The Community of
Rio Rico
Explore our community and learn more about the
history and culture of this beautiful area. Here you'll find information on
Nogales and Rio Rico Area. Rio Rico offers a broad range of community
facilities two large parks, a recreation center, children's playground, riding
stables, swimming pool, 18-hole golf course, a little league baseball park, and
several basketball, tennis, shuffleboard and racquet ball courts.
Community Profile
Rio Rico ("rich river") is a planned community located in Santa Cruz County, 57
miles south of Tucson and 12 miles north of Mexico. The community's 39,000
acres roll gently down from the Santa Rita Mountains through the San Cayetano
Foothills westward to the Santa Cruz River. This high desert elevation averages
from 3500 feet to 4000 feet above sea level. The area around and including Rio
Rico was once part of the Baca Float, a tract of approximately 100,000 acres
granted by the U.S. Congress to the heirs of Luis Maria Baca as the result of an
early, unclear grant from the Spanish government. The community had its
beginnings in 1969 and has continued to grow at a steady pace with the influx of
tenants to the Rio Rico South Industrial Park.
Principle Economic Activities
Rio Rico's South Industrial Park is comprised of
256 acres, with 100 acres now serving many produce and distribution warehouses
and manufacturing firms. The Rio Rico commercial area comprises 544 acres,
which includes Rio Rico Resort (with tennis and 18-hole championship golf
course) and a commercial center containing a supermarket, restaurant and a
variety of specialty shops. Because of its proximity to Mexico, Rio Rico has
become a stop-over for tourists, increasing the importance of tourism to the
area. Nogales, Sonora, Mexico is just 13 miles South.
Scenic Attractions
Rio Rico is an area where Spanish and Indian
families lived generations before the American Revolution and where Arizona
history began. Tumacacori National Monument, four miles north, was visited by
Father Kino in 1691, and had its most active years from 1791 to 1821. Eleven
miles north of Rio Rico is Tubac Presidio, which was established in 1752 by the
Spanish.
Near Tubac are Aliso Springs, a Mexican ranch site and also the site of
prehistoric occupation; the Salero Mine, one of the oldest mines in Arizona and
worked by Mexicans before being purchased by Americans in the 1850s; Santa Rita
Hacienda, both a mining and ranching center during the Spanish and Mexican
periods, acquired by the Americans after the Gadsden Purchase. Sonoita, to the
east, was established by the Sobaipuri Indians in 1698. It was visited by Kino
and become a visita of the Guevavi Mission. Sopori, near Amado, was originally a
Pima rancheria. It became a Spanish mining and stock-raising center and was
acquired by Americans in the 1850s.
An excursion to the historic Tumacacori National Monument, Tubac Presidio, the
ruins of old Fort Crittendon and the Duquesne or Washington Camp ghost towns can
be made within a two-hour round trip from Rio Rico. Recreational areas such as
Pena Blanca and Patagonia Lakes, Madera Canyon, and Mt. Wrightson and the
Coronado National Forest are nearby.
The Calabasas Mission Ruins, located in Rio Rico, were dedicated to the state
parks in 1997.
Community Facilities
Communication
In addition to communication resources
from the rest of the state, Rio Rico has a newspaper, the Nogales
International, and one television channel from Nogales. Hi-speed internet
services are available including Qwest DSL.
Quality Cable Television Service is available through Mediacom, which provides
HBO, Cinemax, Disney, AMC, Fox Sports, Nickleodeon and many more channels and
broadband internet.
Dish Network and Direct TV satellite networks
are both available.
Educational There are four schools in the Santa Cruz Valley
Unified District #35. A new high school opened in 1994.
Medical Complete medical services are available in
Nogales, including one hospital with 80 beds and a 24-hour emergency service
available, 19 physicians, three dentists, two chiropractors, one podiatrist, and
three opticians. Tubac has a new medical clinic just opened in 2002. A new
medical clinic is scheduled for Rio Rico and a new state of the art hospital is
scheduled for start of construction in 2007 in Rio Rico.
Financial Full financial services are available in
Nogales, and a Wells Fargo Bank branch is located in Rio Rico. Further, Santa
Cruz County businesses are eligible for assistance in financing fixed assets
through the Finance and Administration Division, Arizona Department of
Commerce. Information on private activity bonds within the county may be
obtained from the same source or from the Santa Cruz County Economic Development
Foundation, P.O. Box 1688, Nogales, AZ, 85628.
Governmental The community of Rio Rico is governed by the Santa
Cruz County Board of Supervisors and serviced by the sheriff's department. The
fire department has 25 volunteers, a rescue unit and firehouse on both the West
side and the East side of I-19.
Airport
The residents of Rio Rico have access to the Nogales International Airport (12
miles south). Tucson International Airport is just 50 minutes to the North.
Industrial Properties There is one industrial park with
256 acres available for light industry, warehousing and produce distribution.
All utilities are available, and there is easy access to the Southern Pacific
Railroad and I-19. A neighborhood business park with 47.5 acres is available
for light industry, warehousing and neighborhood-type business.
Community Links
