Sunset, Arizona is a
populated place
In geography, statistics and archaeology, a settlement, locality or populated place is a community of people living in a particular place. The complexity of a settlement can range from a minuscule number of dwellings grouped together to t ...
and former town in
Navajo 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, located approximately four miles north-west of
Winslow. It was settled in 1876 by a group of members of
the Church of Jesus Christ 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 ...
under the direction of
Lot Smith. Drought and flash flooding that washed away the dams and irrigation systems led to crop failures. It ceased being a town by 1884 and the last settlers moved out in 1888. The channel of the
Little Colorado River
The Little Colorado River () is a tributary of the Colorado River in the U.S. state of Arizona, providing the principal drainage from the Painted Desert region. Together with its major tributary, the Puerco River, it drains an area of about in ...
now runs where the town site used to be. Only the small hilltop Sunset Cemetery remains and is part of the
Homolovi State Park.
Sunset was one of four Little Colorado River colonies. The other colonies were
Joseph City
Joseph City (elevation 5,000 ft) is a Census Designated Place located in Navajo County, Arizona, United States. It is located on Interstate 40, approximately eighty miles east of Flagstaff and about thirty-five miles west of Petrified Fo ...
,
Brigham City, and
Obed. Joseph City is the only remaining colony.
[Tanner, George S and J Morris Richards, ''Colonization on the Little Colorado: The Joseph City Region'' (Flagstaff, Arizona: 1977) 21, 32, 34.]
See also
*
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Arizona
References
External links
Ghosttown.com entry for SunsetHomolovi Ruins State Park information on Sunset cemetery
{{Navajo County, Arizona
Populated places in Navajo County, Arizona
Ghost towns in Arizona
1876 establishments in Arizona Territory