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27-560: The Beaver Creek Ranger Station near Rimrock, Arizona was built in 1935 by the Civilian Conservation Corps . It was designed by architects of the U.S. Forest Service . It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 10, 1993, for its architecture, which is of Bungalow/Craftsman style . It served historically as institutional housing and as government office space. The NRHP listing

54-564: A cultural group archaeologists have termed the Southern Sinagua . The earliest of the ruins located on the property (with the exception of the irrigation canal), a "pithouse" in the traditional Hohokam style, dates to about 1050 CE. More than 50 countable "rooms" are found inside the park boundaries; it is likely that some were used for purposes other than living space, including food storage and religious ceremonies. The Sinagua people, and possibly earlier cultures, intensively farmed

81-441: A detached unit of Montezuma Castle National Monument , is a natural limestone sinkhole near the town of Lake Montezuma , Arizona , through which some 1,500,000 US gallons (5,700,000 L; 1,200,000 imp gal) of water emerge each day from an underground spring . It is located about 11 miles (18 km) northeast of Montezuma Castle. The "well" measures 386 feet (118 m) in diameter from rim to rim and contains

108-474: A household in the CDP was $ 33,750, and the median income for a family was $ 36,864. Males had a median income of $ 22,365 versus $ 21,538 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $ 17,043. About 7.2% of families and 9.1% of the population were below the poverty line , including 12.4% of those under age 18 and 1.4% of those age 65 or over. Montezuma Well Montezuma Well ( Yavapai : ʼHakthkyayva ),

135-614: A member of the California Column during the Civil War ultimately became the sutler or civilian merchant of the firm Arnold and Bowers at Camp Lincoln following his discharge from the Army at Fort Whipple August 29, 1864. His partner in this enterprise was George Bowers who was killed by Indians near the head of Copper Canyon while en route to Prescott alongside a young soldier named Robert Nix. Arnold held several hay contracts with

162-731: A near-constant volume of spring water even in times of severe drought. The water is highly carbonated and contains high levels of arsenic . At least five endemic species , the most of any spring in the southwestern United States, are found exclusively in Montezuma Well: a diatom , the Montezuma Well springsnail , a water scorpion , the Hyalella montezuma amphipod , and the Motobdella montezuma leech . Montezuma Well's steady outflow has been used for irrigation since

189-428: Is land and 0.08% is water. The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is " Csa ". (Mediterranean Climate). As of the census of 2000, there were 3,344 people, 1,471 households, and 938 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 279.7 inhabitants per square mile (108.0/km ). There were 1,666 housing units at an average density of 139.4 per square mile (53.8/km ). The racial makeup of

216-552: The 8th century. Part of a prehistoric irrigation ditch is preserved near the park's picnic ground, and portions of the ditch's original route are still in use today. As with Montezuma Castle, the label "Montezuma" is a misnomer: the Aztec emperor Montezuma had no connection to the site or the early indigenous peoples that occupied the area. Montezuma Well is geologically very similar to the sinkholes and cenotes found in Florida and

243-500: The Army at Camp Lincoln (renamed Fort Verde in 1868) and grew the first alfalfa known to be grown in the Verde Valley. The Montezuma Well Ranch served as a way station where mail riders changed horses when the mail began to be carried from Fort Whipple to Fort Wingate. By 1879 there were several children along Beaver Creek and what became Beaver Creek School started when Ed Mulholland began teaching school there then. The part of

270-602: The Black Canyon Highway was built north from Phoenix, one of the largest ranches in Rimrock was turned into a subdivision called Lake Montezuma. The developers were planning on selling much of the property to out-of-state buyers and realized they needed something attractive in the name. They dug out a pond below the original ranch house and named it Lake Montezuma after the area's most significant local landmark - Montezuma Well National Monument. The majority of

297-546: The CDP was 92.6% White , 0.1% Black or African American , 2.3% Native American , 0.2% Asian , 2.8% from other races , and 2.0% from two or more races. 7.3% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 1,471 households, out of which 20.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.7% were married couples living together, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.2% were non-families. 28.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.9% had someone living alone who

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324-572: The Coconino County line near Stoneman Lake, Apache Maid Ranch etc. and up and down the creek nearly to Camp Verde, picked up their mail at the Rimrock Post Office. The former area of Beaver Creek School district thus generally became known as Rimrock. One of Arizona's oldest continuously operated landing strips - The Rimrock Airport - is located here as dudes used to fly into the ranch in days gone by. Around 1957 shortly after

351-469: The Verde Valley for at least 10,000 years. The earliest signs of permanent settlement in the area appear quite a bit later, however, around 600 CE . The ruins of several prehistoric dwellings are scattered in and around the rim of the Well. Their inhabitants belonged to several indigenous American cultures that are believed to have occupied the Verde Valley between 700 and 1425 CE, the foremost of which being

