Central, AZ

Central is a Graham County census-designated place just south of the Gila River in the Upper Gila Valley. The 2020 census counted 758 residents. Mount Graham and the Pinaleño Mountains dominate the southern skyline, so the place has a built-in compass: river country to the north and a mountain wall to the south. The Cluff family first homesteaded here in 1880, then extended the Central Canal to reach their land.

ATTRDexter Perkins / CC0

Central also carries a school history that reaches beyond the hamlet. The original St. Joseph Stake Academy stood here before moving to Thatcher, where its successor became Eastern Arizona College. A road still marks the old site, while the Gila Valley Arizona Temple is another highly visible local landmark. Central is the kind of Upper Gila settlement where irrigation, church history, and the mountain view all sit in the same few miles. The river valley keeps irrigation and settlement tied together. In Central, the horizon is part of the address.