Submitted by Darlene S. Younker
23. Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch in Picacho, Arizona is the largest privately-owned ostrich ranch in the world outside South Africa.
24. If you cut down a protected species of cactus in Arizona, you could spend more than a year in prison. The Saguaro cacti take ten years to grow a single inch, meaning the seven foot tall cacti you are out in the desert are hundreds of years old.
The State flower, the bloom of the Saguaro cactus, expels seeds only from the intense heat of a wildfire. If it were not for this strange and rare event Saguaro cactus forests would be thick, and impassable
25. The world’s largest to-scale collection of miniature airplane models is housed at the library at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona.
26. The only place in the country where mail is delivered by mule is the village of Supai, located at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
27. Located on Arizona’s western border, Parker Dam is the deepest dam in the world at 320 feet.
28. South Mountain Park/Preserve in Phoenix is the largest municipal park in the country.
29. Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, located about 55 miles west of Phoenix, generates more electricity than any other U.S. power plant.
30. Oraibi, a Hopi village located in Navajo County, Arizona, dates back to before A.D. 1200 and is reputed to be the oldest continuously inhabited community in America.
31. Built by Del Webb in 1960, Sun City, Arizona was the first 55-plus active adult retirement community in the country.
32. Petrified wood is the official state fossil. The Petrified Forest in northeastern Arizona contains America’s largest deposits of petrified wood.
33. Many of the founders of San Francisco in 1776 were Spanish colonists from Tubac, Arizona.
34. Phoenix originated in 1866 as a hay camp to supply military post Camp McDowell.
35. Rainfall averages for Arizona range from less than three inches in the deserts to more than 30 inches per year in the mountains.
36. Rising to a height of 12,643 feet, Mount Humphreys north of Flagstaff is the state’s highest mountain.
37. Roadrunners are not just in cartoons! In Arizona, you’ll see them running up to 17-mph away from their enemies.
38. The Saguaro cactus is the largest cactus found in the U.S. It can grow as high as a five-story building and is native to the Sonoran Desert, which stretches across southern Arizona.
39. Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, grew up on a large family ranch near Duncan, Arizona.
40. The best-preserved meteor crater in the world is located near Winslow, Arizona.
41. The average state elevation is 4,000 feet.
42. The Navajo Nation spans 27,000 square miles across the states of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, but its capital is seated in Window Rock, Arizona.
43. The amount of copper utilized to make the copper dome atop Arizona’s Capitol building is equivalent to the amount used in 4.8 million pennies.
44. Near Yuma, the Colorado River’s elevation dips to 70 feet above sea level, making it the lowest point in the state.
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