Colorado City, Arizona
| Colorado City, Arizona | |
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| Town | |
Colorado City sign
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 Location in Mohave County and the state of Arizona |
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 Colorado City, Arizona
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| Coordinates: 36°59′22″N 112°58′41″W / 36.98944°N 112.97806°WCoordinates: 36°59′22″N 112°58′41″W / 36.98944°N 112.97806°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Arizona |
| County | Mohave |
| Founded | 1913 |
| Area | |
| • Total | 10.5 sq mi (27.2 km2) |
| • Land | 10.5 sq mi (27.2 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 4,977 ft (1,517 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 4,821 |
| • Estimate (2014) | 4,792 |
| • Density | 460/sq mi (180/km2) |
| Time zone | MST (UTC-7) |
| ZIP code | 86021 |
| Area code(s) | 928 |
| FIPS code | 04-14870 |
Colorado City is a town in Mohave County, Arizona, United States, and is located in a region known as the Arizona Strip. According to the 2010 census, the population of the town was 4,821. At least three Mormon fundamentalist sects are said to have been based there.
Colorado City, formerly known as Short Creek (or the Short Creek Community), was founded in 1913 by members of the Council of Friends, a breakaway group from the Salt Lake City-based The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The Council of Friends membership desired a remote location where they could practice plural marriage, which had been publicly abandoned by the LDS Church in 1890. On July 26, 1953, Arizona Governor John Howard Pyle sent troops into the settlement to stop polygamy in what became known as the Short Creek raid. The two-year legal battle that followed became a public relations disaster that damaged Pyle's political career and set a hands-off tone toward the town in Arizona for the next 50 years.
After the death of Joseph W. Musser, the community split into two groups: the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints stayed in Short Creek, while the Apostolic United Brethren relocated to Bluffdale, Utah. The FLDS changed the name of the community to Colorado City (on the Arizona side of the border) and Hildale (on the Utah side) to eliminate any ties to the Short Creek raids.
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