Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Rio Rico

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
D−History
History · Rio Rico

Half of Rio Rico’s homes were built after 2000

More historic than 4% of U.S. towns · #108 of 140 in Arizona. What drives it

Most of Rio Rico was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2000. Below: maps from 1933 on.

0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Elnogalense · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

About Rio Rico’s history

How historic is Rio Rico?

D−

More historic than 4% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
History grade

What drives Rio Rico’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Rio Rico is more historic than 4% of U.S. towns, #108 of 140 in Arizona. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

D−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Rio Rico’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19400.0% of homes (±0.3) · typical AZ town 0.4% · U.S. 8.4%D−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical AZ town 0.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 4%
NewerOlder
Arizona towns of 2,500+ (140)Ahead of 23%

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 Rio Rico’s 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 (±0.3 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 Rio Rico’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Rio Rico are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Rio Rico’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Rio Rico’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Rio Rico, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Rio Rico yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Rio Rico is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States. The population is 22,452. The Rio Rico CDP replaced the former CDPs of Rio Rico Northwest, Rio Rico Northeast, Rio Rico Southwest, and Rio Rico Southeast.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 18,962 to 20,549 (+8%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Rio Rico, 1866 to 1933

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1866Post officeThe Calabasas post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1913Post officeThe Calabasas post office closes
  5. 1933On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Rio Rico, decade by decade

Today12 recent
LIZARD, CLARK'S SPINY (sceloperus clarkii) (7-13-11) de anza trail north of rio rico road, scc, az -012011LIZARD, CLARK'S SPINY (sceloperus clarkii) (7-13-11) …GIANT MESQUITE BUG (Thasus neocalifornicus) (7-21-11) nymph emerging, de anza trail, rio rico, scc, az -022011GIANT MESQUITE BUG (Thasus neocalifornicus) (7-21-11)…GIANT MESQUITE BUG (Thasus neocalifornicus) (7-21-11) nymph emerging, de anza trail, rio rico, scc, az -012011GIANT MESQUITE BUG (Thasus neocalifornicus) (7-21-11)…CHECKERSPOT, ELADA (Texola elada) (7-21-11) de anza trail, rio rico, scc, az -012011CHECKERSPOT, ELADA (Texola elada) (7-21-11) de anza t…Anza Trail in Rio Rico, AZ, 20102010Anza Trail in Rio Rico, AZ, 2010Rio Rico, AZ, View North, 20082008Rio Rico, AZ, View North, 2008Rio Rico, AZ, Sunset from Rio Rico High School, 20082008Rio Rico, AZ, Sunset from Rio Rico High School, 2008Rio Rico, AZ, Fire Crew Evening Meal, Rio Rico High School, 20082008Rio Rico, AZ, Fire Crew Evening Meal, Rio Rico High S…AZMap-doton-Rio Rico Southwest2004AZMap-doton-Rio Rico SouthwestAZMap-doton-Rio Rico Southeast2004AZMap-doton-Rio Rico SoutheastAZMap-doton-Rio Rico Northwest2004AZMap-doton-Rio Rico NorthwestAZMap-doton-Rio Rico Northeast2004AZMap-doton-Rio Rico Northeast
On the map

Rio Rico on the map, 1933 to 1996

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Rio Rico. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Rio Rico on the 1933 USGS mapRio Rico on the 1958 USGS mapRio Rico on the 1981 USGS mapRio Rico on the 1996 USGS map1933Calabasas 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 Rio Rico.

Famous people

Famous people close to Rio Rico

Nobody well known was born in Rio Rico itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Charles MingusAmerican jazz double bassist, composer and band… · b. 1922
Movita CastanedaAmerican actress · b. 1916
J
Jack HannahAmerican animator · b. 1913
Christine McIntyreAmerican actress and singer · b. 1911
C
Charles MehanAmerican rugby union player · b. 1896
Bob BaffertAmerican horse owner and trainer · b. 1953
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Another post office, Calabasas, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
CalabasasOtero
Gone or out of use
Agua FriolocaleCalabasas HotellocaleCalabasas StorelocaleFort MasonlocalePena Blanca Elementary SchoolschoolPlomolocaleRio Rico AirstripairportSilvalocale

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Tumacacori-Carmen2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Rio Rico’s history

How does Rio Rico rank for history?

Rio Rico is more historic than 4% of U.S. towns, #108 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 Rio Rico?

0.0% of Rio Rico’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.4% for an Arizona town; the median home was built in 2000.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (12), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.