Solomon 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 399 as of the 2020 census. It is part of the Safford Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

The community's origins go back to the indigenous peoples of the region. Little is known of its history prior to the coming of Europeans. In the early 19th century settlers who fit the modern term

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 ...

came to the region. They named the town they founded "Pueblo Viejo" because of the previous Native American settlement, the ruins of which were still visible.MABS – Solomon
/ref> In the 1870s Mormons moved to the region. The Solomon Ward web site says no Mormons moved to Solomon until 1884This is an official site of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
/ref> They began large scale irrigation. The current name of the town, which was previously known as Solomonville, is for Isadore Elkan Solomon, a German immigrant who came to the town in the 1870s. Solomon was Jewish. He moved to Solomon with his wife and three children, the oldest of whom was three. His wife already had family members in New Mexico.
/ref> Their first stop in the southwest was in

Las Cruces, New Mexico Las Cruces (; ; lit. 'the crosses') is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico and the county seat, seat of Doña Ana County, New Mexico, Doña Ana County. As of the 2020 United States ce ...

. Mrs. Solomon and the children lived there for four months while I. E. Solomon was searching for a place to start up business, and he eventually settled on the current town of Solomon. When the Solomons came to town there were only five residences in the town. The idea for the name Solomonville was suggested by the local postman, William H. Kirkland. From the 1880s to about 1910, Solomonville had over 1000 residents. In 1898 the town had a baseball team. From 1873–1915 Solomonville was the seat of Graham County. In 1906, Frieda Mashbir, the sister of Solomon's wife Anna, was made the postmistress for Solomonville. In the early 1900s, the town was renamed Solomon. The Mormons never formed a majority of the town's population. It is the only town in this specific area besides Safford that has not been historically dominated by Mormons. In 1920,

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

organized a branch at Solomon. In 1940, there were 753 inhabitants in Solomon. In 1979, there were about 250 ward members. By some time prior to September 2007 the ward had over 450 members. By the 1990s, Solomon itself only had a population of 250

Demographics

As of the 2010 census Solomon had a population of 426. The ethnic and racial composition of the population was 75.8% Hispanic, 20.9% non-Hispanic white, 0.2% Native American, 0.7% Asian Indian, 0.7% other Asian and 2.8% reporting two or more races.

Education

Solomon has its own school district.Federal Assistance for Recipient Congressional District : Arizona 1 (Rick Renzi), Federal Fiscal Year : 2005, Recipient : Serrano, Antonio Serrano, Edwin in state NM, Level of Detail : Summary
/ref> The Solomon Unified School District operates one elementary school, serving K–8.

Notable people

* D. H. Claridge, Arizona state senator * Charles Stevens, Apache/Mexican actor

References

External links