Cochise County is located
in the southeastern corner of Arizona. The high
desert grassland provides a year round temperate climate
and is an outdoor lover's paradise. Outside
Magazine ranked hiking in the Chiricahua Mountains as
one of the Top 50 outdoor experiences in the US.
Money magazine considers Cochise County and Bisbee one
of the Top 10 vacation destinations in the US.
Most of the communities
located within Cochise County are towns that started in
the mid to late 1800's and have held on thru the
economic issues throughout the decades. Many were
originally mining towns, some of them still were until
the 1970's. Bisbee is one modern day example of
this, when the mines closed down the town all but died
in the 1970's but now it's a growing, thriving arts based
community. Tombstone also had the same problem in
the late 1800's, early 1900's but now is a thriving
community based on tourism. There are many small
communities that are not listed with a description below
but you will find them listed at the bottom of the page.
These are all viable growing communities, most with post
offices, schools and even clinics and libraries.
Benson - Benson was
founded in 1880 just before the mining boom and was a
stage stop for the Butterfield Overland Stage. The
Union Pacific Railroad (previously Southern Pacific) then came into the area and
ensured it's viability as a town. Located along
I-10 and the San Pedro river it is experiencing a steady
influx of residential and business growth. It has
a small full-service general aviation airport and a new WalMart Supercenter was just recently opened.
Bisbee - Bisbee is the
county seat. Founded in 1880 it's economy was
originally based on mining, producing gold, copper,
silver, lead and zinc and is considered to be the
richest mineral site in the world. Today's economy
is based on the arts community that sprang up after the
mining companies pulled out in the 1970's. Today
you will find Bisbee a popular tourist destination with
a large arts related and retirement population.
There is a lot of growth on the outskirts of the city,
specifically towards Sierra Vista and Ft. Huachuca.
Property is in high demand here, especially in the
historic downtown.
Douglas - Listed
as one of the top 100 places to live by Bizjournals.com.
Although considered a border town the growth here has
been phenominal with small businesses due to the
favorable economic conditions and breaks given by the
city and county as a package. Housing has been
booming along with the businesses but cost of living has
stayed reasonable. There is a large historic
district in downtown which includes the Gadsden Hotel,
several shopping centers and the 2nd largest Arizona
border crossing from Agua Prieta, Mexico into the US.
For many years Douglas was the site of the Phelps-Dodge
copper smelters and there is a main rail line that is
still open.
Huachuca City -
Located north of Sierra Vista and Ft. Huachuca.
Developed with the reopening of Ft. Huachuca in 1954 and
the town was incorporated in 1958. Small community
with excellent schools, library, senior services and
it's own fire and police departments. Some small
retail businesses, restaurants and industrial
properties. Just minutes away from jobs, shopping
and other services in Sierra Vista and Ft. Huachuca.
Steady community growth being seen.
Pearce-Sunsites -
Pearce-Sunsites is actually two towns. Pearce is
an old mining town and the post office in Sunsites is a
Pearce mailing address. Pearce "proper" does have
a few houses, the local elementary school and a couple
of businesses. There are many old abandoned
buildings throughout the town and a few that have been
fully restored and are on the National Register of
Historic Buildings such as the Old Pearce Store. It is classified an old west ghost
town, however due to it's proximity to Sunsites the area
between the two are starting to fill up with businesses
and homes. Sunsites originally started as a
retirement community in the 1960's and has a public library, bank,
stores, restaurants, clinic and a 18-hole golf course.
This unincorporated town has been recently
been enjoying a steady growth in population and small
businesses over the last decade. Located on
Highway 191 it is just minutes from I-10 and about an
hour's drive from Tucson. Retirees
that move to this area enjoy the relaxed lifestyle that
is the trademark of the area. Families
appreciate the affordable housing and properties, along with the ease of getting to their jobs. Due to it's proximity
to I-10 it is an easy commute to Benson, Willcox, Sierra
Vista or Tucson where the main job economic base is.
This corridor also provides opportunities for shopping,
travel and much more. It's location is just
minutes away from the Dragoon Mountains, Cochise
Stronghold and the beginning of "The Ghost Town Trail."
The Pearce-Sunsites area is full of orchards (Apples,
Pecans and Pistachios) and you-pick farms.
Sierra Vista - Is
a fairly young town compared to the rest of the towns in
Cochise County and is the largest. The original
settlement was known as Fry and is still there, Sierra
Vista surrounds it. The economic base of this area
has traditionally been military but the city has
recently begun an aggressive push to attract industry
and other businesses. Sierra Vista has most large
major chains such as Home Depot, Lowe's, Target, WalMart
and many more along with malls, restaurants, small
businesses and several movie theatres. The
population was 43,000 however many people live outside
of the city limits in the surrounding rural area.
Land prices are high here and are continuing to escalate
so many people live in the outlying towns of Benson,
Dragoon, Douglas, Elfrida, Pearce and Sunsites, good
highways come from all directions for ease in commuting.
Tombstone - This town is
probably the most well known in Cochise County, Arizona
and for that matter the world. Originally started as a
mining town it was the county seat at one time. Known as "The Town too Tough to Die",
Tombstone went from mining silver and the OK corral
shootout to relative obscurity with
rebounds of growth during WW I and WWII supplying
manganese and
lead to the war effort. The town was once again
fading away when the town decided to restore
some of the old buildings and promote tourism.
Today it has a robust tourism based economy with events
throughout the year and is the #2 tourist destination in
the US, The Grand Canyon is #1 and both destinations
draw tourism to the area from around the world.
Tombstone residents shop usually in Benson or Sierra
Vista.
Willcox - Located
off of I-10. Established in 1880 it was originally
a cattle town with the Union Pacific Railroad (previously
Southern Pacific) coming
through. This is still the main route for the
railroad and the area is growing rapidly. Willcox
is proud of it's friendly small town attitude that it
extends to everyone. Until recently it was a ranch
and agriculturally based economy but it has currently
extended to include small and large business growth,
family relocation and retirees . The area is also
a tourist destination due to Ft. Bowie National Park,
Chiricauhua Mountains, Wonderland of Rocks and the
wonderful hiking, horseback riding and birding that can
be found here.
Cochise - Located
on Hwy 191 just south of I-10, about 4 miles.
Dragoon - Located off of Exit 318 and I-10 on
Dragoon Road, about 3 miles from I-10.
Elfrida - Located on Highway 191 about 25 miles
north of Douglas
Hereford - Located off of Highway 92 and Hereford
Road
McNeal - Located on Highway 191 about 20 miles
north of Douglas
Palominas - Located on Highway 92, halfway
between Sierra Vista and Benson
St. David - Located on Highway 80 about 7 miles
south of Benson and I-10
