Duncan, Arizona, United States

🇺🇸 Duncan is a town in Greenlee County, Arizona, United States. Duncan is in the Gila River valley, four miles (6 km) west of the Arizona–New Mexico border. The town limits are on both sides of the Gila River, but the primary portion of the town and the entire downtown area lies on the south side of the river. Duncan was founded in the mid-19th century, and the land was added to the United States as a part of the Mexican Cession, and the Gadsden Purchase. The town of Duncan has been destroyed twice by flood and once by fire.

The town and unincorporated county surrounding the town are primarily populated by farming, ranching, and mining families. (Freeport-McMoRan Inc., Morenci & Safford copper mines in south-eastern Arizona and Chino & Tyrone in south-western New Mexico). Surrounding smaller unincorporated settlements such as Franklin and York in Arizona, and the Village of Virden, New Mexico, all use Duncan public schools. The areas along the Gila River are renowned for Native American artifacts such as arrowheads, pottery, burial sites, cave paintings, and other remnants of the Anasazi and other pre-historic cultures that inhabited the area until overpopulation and severe droughts between 1000 and 1290 C.E. caused them to vanish, (a remnant of the Chiricahua Band of Apache Indians remained in the upper Gila River Valley as late as the 1930s) as well as artifacts from garrison camps of the expedition of Francisco Vázquez de Coronado.

Duncan High School (mascot: Wildkat; school colors: red, grey, and white) competes in many sports, Fall- Mens "8 Man" Football AIA Div 1, Ladies VolleyBall, M/W Cross-country; Winter - M/W Basketball; Spring - Mens Baseball, Womens Softball, M/W Tennis, M/W Golf, M/W Track & Field.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was born in El Paso, Texas, but grew up near Duncan on the Lazy B ranch, which straddles the border between Arizona and New Mexico. The Day family ran the ranch for many years until selling it; it continues to be run as a ranch. O'Connor later wrote a book titled Lazy B: Growing up on a Cattle Ranch in the American Southwest about her childhood experiences on the ranch with her brother H. Alan Day.

Geography Duncan is located in southern Greenlee County. U.S. Route 70 passes through downtown, leading west 39 miles (63 km) to Safford, Arizona, and south-east 35 miles (56 km) to Lordsburg, New Mexico, and Interstate 10. Arizona State Route 75 leads north from Duncan 28 miles (45 km) to Clifton.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town of Duncan has a total area of 2.2 square miles (5.6 km²), all of it land.

Demographics As of the census of 2000, there were 812 people, 294 households, and 206 families residing in the town. The population density was 317.6 inhabitants per square mile (122.6/km²). There were 384 housing units at an average density of 150.2/sq mi (58.0/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 81.8% White, 0.5% Black or African American, 0.9% Native American, 0.1% Asian, 13.6% from other races, and 3.2% from two or more races. 31.5% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 294 households, out of which 42.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.3% were married couples living together, 17.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.6% were non-families. 25.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.76 and the average family size was 3.33.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 35.2% under the age of 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 22.2% from 25 to 44, 21.2% from 45 to 64, and 10.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 28 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.3 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $27,368, and the median income for a family was $33,750. Males had a median income of $32,232 versus $18,333 for females. The per capita income for the town was $13,642. About 14.0% of families and 16.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.4% of those under age 18 and 23.2% of those age 65 or over.

Transport Greyhound Lines serves Duncan on its Phoenix–El Paso via Globe route.

Economy The economy of Greenlee County is dominated by the Morenci Mine, the largest copper mining operation in North America, and one of the largest copper mines in the world. As of 2017, the mine complex, owned by Freeport-McMoRan, had about 3,300 employees.

Adjacent counties • Cochise County – south • Graham County – west • Apache County – north • Catron County, New Mexico – east • Grant County, New Mexico – east • Hidalgo County, New Mexico – southeast.

National protected areas • Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest (part) • Gila Box Riparian National Conservation Area (part).

Major highways • U.S. Route 70 • U.S. Route 191 • State Route 75 • State Route 78.