Mobile, Arizona

Mobile, Arizona

Location of Mobile in Maricopa County
Coordinates: 33°3′19″N 112°16′16″W / 33.05528°N 112.27111°WCoordinates: 33°3′19″N 112°16′16″W / 33.05528°N 112.27111°W
Country United States
State Arizona
County Maricopa
Time zone Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)

Mobile is a community in Goodyear, Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. It is situated about 35 miles southwest of Phoenix, Arizona, and has a population of less than 100. Mobile is also home to a number of solid-waste landfills. Lufthansa operates a private airport to the north of Mobile, used for pilot training by student pilots of German Lufthansa Flight Training and Oxford Aviation Academy spending a semester in Goodyear. Its ICAO airport code is 1AZ0, and features ILS on runway 9.

Piper PA-28 Warrior of Oxford Aviation Academy on Mobile "Lufthansa pvt" Airfield's ramp
Piper PA-28 Warrior of Oxford Aviation Academy approaching Mobile "Lufthansa pvt" Airfield

History

Mobile was founded in the 1930s as an area for African-Americans to live. Notable African-American woman of Mobile, Rebecca Dallis, taught in Casa Grande ca. 1939 (http://www.womensheritagetrail.org/women/RebeccaDallis.php). Local lore has it that some of its early residents were African-Americans from Mobile, Alabama. However, researchers have found that railroad companies referred to the area as "Mobile" almost a decade before the first permanent settler in the area in the 1920s (http://www.sripress.com/technical-series/an-archaeological-investigation-of-the-historic-black-settlement-at-mobile-arizona/). In the 1930s, two railroad cars were used for two separate schoolhouses (one black and one for whites), and the population of local homesteaders reached about 100. By the 1950s the town was booming with almost 400 inhabitants, but the lack of employment, running water and educational facilities (no education past 8th grade) led to the exodus of most of the original residents and their descendants.

In 2007, Mobile was annexed into the city of Goodyear as part of a 67 square miles (170 km2) expansion, part of an agreement with Montage Holdings, a local developer, to develop a master planned community in the area.[1] The master-planned community, named Amaranth, envisioned as a self-sustaining community with a regional mall, employment centers and eventually home to over 50,000 people, has been placed on hold until at least 2010 due to economic slowdown.[2] The delay, as well as the developer's inability to meet financial obligations to the city, has forced Goodyear to cut back on emergency services to the area.

Geography

Mobile is located at geographical coordinates 33° 3' 19" N 112° 16' 16" W (33.055301, -112.271102). The private airstrip is located at 33° 6'43.27"N 112°16'8.66"W (33.111720, -112.269517).

Transportation

Mobile is accessible by car from State Route 238.

References

  1. Arnold, Elias (2009-04-22). "Goodyear to cut Sonoran Valley public safety costs nearly 88%". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2009-06-08.
  2. Arnold, Elias (2008-08-20). "Delay in Amaranth construction blamed on economy". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2009-06-08.