Unincorporated community in Pima County, Arizona, United States
Unincorporated town in Arizona, United States
Why, Arizona | |
|---|---|
 Why road sign | |
Why Location within the state of Arizona Show map of Arizona
Why Why (the United States) Show map of the United States | |
| Coordinates: 32°16′4.20″N 112°44′11.99″W / 32.2678333°N 112.7366639°W / 32.2678333; -112.7366639 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Arizona |
| County | Pima |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 122 |
| Time zone | UTC-7 (Mountain (MST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (MST) |
| ZIP code | 85321[citation needed] |
| Area code | 520 |
Why[a] is an unincorporated rural community in Pima County, Arizona, United States. It lies near the western border of the Tohono Oʼodham Indian Reservation and due north of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Southern Arizona. It is approximately 30 miles (48 km) north of the Mexican border, where Lukeville, Arizona, and Sonoyta, Sonora, Mexico, border each other, and 10 miles (16 km) south of Ajo, Arizona.
The population of Why at the 2020 census was 122.[2]
The town derives its name from the two major highways, State Routes 85 and 86, that once intersected in a Y-intersection.[3] It is rumored that when named, state law required city names to have at least three letters, so the town's founders named the town "Why" as opposed to simply calling it "Y." The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) later eliminated the old Y-intersection for traffic safety and made a conventional intersection south of the original.[4]
The town has frequently been on lists of unusual place names.[5][6]
Why is not in a school district. The closest district is the Ajo Unified School District.[7]
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 116 | — | |
| 2010 | 167 | 44.0% | |
| 2020 | 122 | −26.9% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census[2] | |||
A portion of Why is in the Indian Oasis-Baboquivari Unified School District,[8] while another is not in any school district.[9] The Pima County School Superintendent arranges for education of K-12 students living in areas without school districts, and that office arranges for transportation to the Ajo Unified School District to the Why areas not in any school district.[10]
- ^ O'odham: Ban Hi:nk[citation needed]
- ^ "Feature Detail Report for: Lukeville". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
- ^ a b Division, US Census Bureau Administration and Customer Services. "US Census Bureau Publications – Census of Population and Housing". www.census.gov. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
- ^ "The Oddest Named Town in Every State". The Active Times. April 19, 2018. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
- ^ "Why Why is Why". January 25, 2014. Archived from the original on July 2, 2022. Retrieved October 4, 2018.
- ^ Parker, Quentin (2010). Welcome to Horneytown, North Carolina, Population: 15: An insider's guide to 201 of the world's weirdest and wildest places. Adams Media. p. xii. ISBN 9781440507397.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Hargis, Toni (January 13, 2014). "No, Arkansas Doesn't Sound the Way It Looks: A Guide to Pronouncing U.S. Place Names". BBC America. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
- ^ "Unorganized Territories - Pima County Schools - Tucson, AZ". www.schools.pima.gov.
- ^ "2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Pima County, AZ" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. p. 1 (PDF p. 2/3). Retrieved November 7, 2024. - Text list
- ^ "SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP (2010 CENSUS): Pima County, AZ" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved November 7, 2024. - Page 1 - Text list: "UNI 99997[...]School District Not Defined" - The 2020 map shows no school district label.
- ^ "Unorganized Territories". Pima County. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
^ This is the sum of the populations of Blocks 1131–1153, Census Tract 49, Pima County, Arizona according to US Census U.S. Census website.
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