Hope, Arizona

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Hope, Arizona
Unincorporated community
ArizonaStateRoute72.jpg
Hope Highway (AZ-72) just north of Hope, Arizona
USA Arizona location map.svg
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Usa edcp location map.svg
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Coordinates: 33°43′23″N113°42′09″W / 33.72306°N 113.70250°W / 33.72306; -113.70250
Country United States
State Arizona
County La Paz
Elevation
1,526 ft (465 m)
Time zone UTC-7 (Mountain (MST))
Area code 928
GNIS feature ID24462 [1]

Hope is a small unincorporated community in the deserts of La Paz County, Arizona, United States. [1]

Contents

Hope was founded as a rail town called Johannesberg on the Arizona and California Railroad in 1909. The community was revitalized by the construction of what are now State Routes 60 and 72 in the 1930s, and it declined after the construction of Interstate 10, which bypassed the area.

Hope is the site of a noted road sign claiming that travellers are "beyond Hope".

Geography

Hope is at the base of Granite Wash Pass in the McMullen Valley, at the junction of Arizona State Route 72 and Arizona State Route 60. [2] The section of Highway 72 between Bouse and Hope is also known as the Hope Highway. [3] This historic road was an Arizona Territorial-period (1863–1912) road first established in 1865. [4]

History

Hope, Arizona, and surrounding areas in 1954 1954 USGS map - Vicksburg AZ - Hope AZ - Pioneer AZ Harcuvar AZ.png
Hope, Arizona, and surrounding areas in 1954

In 1865, Arizona Territory built a road through the area which reached the Colorado River Indian Reservation, providing a connection between the white settlers of Arizona and the Chemehuevi and Mohave tribes. This road later became State Route 72, also known as the Hope Highway. [4]

In the early 1900s, the Arizona and California Railroad, a branch of the Santa Fe Railroad, was built through the area, passing through what is now Hope, Bouse, and Salome. [5] In Arizona, the rail line ran between Wickenburg and Parker. [6] The community was originally founded under the name Johannesberg, and in 1909, the Arizona Gazette announced that the "new town had sprung into existence." [7]

The Johannesberg community was renamed Hope in the 1920s by merchants visiting the town. [1] [8] In the 1920s, State Route 60 bypassed the original Johannesberg site, leading residents to relocate to the newly-constructed highway. [9]

By the 1930s, Hope was one of the Arizona towns served icebox ice by the Parker Ice Company of Parker (the others being Aguila, Vicksburg, Bouse, Wenden, and Salome). [10] Between 1934 and 1938, the Hope Highway was expanded during the construction period for Parker Dam; the route was improved by paving and widening the road. [4]

Hope is near the site where General George Patton trained soldiers during World War II. [11]

Tourism to the area started in the 1930s due to the development of the two highways, which linked Phoenix to the West Coast, but the later construction of Interstate 10 and the Brenda cutoff "left Salome, Hope, Wenden and Aguila marooned in the desert." [12] Hope and the nearby communities have been called part of the "Great Arizona Outback [...] where the frontier never closed". [13]

In 2010, La Paz County officials stated that Hope "is anticipated to be a growing community over the next decade with a focus on local services and residential community development." The community is one of the towns expressly part of La Paz County's comprehensive plan. [14]

Today Hope is noted for its mining [15] and also its hiking trails. [16]

A roadside sign just outside of Hope states, "If you can read this sign, you are beyond Hope." [11] According to one book, "the sign exemplifies the humor and eclectic boosterism that have always been present in the McMullen Valley." [2]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Hope, Arizona
  2. 1 2 Kutner, Edward W. and Sharon Rubin (2009). McMullen Valley. Arcadia Publishing. p. 10. ISBN   9780738558516.
  3. ↑ "State Route 72 (Hope Highway) to Junction US 60" (PDF). Arizona Department of Transportation. August 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 18, 2025. Retrieved June 13, 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 "Arizona Historic Roads: State Route 72, Junction SR 95 to Hope Highway". Arizona Memory Project. 2011. Archived from the original on March 25, 2025. Retrieved June 17, 2025. State Route 72 (SR 72) is a 37-mile long road that was incorporated into the state highway system in 1932. Prior to the construction of US 95 between Quartzite and Parker, SR 72 was the main access road to a crossing over the Colorado River at Parker. It also was the Territorial-period (1863–1912) route that reached the Colorado River Indian Reservation, which was established in 1865 for several tribal groups, including the Chemehuevi and Mohave. During the period of construction for the Parker Dam (1934–1938), highway workers improved SR 72 by widening and paving. It remains a useful route to reach Parker Dam and its recreational reservoir — Lake Havasu.
  5. ↑ "Historic Bouse". Bouse Chamber of Commerce. Archived from the original on November 13, 2024. Retrieved June 12, 2025.
  6. ↑ Griswold, P.R. (1992). Arizona's Railroads: Exploring the State by Rail. Phoenix, AZ: Renaissance House Publishers. p. 24. ISBN   1-55838-131-7.
  7. ↑ Barnes, Will Croft and Byrd H. Granger · (1960). Arizona Place Names. University of Arizona Press. p. 377.
  8. ↑ Granger, Byrd Howell (1983). Arizona's Names: X Marks the Place. Tucson, AZ: Falconer Publishing Company.
  9. ↑ Trimble, Marshall (2004). Roadside History of Arizona. Mountain Press Publishing Company. p. 447. ISBN   9780878424719 . Retrieved June 12, 2025.
  10. ↑ "Parker News". Yuma Sun. Yuma, AZ. April 14, 1937. p. 3. Retrieved June 15, 2025. Obder Lamoureaux, owner of Parker Ice company, today announced the opening of a new route. Ice will now be delivered from Parker to Aguila. The towns included on this route are Vicksburg, Bouse, Hope, Salome and Wenden.
  11. 1 2 Trimble, Marshall (2018). Arizona Oddities. Charleston, SC: The History Press. p. 1849. ISBN   978-1-43966-560-2 . Retrieved June 12, 2025.
  12. ↑ Corbett, Peter. "Salome". On the Road Arizona. Archived from the original on June 15, 2025. Tourism in Salome and the nearby towns of Hope, Wenden and Aguila started in the 1930s with development of U.S. Highway 60/70, a transcontinental route from Norfolk, Va., to Los Angeles. The highway linked Phoenix to the west coast. Cafes, truck stops, gas stations and motels served motorists for more than a half century along U.S. 60/70. But construction of Interstate 10 in the 1970s ended the glory days of motor tourism. The so-called Brenda cutoff left Salome, Hope, Wenden and Aguila marooned in the desert.
  13. ↑ Turner, Jim (May 15, 2009). "The Great Arizona Outback". The Arizona Capitol Times. Phoenix, AZ. Archived from the original on September 2, 2014. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
  14. ↑ "La Paz County Comprehensive Plan" (PDF). La Paz County, AZ. 2010. p. 31. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 13, 2025. Retrieved June 12, 2025.
  15. ↑ "Hope, Arizona Mines". TheDiggings.com. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
  16. ↑ Massey, Peter and Jeanne Wilson · (2006). Backcountry Adventures Arizona. Adler Publishing, Incorporated. p. 147. ISBN   9781930193284 . Retrieved June 13, 2025.
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