Called Purdy in the Post Office register of 1883, it was founded by Messrs. Purdy and Bachelor as a way station on an ore haulage line that linked the railhead in Clifton with Silver City, New Mexico. Duncan is located in southern Greenlee County at 324333N 109552W / 32.72583N 109.09778W / 32.72583; -109.09778 (32.725828, -109.097686). Phone: (928) 359-2791, Duncan Valley Rural Fire District In 1930, for instance, 44 of the 89 counties along the famed Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles featured no motels or restaurants and prohibited Blacks from entering after dark. No other road has captured the imagination and the essence of the American Dream quite like Route 66. Greenlee County Sheriff's Department Office: (928) 865-4149 Emergency: 911 Duncan - History and Social Justice Home Arizona Duncan James W. Loewen (1942-2021) We mourn the loss of our friend and colleague and remain committed to the work he began. Well, first that Flagstaff doesn't make any of the pre-World War II editions. The Arizona Good Roads Association, in its 1913 Illustrated Road Maps and Tour Book, described Duncan thusly: Surrounded by scenic mountains and historic mining sites, Duncans local businesses welcome visitors. Background: The Gila River Relocation Center was located about 50 miles south of Phoenix and 9 miles west of Sacaton in Pinal County, Arizona. Just one year before construction on Route 66 began, the Chicago Tribune suggested in an editorial on August 29, 1925, that black people avoid recreational sites altogether: We should be doing no service to the Negroes if we did not point out that to a very large section of the white population the presence of a Negro, however well behaved, among white bathers is an irritation. . The methods for enforcing such racial segregation ranged . For black soldiers stationed at Fort Leonard Wood near Rolla, Missouri, for example, their best option for a little R&R was a full 80 miles away: Grahams Rib Station in Springfield, Missouri, an integrated local landmark that opened in 1932 and was owned by an African American couple, James and Zelma Graham. Unheard of by many, loved by everyone who calls it home. Its now possibly the largest and most unusual cafeteria in the worldwith five floors of history and taxidermy and a giant fake redwood tree rising up through the center. Duncan Valley Rural Fire District Call 911 for emergencies. It is an entire community (or even county) that for decades was "all white" on purpose. What makes Route 66 different is that the open-road branding associated with it celebrated a time when black Americans had to navigate racial violence and the Jim Crow policies that shut them out of businesses and recreational sites. Please enable JavaScript on your browser to best view this site. Duncan is a small farming town 5 miles west of the New Mexico border on Hwy 70 (Old West Highway). For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.3 males. The siren that sounds every day at noon and 5 p.m. in Minden, Nevada is associated with the town's discriminatory history excluding Native Americans. Black Voices: Sundown towns still exist in 2022 For Arizona Route 66 towns and cities, Kingman first appears in the Green Book in 1956, and three places in Flagstaff appear in the 1957 edition: The Park Plaza Motel, the Nackard Inn and El Rancho Motel- which populate the Green Book to the end of its production run. James Duncan Smith became the managing director of the Arizona Copper Company, and, after Purdy was moved to the south bank of the river, it was renamed Duncan. Everything is one of a kind. The most dangerous cities in Arizona include Winslow, Page, Tolleson, Tucson, and more. But the current passion for gentrification and suburban sprawl is expunging the past: Most Green Book properties have been razed and many more are slated for demolition. [15], An individual structure listed in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Benjamin F. Billingsley House listed on August 25, 1983, reference: #83002998. I live in Los Angeles, California and love camping. He couldnt understand how America, a country with so much wealth, could allow its citizens to go hungry. Acreage is also planted to kenaf, an alternative fiber for making paper, and vernonia, an oilseed. into the 1960s, when the new Interstate 10 to the south diverted commercial traffic, contributing to a rising trucking industry. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was born in El Paso, Texas, but grew up near Duncan on the Lazy B ranch, which straddles the border between Arizona and New Mexico. Black veterans were once blocked from taking advantage of the GI Bill, missing out on valuable educational resources. However, all that is changing. Five miles from our border with New Mexico, Duncan began in the late 1800s as Purdy, a way station for ore trains on the route from nearby Clifton to Silver City, New Mexico. Location of Duncan in Greenlee County, Arizona, Last edited on 10 February 2023, at 23:59, "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Duncan town, Arizona", "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990", National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Duncan,_Arizona&oldid=1138676476, Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, This page was last edited on 10 February 2023, at 23:59. Businesses have earnest, hardworking signage. During the Red Summer of 1919, white mobs repeatedly targeted Black World War I veterans and servicemen. For instance, the Ku Klux Klan ran Fantastic Caverns, a popular tourist