Queen Valley, AZ

Queen Valley is a Pinal County CDP set along Queen Creek in the desert country near the Superstition Mountains. The place is defined by water and desert infrastructure: Queen Creek runs along its southern side, while Whitlow Ranch Dam sits upstream as a 1960 flood-control project. That dam was built to protect farmland and developed areas downstream, and the creek still shapes the roads and low crossings around Queen Valley. The local historical society keeps a separate record of the community, which is also home to a small museum. There is no incorporated town government here; Queen Valley is one of those Arizona places whose name describes a valley, a creek, and a whole settlement at once.