Entry Points:

Ajo City Plaza

Pizal Street

Ajo Overlook

About Ajo

Deep in the Sonoran Desert of southern Arizona, just 43 miles from the Mexican border, Ajo enjoys wide open spaces and remoteness from the big cities. Creosote bushes, Saguaro cactus, Ocotillo and other exotic desert plants grow in and around the city. Ajo sits at the base of some low mountains, on the west, and a wide valley opens to the east.

The city began as a mining town, with the large, open pit copper mine which operated until 1983. The mine existed as far back as 1800, and was mined by Tom Childs beginning in 1847 and later by John Boddie. Phelps Dodge bought the mine in 1921 and operated it until its closure due to strikes and economic difficulties. With the mine out of operation, the local economy has suffered, but the town is reforming itself as a retirement community. Winters are warm and the heat of summer is extreme.

Ajo sports a beautiful plaza, lined with Spanish style markets, and two beautiful white churches at it's commercial center. The impressive facade of the Curley School brightens the opposite end of the street a few blocks away. Quaint residential streets lined with many Spanish style houses, landscaped with many unusual plants, criss-cross the city.

Arizona Highway 85 passes north and south through Ajo, leading to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument to the south, and to Gila Bend and Interstate 8 to the north. In the year 2000, the population of Ajo stood at 3,705. The name Ajo comes either from the spanish word for garlic or from the O'odham word for paint. It is pronounced Ah-ho. Many tourists pass through the town on their way to resort town Puerto Penasco, or Rocky Point, on the Mexico coast.

For More Information:
See the site hosted by the Ajo Chamber of Commerce and Wikipedia's article on Ajo. Visit the local newspaper Ajo Copper News to find out what's currently going on.

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Street Index

a road a sidewalk a street Ajo Mine Turnout Ajo Well Road Arroyo Avenue Ash Street Berry Road Brady Street Briggs Road Cameron Avenue Cameron Street Candalaria Street Cedar Street Center Street Childs Street Cholla Avenue Clymer Avenue Clymer Street Connolly Avenue Cunada Street Darmit Street Dorsey Street Eighth Street Eleventh Street Elliot Road Elota Street Esperanza Avenue Estrella Street Fees Road Fifth Street First Avenue First Street

Fourth Avenue Fourth Street Fundicion Street Greenway Drive Grijalva Street Guesthouse Road Hayworth Road Hoover Street Hospital Drive Road Indian Village Road Jefferson Avenue Jones Street Keener Road Kilbright Avenue La Mina Avenue Lewis Road Lomita Avenue Lyons Street Malacate Street Maple Street McKinley Avenue McMahon Road Monticito Street Morondo Avenue Nelson Road Ninth Street North Street Ocotillo Avenue Olive Street Orilla Street Palm Street Palo Verde Avenue Perro de Nieve Street

Pico Street Pizal Street Placer Street Plaza Street Rasmussen Road Rocalla Avenue Rosedale Avenue Rosser Road Sahuaro Street Sartillion Avenue Schwartz Road Second Avenue Second Street Seventh Street Sixth Street Snyder Road Solana Avenue State Highway 85 Tecolote Street Telera Avenue Tellera Street Tenth Street Third Avenue Third Street Thompson Avenue Tonelada Street Vananda Avenue Walker Road Washington Street Welcome Street Wolsey Street