site near Springfield. As we head back up the street on the other side, a thick berm of trees with cropland stretching away evokes the idea that children in T-shirts will play actual outside games when school ends for the day. But for black Americans, the Mother Roads lonely expanses were rife with danger. Lemons, Limes, Mandarins, Grapefruit, and Oranges thrive in the warm sun and fertile soil of this region. sundown town, also called sunset town, in U.S. history, a town that excluded nonwhite peoplemost frequently African Americansfrom remaining in town after sunset. At that time, the town was located on the north bank of the Gila. That said, there are places like Vidor Texas that still are, if unofficially. After leaving Chicago on Route 66, the next Green Book sites were more than 180 miles away in Springfield, Illinois. In Nevada, Sundown Town History Has Cultural Impacts For Washoe - KUNC Simpson Hotel (former Hotel Hobbs) - 1914, River Front Lounge (former Bonnie Heather Bar/Pool Hall) - 1925, Old Duncan Bus Station now Hotel Duncan - 1920. Sometimes entire counties went sundown, usually when their county seats did. [10][2][4][9], The California volunteers pursuing the Apaches in 185, discovered the first minerals in the Greenlee area. [14] Also pictured is the antique town clock located in Spezia Square Park and the 1950 Chevrolet 6400 2-ton fire truck once used in Duncan. Sundown Towns are all-white communities, neighborhoods, or counties that exclude Blacks and other minorities through the use of discriminatory laws, harassment, and threats or use of violence. The Safe Havens and No-Go Zones for 20th-Century Black American The state also boasts a growing nut and date crop industry. Either way, it was painfully obvious to me that there was a problem. The means to announce and enforce racial restrictions varied across the country. Why Black Americans Are Not Nostalgic for Route 66 - The Atlantic My neighbor ladies and I walk every day, she says. Booker T. Washington called it Black Wall Street, and it was arguably the wealthiest black neighborhood in the South. (1911). Lying five miles from the New Mexico border, in the deep southeastern corner of Greenlee County, Duncan seems a world away from the wild mountains surrounding it. Duncan belongs to the Gila, the storied river of the west, the ageless natural highway whose passage through the mountain and desert southwest has served humankind since All manner of black and white celebrities visited, from Lena Horne and Joe Louis to Hedda Hopper and Clara Bow. Duncan receded then into a quiet farming and ranching town for several decades, and its downtown slowly disintegrated. Duncan, AZ Map & Directions - MapQuest The Gila River crested at a record-breaking 30.28 feet on Sunday night near Virden, New Mexico, a town just 7 miles from Duncan, Arizona. [4] U.S. Route 70 passes through downtown, leading west 39 miles (63km) to Safford, Arizona, and southeast 35 miles (56km) to Lordsburg, New Mexico, and Interstate 10. Click HERE to see some of the interesting places not far from Duncan. In Tulsa, for example, travelers can now visit the Greenwood Cultural Center to learn about the Tulsa Race Riot. James W. Loewen, Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism (New York: The New Press, 2005); Candacy Taylor, The Roots of Route 66, The Atlantic, November 3, 2016, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/11/the-roots-of-route-66/506255/; Sundown Towns, Encyclopedia of Arkansas, https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/sundown-towns-3658/. Cliftons closed for a few years starting in 2011 to undergo a $10 million renovation before reopening last year. [1][2][4][8][9], In 1845, Mexico severed its relations with the United States because of the annexation of Texas by the United States. South of Phoenix, in Chandler, the Gila River Indian Community invites visitors to learn about the two tribesthe Akimel Ootham and the Pee Poshwho make up the community at the HuHugam Heritage Center, a museum filled with historical artifacts, rotating exhibitions and classes that educate the public about the . Agriculture has been a mainstay of the Safford and Graham County economy, with cotton as the principal commodity and remaining acreage used for hay and small grains. The state of Arizona gave us our own license plate, and we'd like you to take us for a ride. One month after flooding, town of Duncan still recovering What are some of the best ultralight camping gear options? At that time, the town was located on the north bank of the Gila. Ha, there's no Sundown Towns her in AZ. According to AP News, these towns are inhabited by a majority of white people who insist that "Black and white residents get along really well." It serves as an excellent base from which to explore the surrounding countryside for several days. [12][8][9][13], The Duncan Pride Society was established on March 8, 2001. He remembers Martinsville, Indiana as an unfriendly place. Published: Aug. 23, 2022 at 5:03 PM PDT. Arizonas location within the U.S. Gila County comprises the Payson, Arizona Micropolitan Statistical Area. July 3, 1919: The Battle of Brewery Gulch - Zinn Education Project But it was also the home of U.S. Sen. Everett Dirksen, whose support helped ensure the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. At that time, American soldiers fought for human rights overseas, but the troops were still segregated at home. It was used so heavily that a 200-mile stretch of asphalt was thickened so that it could better handle military convoys.
