Gisela, AZ

Gisela is a Gila County census-designated place along Tonto Creek, 17 road miles south of Payson and about five miles east of Arizona 87, the Beeline Highway. The creek runs through the settlement toward Roosevelt Lake, passing a narrow stretch locals call the Narrows before entering the lower Tonto Basin. Payson Unified School District serves the area, with Payson High School as the zoned comprehensive high school. The 2010 census counted 570 residents.

ATTRdon mario / CC BY 3.0

One of Gisela’s best local stories begins with a schoolteacher reading Countess Gisela by E. Marlitt to her students. When the postmaster asked for a name for the settlement, the children voted for the heroine’s name and pronounced it “Guy-SEE-la.” The nearby Gisela Ruins are Salado remains along Tonto Creek, tying the modern community to a much older pattern of farming, storage, and settlement in the Tonto Basin. Gisela sits where the creek leaves its rugged canyon country and opens into a desert valley, so water, archaeology, and the road to Payson all meet in its small footprint.