Cave Creek, Arizona

Historic properties and artifacts

There are various historic properties and artifacts in the town of Cave Creek. Located on the grounds of the Cave Creek Museum are the Tubercular Cabin, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the First Church of Cave Creek and Golden Reef Stamp Mill. Two of the historic properties have been converted into restaurants. They are the Cave Creek Service Station, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and the Cave Creek Inn. Frontier Town which has some of Cave Creeks original structures is also pictured.

Geography

Cave Creek is a town in the Sonoran Desert.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 28.2 square miles (73 km²), all land. It is adjacent to the town of Carefree, and shares local landmark Black Mountain with Carefree.

There are two notable streams known as Cave Creek in Arizona. One flows through the Town of Cave Creek and into Phoenix. This may be the origin of the Town's name. The other Cave Creek (Cave Creek Canyon) is in the Chiricahua Mountains, 200 miles to the southeast.

In 2000, the state of Arizona, Maricopa County, and the town of Cave Creek bought Spur Cross Ranch, owned by Tyler Covell, a 2,154-acre (8.72 km²) tract of Sonoran desert just north of Phoenix, for $21 million. It had unusual cacti, stone formations, and hundreds of pre-history Hohokam Indian tribal artifacts, and is now a Maricopa County park.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 3,728 people, 1,571 households, and 1,101 families residing in the town. The population density was 132.0 people per square mile (51.0/km²). There were 1,753 housing units at an average density of 62.1 per square mile (24.0/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 94.98% White, 0.30% Black or African American, 0.19% Native American, 0.43% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 2.60% from other races, and 1.45% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.05% of the population.

Out of the 1,571 households some 27.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.0% were married couples living together, 7.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.9% were non-families. 24.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.80.

In the town, the population was spread out with 20.9% under the age of 18, 5.5% from 18 to 24, 24.2% from 25 to 44, 36.1% from 45 to 64, and 13.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females there were 100.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.5 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $59,938, and the median income for a family was $76,549. Males had a median income of $50,399 versus $31,607 for females. The per capita income for the town was $38,070. About 6.0% of families and 7.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.9% of those under age 18 and 7.3% of those age 65 or over.

Government

In June 2009, Cave Creek attracted media attention when a game of chance was used to break a tie in a vote for Town Council. The drawing of playing cards led to the victory of 25-year-old law student Adam Trenk over incumbent Town Council member Thomas McGuire. The Arizona State Constitution allows a game of chance to be used to break ties.

"Where the Wild West Lives" was adopted as the town motto by the Cave Creek Town Council during a November 2013 meeting.

Education

The portion of Cave Creek west of longitude 111°59'44.21"W is served by Deer Valley Unified School District and the remainder of the town by Cave Creek Unified School District.

Transportation

Cave Creek residents use Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport or Mesa Gateway Airport to fly on commercial airlines. Deer Valley Airport, the closest airport to Cave Creek, is a very active general aviation airport.

Notable people