Maricopa

Formed February 14, 1871 (5^th county)

Maricopa County (4,420,574), Phoenix (1,608,190)                

A very governmental building houses the Maricopa County Courthouse.  It was built in 1928 at Washington Street and 1^st Avenue.  This location is in the center of the city 11 blocks south of Interstate Highway 10.  Edward F. Nield was the designer of this Pueblo Deco style courthouse.  A Central Courts building was added in 1998.  Phoenix has been the only county seat.  The Arizona state capitol is located in this county.  The county was created on February 14, 1871 from parts of Pima and Yavapai counties as the 5^th county.  Maricopa County is named for the Native American tribe.  Maricopa County was the birthplace of 2 Arizona Governors, Sidney P. Osborn and Kathleen M. Hobbs.  The fabled phoenix bird is the source for the seat’s name. 

Maricopa County government consists of a sheriff, manager, and assessor (executive).  It has 5 supervisors (legislative.)  Ninety-five Superior Court Judges and Twenty-six Justice Court Judges, a County Clerk and an Attorney serve Maricopa County (judicial.)  The county is located in the center of the state.  Tucson, Arizona is Southeast and Albuquerque, New Mexico is Northeast of the county.  The center of the county is 29.5 miles Southwest of Phoenix nearer Goodyear.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Yavapai, Gila, Pinal, Pima, Yuma, and La Paz counties.  Phoenix lies across a lot of the county but is predominantly in the northeast part of the county.  Phoenix is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 36.4% of the county population.  The county is pronounced MAR-I-KOE-PA.  The county seat is pronounced FEE-NIKS. 

The area of the county is 9224 square miles.  It is 5 of 15 in size.  It ranks 1 out of 15 in population in the state.  It has a density of 480.0 persons per square mile making it 1 out of 15 in the state.  Maricopa County has 92.8% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 8 crosses the southwest part of the county east to west, Pinal County to Yuma County.  Interstate Highway 10 enters from Pinal County, southeast, and exits to La Paz County, west.  Interstate Highway 17 comes from Yavapai County to the north and terminates in Phoenix.  United States Highway 60 crosses the county east to west from Pinal County to La Paz County.  United States Highway 93 enters from Yavapai County in the northwest and terminates at United States Highway 60.  A small letter r best describes the county’s shape.  The Gila River flows through the middle of the county east to west.  The county is in the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Wickenburg