Quartzsite, Arizona

Quartzsite
Town
Quartzsite, Arizona
Abandoned mine near Quartzsite
Motto: "The Rock Capital of the World"
Location in La Paz County and the state of Arizona
Coordinates: 33°39′54″N 114°13′15″W / 33.66500°N 114.22083°W / 33.66500; -114.22083Coordinates: 33°39′54″N 114°13′15″W / 33.66500°N 114.22083°W / 33.66500; -114.22083
Country	United States
State	Arizona
County	La Paz
Incorporated	1989
Government
• Mayor	Ed Foster
Area
• Total	36.3 sq mi (94.0 km2)
• Land	36.3 sq mi (94.0 km2)
• Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation	879 ft (268 m)
Population (2010)[1]
• Total	3,677
• Estimate (2014)[2]	3,613
• Density	93.6/sq mi (36.1/km2)
Time zone	MST (no DST) (UTC-7)
ZIP codes	85346, 85359
Area code(s)	928
FIPS code	04-58010
Website	Town of Quartzsite

Quartzsite is a town in La Paz County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the town was 3,677.^[1]

Interstate 10 runs directly through Quartzsite, which is at the intersection of U.S. Route 95 and Arizona State Route 95 with I-10.

Geography and climate

Quartzsite is located at 33°39′54″N 114°13′15″W / 33.66500°N 114.22083°W / 33.66500; -114.22083 (33.665116, −114.220913).^[3]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 36.3 sq mi (94.0 km²), all land.

Quartzsite lies on the western portion of the La Posa Plain 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 lie across the La Posa Plain to the east.^[4]

The town has a hot desert climate (Köppen BWh) with mild to warm winters from November to March and hot to extreme summers for the rest 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 122 °F (50.0 °C) on 28 July 1995.

There is very little precipitation: only 3.51 inches (89.2 mm) falls in an average year and in May and June more than 80 percent of years do not record measurable rainfall. Since records began in 1928 the wettest month has been September 1939 with 6.16 inches (156.5 mm), part of the wettest year with 11.05 inches (280.7 mm) and featuring on 5 September the wettest day with 3.00 inches (76.2 mm) from the remnants of a rare Gulf of California hurricane.^[5] The driest calendar year has been 1928 with 0.92 inches (23.4 mm), though between July 2001 and August 2002 as little as 0.45 inches (11.4 mm) fell over fourteen months.

Demographics

As of the census^[9] of 2000, there were 3,354 people, 1,850 households, and 1,176 families residing in the town. The population density was 92.4 people per square mile (35.7/km²). There were 3,186 housing units at an average density of 87.8 per square mile (33.9/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 94.48% White, 0.24% Black or African American, 1.16% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 2.59% from other races, and 1.19% from two or more races. 5.04% of the population were Hispanic 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 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 for the town was $15,889. About 7.8% of families and 13.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.3% of those under age 18 and 10.0% of those age 65 or over.

Tourism

Quartzsite is a popular recreational vehicle camping area for winter visitors, and tourism is the major contributor to Quartzsite's economy. Nine major gem, mineral, and 15 general swap meet shows are very popular tourist attractions, attracting about 1.5 million people annually,^[10] mostly in January and February.

The mine in the town was owned and operated by Jack Stetler and was shut down in 1957, upon a move to Brazil for iron ore.

Hadji Ali grave in Quartzsite, Arizona.

Quartzsite is the burial place of Hi Jolly (Hadji Ali), an Ottoman citizen of Greek-Syrian parentage, who took part in the experimental US Camel Corps as a camel driver.^[11]

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.^[12]

Violations of open meeting laws

In June 2011, a video surfaced of Jennifer Jones being removed from a town hall meeting.^[13] On December 9, 2011, the Arizona Attorney General, Tom Horne, released a report in which he said that the Quartzsite Town Council had violated Arizona's open meeting laws.^[14] Horne said that the removal of Jones during the June 2011 meeting, as well as the exclusion of the public from July meetings, violated state law.^[15][16]

References

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Quartzsite.

• Town website
• Quartzsite Times
• Desert Messenger
• Quartzsite information at Desert USA
• BLM camping information

Municipalities and communities of La Paz County, Arizona, United States County seat: Parker Towns Parker Quartzsite CDPs Alamo Lake Bluewater Bouse Brenda Cibola Cienega Springs Ehrenberg La Paz Valley Parker Strip Poston Salome Sunwest Utting Vicksburg Wenden Unincorporated communities Hope Planet Indian reservations Colorado River Indian Reservation Ghost towns Clip Drift Desert Empire Flat Eureka La Paz Love Mineral City Nortons Landing Olive City Swansea Williamsport