A history of Morenci,
then and now
Postcards, papers and photographs of Morenci from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story so far
from Wikipedia & the U.S. CensusMorenci is a census-designated place (CDP) and company town in Greenlee County, Arizona, United States, and was founded by the Detroit Copper Mining Company of Arizona. The population was 2,000 at the 2000 census and 1,489 at the 2010 census. The biggest employer in Morenci (and in nearby Clifton) and the owner of the town is Freeport-McMoRan, the owner of the Morenci Mine, the largest copper mining operation in North America, and one of the largest copper mines in the world. The town was a site of the Arizona Copper Mine Strike of 1983. The large open-pit mine is north of the town.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,489 to 2,028 (+36%). Half of its homes were built before 1978.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Morenci yet — the old photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Intro from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Population and housing: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Morenci’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewAmerikanischer Photograph um 1895…, 1895: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Morenci
See all 10 →
Morenci, decade by decade
1990s
Nothing in Morenci is on the National Register yet
That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Morenci has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Clifton Townsite Historic District in Clifton, 2 miles away.
Morenci and the nearest listed places
How a place gets listed
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Amerikanischer Photograph um 1895 - »Saloon« in Morenci- Arizona (Zeno Fotografie) (1895) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (4) and the Library of Congress (2). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.