Cochise

Formed February 1, 1881 (8^th county)

Cochise County (125,448), Bisbee (4,926), Sierra Vista (45,321)

The multiple corners of the stucco courthouse stand out in this county seat.  The 1931 building is located at Main and Quality Hill Road.  Arizona State Highway 80 is 1 block to the south.  Roy Place was the architect of this Art Deco style courthouse.  The Native American Chief provides the source for the county.  The county seat was named for DeWitt Bisbee, a mine owner.  The county was created on February 1, 1881 from Pima County as the 8^th county.  Tombstone was the original county seat until 1929 when it moved to Bisbee. 

Cochise County government consists of a sheriff and assessor (executive).  It has 3 supervisors (legislative.)  Six Superior Court Judges and Six Justice Court Judges, a County Clerk and an Attorney serve Cochise County (judicial.)  The county is in the southeast corner of Arizona.  New Mexico is on its eastern border and Mexico is on the southern border.  Tucson, Arizona is North and Yuma, Arizona is Northwest of the county.  The center of the county is 39.5 North of Bisbee nearer Tombstone.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Graham and Greenlee counties and New Mexico and Mexico, and Santa Cruz and Pima counties. The county is a square with Bisbee located in the southwest quarter of the county.  Sierra Vista is in the extreme southwest corner of the county.  Bisbee is the county seat and Sierra Vista is the largest city.  Bisbee is 3.9% of the county population while Sierra Vista is 36.1% of the county population.  The county is pronounced KO-CHEEZ.

The area of the county is 6219 square miles.  It is 9 of 15 in size.  It ranks 8 out of 15 in population in the state.  It has a density of 20.2 persons per square mile making it 6 out of 15 in the state.  Cochise County has 62.4% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 10 crosses east to west from New Mexico into Pima County.  United States Highway 191 enters from Graham County, north, and terminates on the border with Mexico.  The county is in the Sierra Vista-Douglas Micropolitan Statistical Area.

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