Yucca

About Yucca, Arizona

Trivia, facts, and useful information

Elevation: 1,084 ft. (332 m). Population: 61 (2020).
Time zone: Mountain (MST): UTC minus 7 hours. Summer (DST) no DST⁄ PDT (UTC-7).

Yucca is a community located on Interstate 40, Mohave County, Arizona, between Kingman and Topock.

Yucca's History

Arizona has been inhabited for more than 10,000 years. The historic Native American people lived close to water sources, like the Patayan people along the Colorado River.

The Patayan groups,Havasupai and Hualapai people grew squash, corn and beans using irrigation.

After the conquest of Mexico, Spain claimed the territory of Arizona as part of their New Mexico province, but they didn't settle there.

In 1821 Mexico won its independence from Spain and incorporated this territory, but lost in after the 1846-48 war with the U.S.

In 1850s, the U.S. commissioned Capt. Lorenzo Sitgreaves and Lt. Edward "Ned" Fitzgerald Beale to explore and survey the territory.

The Atlantic & Pacific Railroad, later renamed as the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, arrived in the early 1880s, establishing a station named Yucca.

The post office opened in 1905. The Railroad linked it to the north with Kingman (with the sations of Athos, Kaster, Drake, Hancock, and McConnico), to the west, were the stations of Haviland, Franconia, Powel and Topock, followed by the Colorado River and California.

The railroad followed the relatively flat ground of the Sacramento Valley lying between the Black Mountains to the west and the Hualapai Mountains to the east.

A book published in 1915 says that it had a population of 138 at that time, and that "The railway company sank a well 1,004 feet deep at Yucca some years ago which yields a supply of excellent water rising within 104 feet of the surface."

See this old map from 1915, with the railroad and Yucca.

As the automobile became more popular in the early 1900s, the National Old Trails Highway (N.O.T.) was built aligned along the railroad. It reached the area around 1914. This was known as the "Valley cut-off" highway, and is recorded as such on contemporary postcards.

A second N.O.T. highway took a more steep and winding rout through the gold-mining area of Oatman, further north.

When US highway 66 was created in 1926 it followed the N.O.T. highway west of Topock and east of McConnico, but bypassed the section that included Yucca. The route followed the steep and winding alignment across the Black Mountains through Oatman.

During World War II, the U.S. Army built a training airfield in Yucca that was later purchased by Ford Motor Co. as a proving ground.

The mines became exhausted in the late 1940s, and the Route 66 alignment through Sitgreaves Pass and Oatman was replaced by a new one, that ran along level ground, through Yucca.

US 66 brought travelers and tourists to town, and many cafes, motels and gas stations sprung up.

When interstate 40 was built, it followed this alignment, running together with US 66 until the former was decertified in the 1980s.

As it cut through the town, the local business dwindled, with tourists preferring to stop at neighboring Kingman or Needles.

Hotels and Motels in Yucca

Lodging & accommodation in Yucca; sponsored content. Find a room in town, or in neighboring Kingman AZ or Needles California, just a few miles away:

> > Book your hotel in Yucca

More Accommodation near Yucca on Route 66

Find more lodging & accommodation close to Yucca. There are plenty of lodging options in the cities and towns along Route 66; click on the links below to find your accommodation in these towns:

Book your hotel nearby, in Needles

Yucca's Weather

Location of Yucca on Route 66

Yucca has a hot desert climate. Summers are very hot, and winters are cool.

The average lows in January are 30 to 45°F (-1.1 to 7.2°C). The July the highs can exceed 110°F (43°C).

Hardly any snow falls in winter. Summer is the rainy season, but rain is scarce not more than 4 in. or 10 cm in the rainy months.

This is not a tornado area. Read more about: the risk of Tornadoes on Route66.

Map of US 66 in Yucca

Thumbnail of the 1971 Arizona highway map. Credits
Click on thumbnail map to enlarge

When Route 66 was established in 1926 it ran further north, from Kingman to Oatman across the Black Mountains and then south to Topock.

Across Sacramento Valley

West of Kingman and to the east of the mountains lies the Sacramento Valley. An intermittent stream (Sacaramento Wash) flows occasionally along its sandy bottom meeting the Colorado River at the Topock marsh area.

The railroad back in the 1880s opted for this more-level route to reach California.

In 1952, Route 66 was realigned, bypassing Oatman and avoiding the dangerous winding course across the mountains. Instead it ran along level ground close to the railroad, to Kingman through Yucca (see map).

Interstate 40 advancing eastwards from California crossed the Colorado River in 1966 and replaced U.S. 66 in this area. T While Route 66 followed the other course, across the Black Mountains to Oatman.

See this Map of Route 66 through Yucca.

This was the last alignment and was used between 1952 and 1979 between Kingman and Topock. It was safer, had four lanes and hardly any grades.

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation (or AASHTO) decided to move the western terminus of Route 66 eastwards.

On June 29, 1979 the AASHTO moved the "end point" from Needles CA eastwards, across most of arizona Arizona, to Sanders, close to its border with New Mexico, to its junction with U.S. 191.

Getting to Yucca

To the north lies Kingman (25 mi.), and to the west is Topock (25 mi), and crossing the Colorado River, in California, Needles (39 mi).

Side Trip to Las Vegas

Famous Las Vegas in Nevada is a 2 hour - 130 mile drive to the northwest, see this map with directions.

Credits

Banner image: Hackberry General Store, Hackberry, Arizona by Perla Eichenblat

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