For a place that for so many years was just a wide spot on the road from Cordes Junction to Prescott, the biggest incorporated city in Yavapai County, little old Lonesome Valley has come a long way in 36 years.
The 38-square-mile community located at slightly above 5,000 feet between the Bradshaw and the Mingus Mountain ranges now boats almost 40,000 residents.
Easily identified from a distance as the town that sits below and east of 6,200-foot-high Glassford Hill, a now extinct volcano, the community is far removed from the days of muddy roads and one grocery store.
Even before that, during the Civil War in 1863, placer gold was discovered in Lynx Creek. Today, if you crawl down into the creek bed, you’ll still find some folks out there panning for gold flecks and specks.
Though originally a mining and ranching region, it gradually changed until in 1978, voters decided to create an incorporated community. Even after that, growth was modest. It wasn’t until the 1990s that Prescott Valley began its growth spurt. Growth didn’t stop until the Great Recession. Before that financial disaster, it was the seventh fastest growing community in Arizona, census data reveal. Currently, population remains stable.
Today, with a median age of slightly more than 40, and with an estimated household income of almost $42,000, Prescott Valley has positioned itself as a strong and sturdy member of the Quad Cities community. QCBN
By Ray Newton
Quad Cities Business News
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