Sonoita (; ) is a

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 Santa Cruz County,

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. The population was 803 at the 2020 census. The origin of the name of the CDP is the O'odham ''Ṣon ʼOidag'', which may be best translated as "spring field".

Geography

Sonoita is located in northern Santa Cruz County. The community is at the intersection of

Arizona State Route 83 State Route 83 (SR 83) is a scenic state highway in southern Arizona, stretching from its junction with Interstate 10 near Vail south to Parker Canyon Lake. It passes through sparsely populated areas of Pima, Cochise and Santa Cruz Counties ...

and

Arizona State Route 82 State Route 82 (SR 82) is an east–west state highway in southern Arizona. The western terminus of Route 82 is located at its junction with Business Loop 19 (Grand Avenue) in Nogales and its eastern terminus at its junction with State Ro ...

. The

Santa Rita Mountains The Santa Rita Mountains ( O'odham: To:wa Kuswo Doʼag), located about southeast of Tucson, Arizona, extend from north to south, then trending southeast. They merge again southeastwards into the Patagonia Mountains, trending northwest by sout ...

and the

Canelo Hills The Canelo Hills are a range of low mountains or hills in eastern Santa Cruz County, Arizona. The range consists of a series of northwest–southeast trending ridges extending from the Sonoita Creek valley southwest of Sonoita to the Parker Ca ...

lie to the west and southwest respectively. The headwaters of

Sonoita Creek Sonoita Creek is a tributary stream of the Santa Cruz River in Santa Cruz County, Arizona. It originates near and takes its name from the abandoned Pima mission in the high valley near Sonoita. It flows steadily for the first of its westwar ...

are just west of the site.''Sonoita, Arizona,'' 7.5 Minute Topographic Quadrangle, USGS, 1996 (2002 rev.) Historic

Fort Crittenden Fort Crittenden, originally Camp Crittenden, was a United States Army post built in 1867 three miles from Sonoita, Arizona, Sonoita, Arizona along Sonoita Creek. It was established to campaign against the Apache and to protect American American p ...

and Fort Buchanan lie approximately four miles west of Sonoita, just north of Sonoita Creek and Route 82. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the CDP has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 826 people, 358 households, and 264 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 401 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 89.6%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.5%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.5% Native American, 0.1% Asian, 0.2%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 6.5% from other races, and 2.5% from two or more races. 16.7% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. There were 358 households, out of which 20.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.2% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 5.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.0% were non-families. 21.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.3 and the average family size was 2.7. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 18.4% under the age of 18, 2.5% from 18 to 24, 21.2% from 25 to 44, 37.7% from 45 to 64, and 20.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 50 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.4 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $51,310, and the median income for a family was $58,571. Males had a median income of $46,042 versus $26,406 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the CDP was $27,312. About 2.8% of families and 4.9% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 10.1% of those under age 18 and 2.0% of those age 65 or over.

Notable residents

Alex Flanagan Alex Flanagan (née Wystrach; born on September 23, 1973) is the Vice president of Broadcasting for the Montag group, a Wasserman company and a former American sportscaster. She is a graduate of the University of Arizona. She began her career as ...

, sports journalist *

Mark Wystrach Mark Wystrach is an American country music musician and actor. Wystrach appeared in the Academy Award-winning film '' The Eyes of Tammy Faye''. He is the lead singer of the country band Midland. Acting and modeling careers Wystrach played the r ...

, musician, member of country band Midland *

Rick Renzi Richard George Renzi (born June 11, 1958) is an American politician who was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives representing from 2003 until 2009. In 2013, Renzi was convicted on federal criminal charges filed in 2 ...

, U.S. Congressman, owner Rainwhisper Ranch.

Images

File:Sonoita Arizona 2014.JPG, Sonoita, as seen from the main intersection in town. File:Sonoita-Fort Buchanan Bridge Ruins-1856.jpg, Ruins of the Fort Buchanan Bridge over Sonoita Creek File:Sonoita-Camp Crittenden Marker.jpg, Camp (Fort) Crittenden Marker historic marker

References

External links