St. Johns, Arizona

St. Johns  is the county seat of Apache County, Arizona, United States. It is located along U.S. Route 180, mostly west of where that highway intersects with U.S. Route 191. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city was 3,538.

History
Saint Johns, the site of a useful crossing of the Little Colorado River, was originally called El Vadito, (Spanish for "the little crossing") by Spaniards as they first explored the area. Starting in 1864, a trader named Solomon Barth began crossing the area as he moved salt from a salt lake in Zuni territory to Prescott, Arizona. In a poker game in 1873 Barth earned enough money to purchase cattle and enough land in St. Johns to start a ranch with his brothers Nathan and Morris. He changed the name from El Vadito to San Juan. There is some controversy as to whether this was in honor the first woman resident, Maria San Juan Baca de Padilla or the feast of San Juan. William R. Milligan arrived in 1866, followed by Frank Walker in 1870. By 1872 a Spanish American agricultural community had developed. A stone cabin was erected by Juan Sedilla in 1874. Solomon Barth sold out to Mormon Ammon M. Tenney in 1875 or 1879. A Mormon community named Salem and led by David King Udall was establish just north of the town under the direction of Wilford Woodruff on March 29, 1880 and then moved to higher ground by Erastus Snow on September 19 of the same year.

In 1880 a group of Mormons lead by David King Udall settled on the land and named the place Salem.

St. Johns has been the county seat for almost all of the county's history. When the county was created on February 24, 1879, Snowflake was designated the county seat. After the first election in fall 1879, county government was set up in St. Johns, though it was moved again in 1880, to Springerville; in 1882 St. Johns again became the county seat, and it has remained so ever since.

One of the city's schoolchildren, an eight-year-old boy, was in the news in November 2008 when he was charged with two counts of premeditated murder, accused of killing his father and another man with a .22-caliber rifle.

Geography and climate
St. Johns is located at 34.50194°N, -109.37167°W (34.501921, -109.371543), in the White Mountains in northeast Arizona. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.6 sqmi, all of it land. The climate is cold semi-arid (BSk) with cold, dry winters and hot summers with relatively greater precipitation via erratic thunderstorms. Large diurnal temperature variations are typical, so that warm days are often followed by freezing nights.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 3,269 people, 989 households, and 805 families residing in the city. The population density was 494.8 people per square mile (190.9/km²). There were 1,392 housing units at an average density of 210.7 per square mile (81.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 80.48% White, 0.37% African American, 6.24% Native American, 0.28% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 9.12% from other races, and 3.49% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 23.19% of the population.

There were 989 households out of which 44.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.7% were married couples living together, 10.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.6% were non-families. 15.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.19 and the average family size was 3.55.

In the city the age distribution of the population shows 35.5% under the age of 18, 8.4% from 18 to 24, 24.0% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 10.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 101.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $35,215, and the median income for a family was $37,478. Males had a median income of $38,477 versus $24,009 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,331. About 12.5% of families and 15.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.2% of those under age 18 and 10.8% of those age 65 or over.

Attractions
St. Johns is home to the Apache County Historical Society Museum and has four National Register of Historic Places: Isaacson Building, Lower Zuni River Archeological District, Lyman Lake Rock Art Site, and Rattlesnake Point Pueblo. St. Johns is near the Placerias Quarry, the site where dozens of Placerias fossils were discovered in 1930 by Charles Camp and Samuel Welles, of the University of California, Berkeley.

St. Johns is along the shortest and most scenic route from Phoenix to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Within an hour's drive from St. John's are Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, Petrified Forest National Park, the Painted Desert, and Lyman Lake State Park, as well as Indian reservations such as the Navajo Nation, Fort Apache Indian Reservation, San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation, and Zuni Indian Reservation.

Notable residents



 * Rex E. Lee: U.S. Solicitor General
 * Brady Udall: Writer
 * David King Udall: Politician
 * Mo Udall: Politician
 * Stewart Udall: Politician
 * Morris Udall: Politician

Primary and secondary schools
St. Johns is served by the St. Johns Unified School District. The city is served by Coronado Elementary School, St. Johns Middle School, and St. Johns High School. The city is home to the St Johns Center of Northland Pioneer College.

Public libraries
The Apache County Library District has its headquarters facility and the St. Johns Public Library in St. Johns.