Nogalepedia

Rediscover the People, Culture, and History of Arizona’s Santa Cruz County!

Nogalepedia is your online resource for the natural and cultural history of Arizona’s Santa Cruz County! Explore our Border Community’s History by Theme and Topic:

Theme A

Treasured Borderland:

Santa Cruz County’s Natural and Economic Bounty

Theme B

Creating a Border Community:

Key Topics in Santa Cruz County History

Theme C

Border People, Frontera Places:

The Peoples and Culture of Santa Cruz County

Local artist Armando Moreno’s *The Heritage of the 1853-1854 Gadsden/Mesilla Purchase* (2024) commemorates the U.S.-Mexico agreement which brought present-day Santa Cruz County and the rest of Southern Arizona into the U.S. This painting, created with the participation of youth during the 2024 summer “Arts History Academy,” serves as a visual aid for different Nogalepedia articles.

Nogalepedia was created by the efforts of community members, scholars, and University of Arizona history undergraduates who converged in spring 2024 to create a special collection of essays on different topics ranging from Santa Cruz County’s ranching history to the marking of the U.S.-Mexico border between Southern Arizona/Northern Sonora to the rise of suburban Rio Rico as our county’s largest population center. Our essays are written for high school reading levels and meant to be accessible to everyone in our community!

A late 1890s photography of Nogales, Arizona (right) and Nogales, Sonora, Mexico before the two cities were divided by border fences in 1918. SOURCE: Public Domain

The “Beyond Fronteras” exhibition and multimedia project was curated and coordinated by Carlos Francisco Parra, Assistant Professor of History at the University of Arizona and a born-and-raised native of Ambos (both) Nogales.