Greenlee County, Arizona facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Greenlee County
U.S. county
Benjamin F. Billingsley House in Duncan, Arizona
Seal
Location within the U.S. state of Arizona
Arizona's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Arizona
Founded	March 10, 1909
Named for	Mason Greenlee
Seat	Clifton
Largest town	Clifton
Area
• Total	1,848 sq mi (4,790 km2)
• Land	1,843 sq mi (4,770 km2)
• Water	5.3 sq mi (14 km2)  0.3%%
Population  (2010)
• Total	8,437
• Estimate  (2019)	9,498
• Density	4.5655/sq mi (1.7627/km2)
Time zone	UTC−7 (Mountain)
Congressional district	1st

1901 Clifton railroad station, now used by the Chamber of Commerce and other community organizations.

Azurite specimen from the great Morenci Mine.

Greenlee County is a county in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2010 census its population was 8,437, making it Arizona's least populous county. The county seat is Clifton.

The economy of Greenlee County is dominated by the Morenci Mine, the largest copper mining operation in North America, and one of the largest copper mines in the world. As of 2017^[update], the mine complex, owned by Freeport-McMoRan, had about 3,300 employees.

History

Greenlee County was created in 1909 and named for Mason Greenlee who was an early settler in the Clifton area. It was Arizona's 14th county and formed from part of Graham County, which opposed the formation because Graham County would lose considerable revenue. Clifton has always been the county seat.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,848 square miles (4,790 km²), of which 1,843 square miles (4,770 km²) is land and 5.3 square miles (14 km²) (0.3%) is water. It is the second-smallest county by area in Arizona.

Adjacent counties

• Cochise County - south
• Graham County - west
• Apache County - north
• Catron County, New Mexico - east
• Grant County, New Mexico - east
• Hidalgo County, New Mexico - southeast

National protected areas

• Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest (part)
• Gila Box Riparian National Conservation Area (part)

Major Highways

• U.S. Route 70
• U.S. Route 191
• State Route 75
• State Route 78

Demographics

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 8,437 people, 3,188 households, and 2,152 families living in the county. The population density was 4.6 inhabitants per square mile (1.8/km²). There were 4,372 housing units at an average density of 2.4 per square mile (0.93/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 77.2% white, 2.3% American Indian, 1.1% black or African American, 0.5% Asian, 0.1% Pacific islander, 15.0% from other races, and 3.8% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 47.9% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 12.9% were English, 12.1% were German, 10.6% were Irish, and 1.6% were American.

Of the 3,188 households, 37.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.5% were married couples living together, 9.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 32.5% were non-families, and 27.8% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.21. The median age was 34.8 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $48,696 and the median income for a family was $51,729. Males had a median income of $50,446 versus $34,171 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,281. About 9.4% of families and 13.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.8% of those under age 18 and 13.2% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Map of incorporated and unincorporated areas in Greenlee County

Towns

• Clifton (county seat)
• Duncan

Census-designated places

• Franklin
• Morenci
• York

Other communities

• Blue
• Blue Vista
• Hannagan Meadow
• Loma Linda
• Sheldon
• Three Way
• Verde Lee

County population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2010 census of Greenlee County.

† county seat

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Greenlee para niños