Sierra Vista

Sister cities

• Radebeul
• Heroica Ciudad de Cananea

History

As evidenced by several neolithic sites, which include the Murray Springs Clovis Site and known archeological sites like the Lehner Mammoth-Kill Site, Paleo-Indians, along with animals including mammoths, horses, tapirs, bison, and camels occupied the area more than 11,000 years ago. Both the Murray Springs Clovis Site and the Lehner Mammoth-Kill Site became National Historic Landmarks. This area was home to a large Sobaipuri Pueblo near Fairbank which had several smaller pueblos and settlements throughout the valley, a Spanish Fort, Presidio Santa Cruz de Terrenate between modern Huachuca City , Whetstone, and Tombstone, on the west bank of the San Pedro River. Coronado National Memorial was established in the southern Huachuca Mountains to commemorate the expedition of the Spanish conquistador Francisco Vázquez de Coronado utilizing the nearby San Pedro River in his northward search of the Cities of Cíbola, which are often referred to as the mythical Seven Cities of Gold. Like most of Cochise County, this area was part of the Gadsden Purchase of 1854. Camp Huachuca was established in 1877. At the end of the Apache Wars in 1886, with the protection of the fort and the completion of the Southern Pacific and El Paso & Southwestern railroads, the San Pedro Valley began to be populated by American settlers. The first business that opened just outside the east gate of Fort Huachuca was a saloon and "house of ill repute" owned by John and Ellen Reilly, which opened in 1892. In 1911, Margaret Carmichael bought the Reilly homestead and business. By 1913, Margaret Carmichael had leased the business back to the Reillys. Also in 1913, a group of dry land farmers settled in the local area and named their settlement Buena. Buena was east of Garden Canyon, between Lewis Springs…

Geography

Sierra Vista is in southwestern Cochise County at (31.545498, −110.276500). It is bordered on the northwest by the much smaller town of Huachuca City. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of , of which is land and is water. It is above sea level. Sierra Vista is flanked on the southwest side by the Huachuca Mountains, with Miller Peak rising to and Carr Peak to , both south of the city limits. The city is accessible via Arizona State Routes 90 and 92. The San Pedro River flows just east of the city limits. In the Köppen climate classification system, Sierra Vista falls within the typical cold semi-arid climate (BSk) of mid-altitude Arizona. Fall and spring, like most other parts of Arizona, are very dry. Winters are cool to cold with frosts which can occasionally be hard freezes; frost can be expected to stop in mid- to late April. Spring, like fall, spends about half of itself within the frost season. Summer starts off dry, but progressively gets wetter as the monsoon season approaches. The city has a fairly stable climate with very little humidity. However, the North American Monsoon can bring torrential rains during the months of July and August and will produce almost half the yearly rainfall in just those two months alone. Due to the dry climate the rest of the year and the city's high elevation, daily winter low temperatures range from on average and up to on rare occasions when moist fronts bring warm air from the Gulf of California. Snow is not a common sight on the streets of Sierra Vista though some years the city can receive several inches of snow and other years it will receive none. However, a snow-capped Miller Peak and Carr Peak in the Huachuca Mountains is a common sight for four to five months every year. The…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Lesser Goldfinch

  Spinus psaltria (Say, 1822) · Aves
  26,274
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  24,865
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  22,770
• White-winged Dove

  Zenaida asiatica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  22,610
• Acorn Woodpecker

  Melanerpes formicivorus (Swainson, 1827) · Aves
  19,989
• White-breasted Nuthatch

  Sitta carolinensis Latham, 1790 · Aves
  19,528
• Turkey Vulture

  Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  17,413
• Anna's Hummingbird

  Calypte anna (R.Lesson, 1829) · Aves
  17,191

Largest nearby schools

• Buena High School
  High · SIERRA VISTA · 1,836 students · 24.2:1 ratio
• Joyce Clark Middle School
  Middle · SIERRA VISTA · 670 students · 20.9:1 ratio
• Leman Academy of Excellence-Sierra Vista
  Elementary · SIERRA VISTA · 592 students
• Coronado Elementary School
  Elementary · SIERRA VISTA · 444 students · 18.5:1 ratio
• Town & Country Elementary School
  Elementary · SIERRA VISTA · 433 students · 22.8:1 ratio
• Huachuca Mountain Elementary School
  Elementary · SIERRA VISTA · 416 students · 18.9:1 ratio
• Village Meadows Elementary School
  Elementary · SIERRA VISTA · 394 students · 20.7:1 ratio
• Pueblo Del Sol Elementary School
  Elementary · SIERRA VISTA · 383 students · 18.2:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.6 — 2025-08-09
  14 km ENE of Willow Canyon, Arizona
• M 3.1 — 2023-09-28
  21 km E of Tanque Verde, Arizona
• M 2.5 — 2021-05-15
  13 km SW of Cananea, Mexico