Concho, Arizona
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Concho is an
unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
and
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 ...
(CDP) in
Apache County Apache County is a county in the northeast corner of the U.S. state of Arizona. Shaped in a long rectangle running north to south, as of the 2020 census, its population was 66,021. The county seat is St. Johns. Most of the county is occupie ...
,
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. Concho is located on
Arizona State Route 61 State Route 61, also known as SR 61, is a state highway in northern Arizona running generally southwest to northeast, from its southern terminus at U.S. Route 60 (US 60) east of Show Low to the New Mexico border at Zuni, where it becomes Ne ...
, west of St. Johns. As of the 2010 census, the Concho CDP had a population of 38. Concho has the ZIP code 85924. The
United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...
operates the Concho Post Office along
Arizona State Route 61 State Route 61, also known as SR 61, is a state highway in northern Arizona running generally southwest to northeast, from its southern terminus at U.S. Route 60 (US 60) east of Show Low to the New Mexico border at Zuni, where it becomes Ne ...
.


History

Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the Concho area was home to Indigenous Ancestral Puebloan peoples; the ruins of their pueblos can still be seen all over the area to this day. Indigenous Athabaskan speakers – the ancestors of today's
Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...
and
Navajo The Navajo or Diné are an Indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. Their traditional language is Diné bizaad, a Southern Athabascan language. The states with the largest Diné populations are Arizona (140,263) and New Mexico (1 ...
peoples, the largest Indigenous groups in northeastern Arizona – arrived in the region somewhere between the 1100s and 1400s CE, the earliest confirmed physical evidence of their presence being a
Diné The Navajo or Diné are an Native Americans in the United States, Indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. Their traditional language is Navajo language, Diné bizaad, a Southern Athabascan language. The states with the largest Din ...
-style three-fork dwelling dated to about 1389 CE. The Concho area remained firmly in Apache control until the end of the
Apache Wars The Apache Wars were a series of armed conflicts between the United States Army and various Apache tribal confederations fought in the Southwestern United States, southwest between 1849 and 1886, though minor hostilities continued until as l ...
in the late 19th century, following the surrender of
Lozen Lozen (c. 1840 – June 17, 1889) was a warrior and prophet of the Chihenne Chiricahua Apache. She was the sister of Victorio, a prominent chief. Born into the Chihenne band during the 1840s, Lozen was, according to legends, able to use her pow ...
and
Goyaałé Gerónimo (, ; June 16, 1829 – February 17, 1909) was a military leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Ndendahe Apache people. From 1850 to 1886, Geronimo joined with members of three other Central Apache bands the Tchihende ...
. The first permanent, non-Indigenous settlers of Concho were several Hispanic New Mexican families in the late 1800s. The exact date of Concho's founding is unknown, but likely occurred in the late 1850s or early 1860s. Don Manuel Antonio Candelaria, originally of Cubero, NM, is generally credited with being the first known settler of Concho: he first entered the area in the 1840s, when he was a child and an Apache captive. He was adopted by the tribe and lived among them as a full Apache tribal member for many years, until deciding to return to Cubero as a young man to reconnect with his birth family. After re-learning Spanish and eventually marrying Regina Baca, Candelaria returned to Concho with his family and 700 head of sheep and goats to permanently settle the area in 1861 (though he indicated that a scant handful of other Hispanic New Mexicans had also come to settle the area a few years prior). Several other Hispanic New Mexican families - most notably the Archunde, Atencio, Baca, Chavez, Gallegos, Padilla, and Romero families - followed suit and founded the town by the 1870s. While some folklore says that the name "Concho" comes from a Basque word meaning "a small valley," there is no linguistic, ethnographic, or historical evidence that seems to support this claim - or indeed, that there was ever a sustained Basque presence in the region. Instead, based on historical and ethnographic data (ibid.: 31), the name most likely comes from the Spanish word ''concha'' (meaning "shell"). Early settlers noted an abundance of small shells along the Concho Creek (which then ran year-round) and named the settlements "Las Conchas," or "The Shells." New Mexican church records indicate that the Las Conchas settlement was officially known as "El Rio Colorado Chiquito" ("The Small Red/Colored River"), but locals simply referred to it as Las Conchas (ibid.). Over time, this name transmuted into "El Concho", which eventually was shortened to "Concho." A group 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 ...
led by William J. Flake arrived in 1879 after Flake and Bateman H. Wilhelm purchased some of the land from
José Francisco Chaves José Francisco Chaves (June 27, 1833 – November 26, 1904) was a nineteenth-century military leader, politician, lawyer and rancher from the New Mexico Territory. Biography Family José Francisco Chaves was born on June 27, 1833, in Los ...
under the direction of Apostle
Erastus Snow Erastus Snow (November 9, 1818 – May 27, 1888) was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1849 until his death. Snow was a leading figure in the Mormon colonizat ...
. The LDS community adopted the name Erastus in honor of Snow, but changed the name back to Concho to match the continuing Mexican community in 1890. "The town was once the major population and financial center of the northeast quarter of what is now Arizona. It continued as a thriving small town for many years." Nevertheless, circumstances such as World War II caused residents to leave the area, and in time Concho dwindled down to a small community. The village (CDP) of Concho, sometimes referred to as "Old Concho", is rich in tradition and folklore. Each year the villagers enjoy coming together for the San Rafael Fiestas, when residents and relatives from afar gather for joyful celebration and reminiscing. Concho also celebrates
Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. It i ...
with the only Memorial Day parade and town picnic in Arizona that actually takes place on Memorial Day. The newer portion of Concho, outside the CDP, is the highland country referred to as "Concho Valley", established in 1971. Growth in this development primarily took place as a result of the construction of the Coronado Generating Station located west of St. Johns. The main attraction, until its closure in 2010, was the local country club and golf course. The clubhouse of the country club became a pizza place for awhile, but is now a residence, and the old golf course is mostly residential, with a high end RV park for travelers coming soon. Concho Lake, which primarily serves as an irrigation reservoir for "Old Concho", serves as a home for wildlife of all kinds, though the water is typically too low for fish. Both the old and new portions of Concho enjoy the peacefulness of a quiet country atmosphere, with clear skies and a sense of community. The total population of the Concho CDP ("Old Concho") and "Concho Valley" is approximately 800–900 persons. pdated 2025


Demographics


Education

Concho is served by the Concho Elementary School District, with its school being Concho Elementary School. The
Apache County Library District Apache County is a county in the northeast corner of the U.S. state of Arizona. Shaped in a long rectangle running north to south, as of the 2020 census, its population was 66,021. The county seat is St. Johns. Most of the county is occupie ...
operates the Concho Public Library.Concho Public Library
"
Apache County Library District Apache County is a county in the northeast corner of the U.S. state of Arizona. Shaped in a long rectangle running north to south, as of the 2020 census, its population was 66,021. The county seat is St. Johns. Most of the county is occupie ...
. Retrieved on January 30, 2011.


References


External links


Concho CAN


– ghosttowns.com {{authority control Census-designated places in Apache County, Arizona Census-designated places in Arizona Ghost towns in Arizona