often seasonal. However, in recent years there has been the development of ...
shows are very popular tourist attractions, attracting about 1.5 million people annually, mostly during January and February. Quartzsite is the burial place of Hi Jolly (Hadji Ali), an Ottoman citizen of
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
-
Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...
parentage, who took part in the experimental US Camel Corps as a camel driver. The Hi Jolly Monument was added to the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 2011. Quartzsite is also the site of Joanne's Gum Museum, which is open to the public and features a large collection of gum wrappers from around the world. The Arizona Peace Trail goes through Quartzsite.


Transportation

The Town of Quartzsite operates demand response buses under the name Camel Express that provide weekday service to Quartzsite and La Paz Valley, weekly service to Parker, twice monthly service to Yuma and Blythe, and monthly service to Lake Havasu City.
Greyhound Lines Greyhound Lines, Inc. is an American operator of Intercity bus service, intercity bus services. Greyhound operates the largest intercity bus network in the United States, and also operates charter and Amtrak Thruway services, as well as interci ...
serves Quartzsite on its route from
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
to
Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
. Freeways and state highways in Quartzsite include: *
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 ...
* State Route 95


Gallery

The following gallery includes the images of: * Ruins of the Hagely store, which was built in 1890s and is located on the corner of Main St. and Moon Mountain Road. * Tyson's Well Stage Station, traditionally called “Fort Tyson” (though was never a military station) was built beginning in 1866 and is located at 161 West Main Street. The stage station served the travelers who went back and forth from the towns of Ehrenberg and Wickenburg. The building now houses the Quartzsite Museum and Historical Society. * The restored Oasis Hotel, which was originally built in 1900 and is located adjacent to the Stage Station Museum. * The grave of Hi Jolly (1828–1902), a.k.a. Haji Ali, a.k.a. Phillip Tedro. The grave, located in the Hi Jolly Cemetery, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on February 28, 2011, reference #11000054.


In popular culture

One of the primary locations in the 1988
computer role-playing game A computer is a machine that can be programmed to automatically carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as ''programs'', w ...
'' Wasteland'' is the town of Quartz. Wasteland Scenario Designer Ken St. Andre, a lifelong resident of
Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...
, confirmed that Quartz is fictionalized version of the real town of "Quartzite". William Hogan's 1981 coming-of-age novel ''The Quartzsite Trip'' is set largely in the town of Quartzsite.


See also

* Fort Tyson * List of historic properties in Quartzsite, Arizona


References


External links


Town website

''Quartzsite Times''

''Desert Messenger''


at Desert USA

{{authority control Towns in La Paz County, Arizona Populated places in the Sonoran Desert La Paz–Wikenburg Road Populated places established in 1989