378-510: The Well a deeply sacred site, as they believe it is the place through which they emerged into the world. The high concentration of dissolved carbon dioxide gas in the water of the Well – which amounts to more than 80 times the typical freshwater concentration – and to a lesser extent its alkalinity, has prevented the development of any kind of fish population, so the Well remains a fishless spring. However, other types of aquatic life have managed to adapt: at least five endemic species ,

405-610: The Yucatán peninsula of Mexico , that is, a limestone cave which has collapsed to expose its subterranean water source. The Well sits at the northern end of the Verde Limestone formation, a distinct layer of travertine limestone more than 2,000 feet (610 m) thick in some places, which was deposited beneath a series of shallow lakes that covered Arizona's central Verde Valley region between 8 and 2 million years ago. Archaeological evidence suggests that humans have lived in

432-452: The accumulated lime has since hardened into a cement-like coating, preserving the canal's shape. The existence of the Well was almost unknown to European Americans before the publishing of Handbook to Arizona by Richard J. Hinton in 1878. In 1968, Montezuma Well was the subject of the first ever underwater archaeological survey to take place in a federally managed park, led by archaeologist George R Fischer . The Yavapai people consider

459-486: The ancient Sinagua people, including water catchments for irrigation canals. Lake Montezuma is located at 34°38′25″N 111°47′0″W  /  34.64028°N 111.78333°W  / 34.64028; -111.78333 (34.640283, -111.783377). According to the United States Census Bureau , the CDP has a total area of 12.0 square miles (31 km ), of which 11.9 square miles (31 km )

486-549: The communities of Rimrock and McGuireville . Located along Interstate 17 , it is 20 miles (32 km) south of Sedona and 8 miles (13 km) north of Camp Verde in central Arizona's Verde Valley. The community was originally known as Beaver Creek as ranchers and farmers settled along the banks of the creek named for the prolific numbers of beavers found there. Wales Arnold, the first settler along Beaver Creek, came to Beaver Creek in 1870 and lived at what became known as The Montezuma Well Ranch. Arnold, who came to Arizona as

513-486: The community known as McGuireville began in 1910 when Eugene McGuire settled near the confluence of Dry Beaver Creek and Wet Beaver Creek. This was also at the junction of the historic road from Stoneman Lake which split there with one route going on to Cornville, Cottonwood and Jerome and the other going south to Camp Verde and on to Prescott via Copper Canyon or Cherry. Eugene McGuire along with his son Gene homesteaded there beginning in 1910. Their small store and gas station

540-518: The land surrounding the Well using its constant outflow as a reliable source of irrigation. Beginning about 700 CE, the Well's natural drainage into the immediately adjacent Wet Beaver Creek was diverted into a man-made canal running parallel to the creek, segments of which still conduct the outflow today. The prehistoric canal, estimated at nearly seven miles in length, likely drained into a network of smaller lateral canals downstream, supplying perhaps as much as 60 acres of farmland with water. The route of

567-407: The modern canal is partly original, especially close to the outlet, but large portions have been re-routed over time as irrigation needs have changed. Much of the abandoned original route is still visible within the park, however, as the warm water emerging from the Well contains a high concentration of lime , which over many centuries was deposited along the canal walls as the water cooled downstream;

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594-432: The most of any spring in the southwestern United States, are found exclusively in Montezuma Well: a diatom , the Montezuma Well springsnail , a water scorpion , the amphipod known as Hyalella montezuma , and the leech species Motobdella montezuma . Many different bird species feed on these organisms and the plant life found in the water. In recent years Illinois pondweed ( Potamogeton illinoensis ) has invaded

621-503: The population of the rapidly growing area soon lived in this one subdivision and virtually all of them were not from the local area. They would identify themselves as being from Lake Montezuma not realizing that they might also be considered a resident of Rimrock and also Beaver Creek. Thus the confusion over the name of the general area. In the area of the nearby Lawrence Crossing of the Wet Beaver Creek there are artifacts of

648-404: The prominent limestone rimrocks forming the edges of the mesas visible from the hill top ranch. Her prominent guests were wanting efficient communications with the outside world so Virginia saw the need to establish a post office on the ranch. Virginia's Mother-in-law, Ella Loudermilk, became the first post mistress of the newly established Rimrock Post Office chartered July 11, 1928. People from

675-451: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.73. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 19.6% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 24.5% from 25 to 44, 28.5% from 45 to 64, and 21.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.1 males. The median income for

702-464: Was for three contributing buildings and two other contributing structures on a 47-acre (19 ha) area. It includes a ranger station office, a ranger residence, and a barn/garage/shop building. Rimrock, Arizona Lake Montezuma is a census-designated place (CDP) in Yavapai County in the U.S. state of Arizona . The population was 5,111 at the 2020 census . The CDP includes

729-410: Was supplanted by another store operated by Midge Montgomery who started Beaver Creek Store there in 1931. The area generally became known as Rimrock in 1928 when Virginia Finnie, the daughter of a prominent local rancher, married Romaine Lowdermilk and the couple along with partner Russell Boardman started a dude ranch originally called Rimrock Lodge later known as Rimrock Dude Ranch. It was so named for

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