Safford

History

Safford was founded by Joshua Eaton Bailey, Hiram Kennedy, and Edward Tuttle, who came from Gila Bend, in southwestern Arizona. They left Gila Bend in the winter of 1873-74 because their work on canals and dams had been destroyed by high water the previous summer. Upon arrival early in 1874, the villagers laid out the town site, including a few crude buildings. The Town of Safford was incorporated October 10, 1901, and changed to City of Safford in 1955. The town is named after Arizona Territorial Governor Anson P. K. Safford.

Geography

The Pinaleño Mountains sit prominently to the southwest of town. The Pinaleños have the greatest vertical relief of any mountain range in Arizona. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (0.18%) is water.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• White-winged Dove

  Zenaida asiatica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,677
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,670
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,529
• Great-tailed Grackle

  Quiscalus mexicanus (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  1,511
• Gambel's Quail

  Callipepla gambelii (Gambel, 1843) · Aves
  1,509
• American Coot

  Fulica americana Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  1,410
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  1,395
• Verdin

  Auriparus flaviceps (Sundevall, 1850) · Aves
  1,346

Most recent

• M 2.6 — 2025-08-09
  14 km ENE of Willow Canyon, Arizona
• M 2.8 — 2025-08-05
  0 km NE of Clifton, Arizona
• M 2.6 — 2025-07-15
  9 km N of San Jose, Arizona
• M 2.6 — 2024-10-26
  8 km W of San Simon, Arizona
• M 2.9 — 2024-04-26
  10 km S of Franklin, Arizona
• M 2.5 — 2023-11-24
  1 km SSE of Franklin, Arizona