Tuba City

History

The Tuba City area was the territory of indigenous peoples for thousands of years. The community was first documented by Spanish explorers: Father Francisco Garcés visited the area in 1776, and recorded that the Hopi were cultivating crops. European-American migrants came as part of the Mormon movement to the West in the late 19th century. They named the town after Tuuvi, a Hopi man who converted to Mormonism circa 1870. He had invited the Mormons to settle near his village of Moenkopi without requiring them to gain individual permission. The Tuba City Trading Post was established in 1870. It dealt with the Navajo and Paiute who came to the area for the natural springs, as well as the Hopi already in the area. European-American Mormon emigrants claimed to found Tuba City in 1872. In 1956, uranium mining began near Tuba City and the Rare Metals Corporation established a regional office and uranium processing mill. The Atomic Energy Commission had an office here as well. The mill closed in 1966, before environmental regulations were passed to protect the local people and resources. Reclamation of the mill site and tailings pile was completed in 1990 in response to the high radioactivity and environmentally hazardous waste products left behind. The Tuba City Regional Health Care Corporation hospital is located in Tuba City. It is a non-profit, Native American-run health care corporation that employs 1,200 people. The next nearest hospital is in Flagstaff. In 2023, the Tuba City Entrepreneurship Hub opened, sponsored by Change Labs, which is a Native-led nonprofit supporting entrepreneurship on tribal land through free work spaces for entrepreneurs, vendors, and artists within Native communities. It features community gardens raised by local farmers in the Change Labs…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , all land. Geologically, Tuba City is sited about the Glen Canyon Group from the early Jurassic (about 180–210 Ma) and on modern superficial Quaternary deposits. It is located within the Painted Desert near the western edge of the Navajo Nation. The town is served by U.S. Route 160, near the junction with Arizona State Route 264. Tuba City is located approximately from the eastern entrance to Grand Canyon National Park and approximately from Flagstaff. Arizona does not observe Daylight Saving Time, but the Navajo Nation does within its boundaries. In practice elements of Tuba City vary in practices: tribal offices and schools observe DST, while most private businesses conform to state practice and do not. Tuba City is located in the rain shadow of the Mogollon Rim, which keeps out moisture from the Gulf of California. It has a cold desert climate (Köppen BWk) with hot, dry summersthough less hot than Phoenixand cold, dry winters. Frosts are normal from October to April. The majority of winters do not have measurable snowfall due to the dryness of the air descending from mountains to the south.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Common Raven

  Corvus corax Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  233
• American Coot

  Fulica americana Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  149
• Ruddy Duck

  Oxyura jamaicensis (J.F.Gmelin, 1789) · Aves
  128
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  117
• White-crowned Sparrow

  Zonotrichia leucophrys (J.R.Forster, 1772) · Aves
  109
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  109
• Pied-billed Grebe

  Podilymbus podiceps (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  105
• Yellow-rumped Warbler

  Setophaga coronata (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  102

Most recent

• M 2.69 — 2026-10-03
  13 km SSE of Navajo Mountain, Utah
• M 3.7 — 2026-01-09
  20 km SSW of Chilchinbito, Arizona
• M 3.4 — 2025-03-01
  6 km SE of Moenkopi, Arizona
• M 2.6 — 2024-10-15
  20 km NE of Parks, Arizona
• M 3.1 — 2023-05-10
  31 km SW of Cameron, Arizona
• M 3.4 — 2023-05-10
  33 km SW of Cameron, Arizona