Ajo

 Ajo is far from the metro tourism markets of Phoenix and Tucson, and the popular destinations  of Sedona, Jerome and Grand Canyon. But it's definitely worth a desert drive to visit.

The town is just 40 miles north of the border on the road to Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point). But those travelers, in a hurry to get to the beach, pass right through the former mining town.

They’re missing out. Ajo has one of the prettiest town plazas in Arizona and the Southwest. USA Today readers in 2017 voted Ajo the Best Small Town in the Southwest. 

The town’s charm starts with its Spanish Colonial Revival architecture in the plaza, two beautiful desert churches and a stately school that’s been beautifully restored.

Just over a century ago, New Cornelia Mine owner John Campbell Greenway and his wife Isabella tapped into the City Beautiful Movement to design and plan their company town. Reformers believed building beautiful urban centers would inspire civic pride and lift up the lower social classes. Keep in mind, that Ajo and other mining towns were segregated with neighborhoods for Mexican and working-class residents, and the better areas for mine managers, merchants and professionals. 

In any case, the Greenways invested in creating a wide plaza with a band stand and lush lawn. It was flanked by a train depot, now converted to a visitor center, with a post office and a handful of shops.  The Oasis Theater has been transformed into the Oasis Coffee Shop. 

The surrounding neighborhoods are lined with modest bungalows and cottages on well-kept streets  a short walk from the plaza. 

Ajo functioned well until the mid-1980s when the massive open pit copper mine closed. Laid-off workers packed their pickups and fled.

Fortunately, in the past decade, the International Sonoran Desert Alliance bought much of the historic community architecture. The nonprofit group has been restoring it and working to bring artists, entrepreneurs and investment to Ajo. 

Artists work and live at the magnificent Curley School. A school annex has been converted to the Sonoran Desert Conference
Center with classrooms converted to hotel rooms and meeting space. Murals decorate alleys and warehouses in a vibrant display of Ajo's renaissance.  

​Keep in mind it’s still got a ways to go. Winter, spring and fall are busy with seasonal visitors and residents. Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, south of Ajo, has averaged 222,000 visitors over the past five years.  

Methodists worship at the historic Ajo Federated Church.

But most come during mild-weather months from October to April. Everything slows down when triple-digit temperatures arrive in May and don’t let up until well into September. 

Ajo is close enough to Phoenix and Tucson for a day trip but I’m anxious to try an overnight trip combined with some time to explore Organ Pipe, the open pit mine, Ajo Historical Museum and the Greenway mansion on a hill. There are also plentiful trails  for mountain bikers and a 10-mile scenic loop around the town. 

 The Tohono O’odham tribe operates a Desert Diamond Casino in Why just 20 minutes from Ajo. Meanwhile, it’s a half-hour drive to the national monument. The park's campgrounds  have  RV and tent sites.  Reservations are required during the peak season of January through March at Recreation.gov.

From 1916 to 1998, Ajo was served by the Tucson, Cornelia & Gila Bend Railroad, a branch line carrying copper and passengers. In 1977, Arizona Highways noted that the T.C. & G.B carried up to 18 passengers on its daily roundtrip for a fare of $1.94. 

Travelers rode in a "30-year-old wooden-slat caboose, with ice water provided out of a a galvanized bucket in paper cups. In this part of the world, that's luxury." 

​The T.C. & G.B. is just a memory.  But the old freight warehouse 
is a beautifully weathered relic of the Iron Horse age and the depot still welcomes Ajo visitors. 

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Founded: 1847
Elevation: 1,749 feet
​Population: 3,696 (2016 estimate)

Curley School, built in 1919, is a focal point of the historic Ajo district. Artists work and live in the renovated building.

Murals add a colorful touch to an Ajo warehouse.

Immaculate Conception Catholic Church was completed in 1924.

Oasis Coffee operates in the former Oasis Theater on the town plaza.

Ajo's century-old town plaza is one of the prettiest in the Southwest with its Spanish Colonial architecture and shaded walkways.

No train has passed the Ajo freight warehouse since 1998 for the Tucson, Cornelia & Gila Bend Railroad that carried copper to Tucson smelters.

Ajo's mine closed in 1985 and workers left the copper company town, but the past decade has seen a renaissance.

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument about 35 miles south of Ajo has averaged about 222,000 visitors the past five years. It abuts the border with Mexico.