Tonopah, Arizona

Infobox City |official_name = Tonopah, Arizona
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map_caption = Location in Maricopa County and the state of Arizona
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_type1 = State
subdivision_type2 = Counties
subdivision_name = United States
subdivision_name1 = Arizona
subdivision_name2 = Maricopa
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established_date = 1929
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elevation_ft = 1490
elevation_m =454.15
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timezone = MST (no daylight saving time)
utc_offset = -7
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Tonopah (IPA: IPA|toʊnoʊpɑ) is an unincorporated community in western Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, approximately 50 miles west of downtown Phoenix off Interstate 10. The community is near the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, the largest nuclear power plant in the country.

The name Tonopah derives from the Western Apache "Tú Nohwá", meaning "Water For Us" or "Water For You", referring to its location in the Harquahala Valley, underneath which there is an extensive subterranean aquifer so that wells dug in the area never lack water. Prior to being called Tonopah, the settlement was known as Lone Peak.

The area is also known to have been inhabited by the Yavapai.

chools

* Ruth Fisher Elementary---approximately 800 students
* Tonopah Valley High School---approximately 400 students
* Winter's Well Elementary approximately 275 students

Fire Department

Established in 2000.

Culture

Tonopah's current fame rests largely on the reference to it in the chorus of the song "Willin'" by Lowell George of Little Feat on the albums "Little Feat" ,"Sailin' Shoes" and "Waiting for Columbus":

"And I've been from Tucson to Tucumcari, Tehachapi to Tonopah.
I've driven every kind of rig that's ever been made;
driven the backroads so I wouldn't get weighed."

It is also possible that the song is actually referring to Tonopah, Nevada, in which case that fame is misplaced.

Further reading

* Barnes, Will C., Byrd H. Granger, (ed.), "Arizona's Names : X Marks the Place", (Falconer: 1983). ISBN 0-918080-18-5

External links

*Mapit-US-cityscale|33.49371|-112.93776
* [http://www.commerce.state.az.us/pdf/commasst/comm/tonopah.pdf Tonopah Community Profile (Arizona Department of Commerce)]