Half of Fortuna Foothills’ homes were built after 1998
More historic than 7% of U.S. towns · #101 of 140 in Arizona. What drives it
Most of Fortuna Foothills was built recently: 0.3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1998. Below: maps from 1926 on and the census since 1990.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fortuna Foothills is more historic than 7% of U.S. towns, #101 of 140 in Arizona. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Fortuna Foothills’ overall grade.
Few Arizona towns list much on the Register (a typical Arizona town has 0.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Fortuna Foothills’ 0.0 sits below most of its state (29% of Arizona towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±0.2 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: our sources. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Fortuna Foothills’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone
Another post office, Fortuna, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hamlets and corners on the map
FortunaRancho Rialto Mobile Home ParkShangri - La Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Yuma Number One Airfieldairport
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Fortuna Foothills, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Fortuna Foothills yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Fortuna Foothills is a census-designated place (CDP) in Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The population was 26,265 at the 2010 census. It is part of city of Yuma, Arizona and the Yuma County Metropolitan Statistical Area. Development of the area began in the 1960s, when local developer Hank Schechert purchased 3,000 acres east of Yuma. Fortuna Foothills serves as a bedroom community for Yuma, Yuma Proving Ground, and Marine Corps Air Station Yuma. Fortuna Foothills is also an area with a large amount of seasonal residents.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 26,265 to 27,776 (+6%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Fortuna Foothills, 1896 to 1926
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fortuna Foothills. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1926Fortuna sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Fortuna Foothills.
People over time
Fortuna Foothills, census by census
Grew from 7,737 people in 1990 to 27,776 in 2020, 3 times over.
4 censuses, 1990–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Fortuna Foothills’ Wikipedia page.
Famous people
Famous people close to Fortuna Foothills
Nobody well known was born in Fortuna Foothills itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Fortuna Foothills is more historic than 7% of U.S. towns, #101 of 140 in Arizona. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Fortuna Foothills?
0.3% of Fortuna Foothills’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.4% for an Arizona town; the median home was built in 1998.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2006
