Company Profile
Town of Sahuarita
Company Overview
The Town of Sahuarita is one of Arizona’s fastest growing communities. Safe, vibrant, and family-friendly, it’s home to over 34,000 residents who enjoy a high quality of life: affordable homes, safe streets, scenic beauty, access to excellent education, a wide array of recreation amenities, and a thriving business environment. Located just 20 minutes south of downtown Tucson, Sahuarita is replete with outdoor activities and natural beauty unique to Southern Arizona. Sahuarita residents have convenient access to the Tucson International Airport and the University of Arizona, one of the world’s top 100 research institutions.
Developing a highly-skilled workforce requires exceptional educational opportunities. Sahuarita boasts an excellent educational system. The Sahuarita Unified School District serves the residents of approximately 606 square miles in Pima County. The school district serves more than 6,000 students in preschool through 12th grade. Multiple schools in the district repeatedly earn the Arizona Educational Foundation’s A+ School of Excellence award. The district takes great pride in all its programs and has an outstanding record of students continuing to further their education at universities, community colleges and technical schools.
In citizen surveys, Sahuarita receives high marks for its reputation, lifestyle, responsive and knowledgeable employees, and delivery of core services, such as public safety, roads, infrastructure, wastewater reclamation, and parks. Open spaces, vibrant parks, walking and bicycle trails, ball fields and sports courts, close-knit neighborhoods and excellent schools make Sahuarita ideal for families. Also nearby are Madera Canyon, Mt. Lemmon, Saguaro National Park, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, and the Coronado National Forest which offer many regional amenities where residents can enjoy nature’s beauty.
Company History
Our town is a namesake of the most recognized symbol of the region, the Saguaro, and roughly translates to “little saguaro.” A look at the surrounding landscape shows you why ranching settlers called it that. Little saguaros can be found everywhere around us, just off the beaten path. The youngest of these fantastic cacti grow under the shade of mesquite and palo verde trees that span our beautiful landscape.
Incorporated in 1994, Sahuarita might be a young town in Arizona, but people have lived here for thousands of years. This land is blessed with a rich cultural history established by the ancestors of Native American groups who still live here. About 4,000 years ago, indigenous people inhabited villages along the Santa Cruz River, where canals supported intensive agriculture. The Tohono O’odham, and the Hohokam before them, grew corn, squash, beans and other crops, and also gathered edible wild plants. When the Spanish arrived, Father Eusebio Kino encountered these settled native groups and founded Mission San Xavier del Bac in 1692. O’odham workers began construction of the present mission building—just northwest of what is now Sahuarita—in 1783. Fast forward 100 years, the town was being referred to as Sahuarit-O, from the Sahuarito Ranch that operated here from 1879-1886 (photo above). Another 100 years, Sahuarita is known for vast pecan orchards along Nogales Highway, the Titan Missile Museum, which curates Cold War relics, and the American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO) Mineral Discovery Center with insights into copper mining. Just south of Sahuarita is the Whipple Observatory, a telescope facility operated by Harvard University near the top of Mount Hopkins in the Santa Rita Mountains.