🠈 Santa Cruz County 🠊
Santa Cruz County is 1238 square mile county in South Central Arizona with a 2010 population of 47,420. It's county seat is Nogales, Arizona on the US Mexican Border.
The county split from Pima County in 1899, but is often included in the Greater Tucson Metropolitan Area for statistical and marketing purposes. Pima County was created in 1853 after the US acquired the area with The Gadsen Purchase.
Santa Cruz County was named for the Santa Cruz River which was named by Eusebio Francisco Kino (1645-1711), a Jesuit priest from Northern Italy, who established missions in Pimería Alta (upper land of the Pimas) starting in 1687.
The Santa Cruz River flows South from its headwaters in the San Rafael Valley into Mexico where it turns westward then runs North through Nogales and into Tucson before joining the Gila River. The name "Santa Cruz" translates to "Holy Cross."
The primary transportation route through Santa Cruz County is I19 which starts at the US/Mexican Border then heads North to Tucson. The county has multiple ports of entry from Mexico is a primary entry point for International Trade.
Directory Listings:
- Santa Cruz County - Information: Santa Cruz County