Community: Ajo

Introduction

Ajo services Lodging: Make hotel reservations in Ajo.

Ajo, the birthplace of copper mining in Arizona, has a rich history dating back hundreds of years. Today it is a popular tourist destination and retirement mecca offering an inexpensive lifestyle. Ajo (pronounced ah-ho) comes from either the Spanish word for garlic (ajo) or the Papago Indian word for paint (au'auho). Papagos obtained red paint pigments from the area. The Ajo lily, an onion-like plant, grows nearby. Located in western Pima County, this ethnically diverse town is on state Highway 85, north of the junction with state Highway 86 and south of Interstate 8. Ajo is surrounded by mountains and the Sonoran desert.

Ajo is centered around a lovely plaza lined by tall palms and flanked by mission churches and Spanish-style buildings. Festivals are held in the plaza. Other attractions include an open pit mine lookout and a historical museum. Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, 36 miles south of Ajo, is a magnificent reserve of virgin desert. Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, 860,000 acres, lies west of Ajo. It protects endangered desert bighorn sheep and a herd of pronghorn antelopes. A special permit to travel the Devil's Highway can be obtained at its Ajo headquarters. Mexico is 40 miles south of Ajo. Visitors cross at Sonoita, a town founded in the 17th century. Puerto Pe–asco (Rocky Point), once a fishing village on the Gulf of California, is rapidly becoming a major resort area.

FOUNDED: 1900
DISTANCE TO PHOENIX: 110 miles
HIGHWAYS: I-8, Hwy. 85, Hwy. 86
ENTERPRISE ZONE AVAILABLE
INCORPORATED: No
ELEVATION: 1,798 feet
DISTANCE TO TUCSON: 131 miles
COUNTY: Pima County

Source: Arizona Dept. of Commerce