Arizona Archives - Our Towns

Ben Speggen
November 7, 2021

What do Ajo, Arizona; Charleston, West Virginia; Eastport, Maine have in common? For starters, they were all featured in a recent panel discussion that Our Towns hosted at the Rural…

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Health & Well-Being

A Rural Health Center With a Pandemic Plan

Deborah Fallows
April 9, 2020

The Rowland B. French Medical Center is the primary health-care facility for the residents of Eastport, Maine, a tiny Down East fishing town, population 1,400. Eastport was one of the…

The village of Ajo near the Organ Pipe cactus national monument.

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Civic Life

Ajo, Arizona, is the story of a better America

Deborah Fallows
December 6, 2019

Take a walk through the oasis of green grass and palm trees in the central plaza of the tiny Sonoran Desert town of Ajo in southwest Arizona. You’re likely to run into…

A collection of Our Towns players from Ajo, Arizona; Erie, Pennsylvania; and Columbus, Mississippi. From left to right: Morgan Adams, Ben Speggen, Erin Williams, Ferki Ferati, Dairian Bowles, Stuart Siegel, Emily Siegel, Deb Fallows, Jim Fallows, and Chuck Yarborough, standing in front of the Chautauqua Institution's Hall of Missions. (Courtesy of Deborah Fallows)

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Economic Development

When Small Towns Take the Big Stage

Deborah Fallows
July 8, 2019

Connecting Ajo, Columbus, and Erie

N435SR parked at its new home at the San Bernardino Airport in California (Deborah Fallows)

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Travel

The End of the Journey

Deborah Fallows
January 18, 2017

Arriving in Tucson, we felt the inklings of coming full circle with our American Futures project. Only one more leg of our journey, about 400 miles, before we reached our destination of…

Man riding bike with his arm in the air.

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Health & Well-Being

One of my favorite features of our American Futures project is the occasional serendipity of crossing the path of some surprising, remarkable person. Like Jerrie Mock, the Columbus, Ohio, housewife who was the…

Desert Senita Health Center in Ajo, Arizona.

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Health & Well-Being

Finding Health Care in the Desert

Deborah Fallows
June 13, 2016

With the closest hospital 100 miles away, Ajo, Arizona's Desert Senita Health Center acts as the region's clinic

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Environment & Sustainability

Farming in the Desert

Deborah Fallows
June 1, 2016

A small town in Arizona grows a thriving food scene.

Illustration by Adam Voorhes and Robin Finlay.

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Civic Life

How America Is Putting Itself Back Together

James Fallows
February 22, 2016

Most people in the U.S. believe their country is going to hell. But they’re wrong. What a three-year journey by single-engine plane reveals about reinvention and renewal.

Students from the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science doing a historical re-enactment in the town cemetery in Columbus, Mississippi, in 2014.

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Civic Life

American Futures Updates, from MS to AZ to CA

James Fallows
May 28, 2015

NPR conveys the sound of an innovative school in Mississippi, plus other news from the road

The house of Isabella and John Greenway still overlooks what is now an abandoned vast, open-pit mine in Ajo, Arizona.

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Civic Life

Isabella Greenway, Pioneering American Woman

Deborah Fallows
May 19, 2015

The first Arizonan congresswoman, a lifelong friend of Eleanor Roosevelt, lived a remarkable life.

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Language

A Word Cloud of Ajo, Arizona

Deborah Fallows
April 30, 2015

The words we use about ourselves reveal surprising truths

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K-12

Growing Up in Ajo

Deborah Fallows
April 10, 2015

What it takes to get from the desert to college.

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Economic Development

From Xizhou to Eastport to Ajo: Big Dreams in Small Towns

James Fallows
April 9, 2015

The same kind of ambition you see in political campaigns, races for sports championships, or attempts to score a big IPOâ€”but toward a different end.

Historic plaza in Ajo, Arizona (Photos James and Deborah Fallows)

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Economic Development

Ajo, Arizona: Oasis in the Desert

Deborah Fallows
April 1, 2015

How a city with century-old "good bones" tries to reinvent itself.

View from a hill outside Ajo: The great white wall in the distance is a man-made mountain of mining waste; the red-tiled roofs on the left are the historic Curley School, center of current redevelopment activities. Saguaro and organ-pipe cacti throughout

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Economic Development

Ajo, Arizona: A Small Town Pushed to the Brink, and Coming Back

Deborah Fallows
March 30, 2015

What does a town do when most of its people lose their jobs nearly overnight? For the people of this small town, the surprising answer places heavy emphasis on the arts.

Town: Arizona

Ajo, Charleston, and Eastport take to the digital stage to talk rural resilience

A Rural Health Center With a Pandemic Plan

Ajo, Arizona, is the story of a better America

When Small Towns Take the Big Stage

The End of the Journey

A Good Start: Bobby’s Story

Finding Health Care in the Desert

Farming in the Desert

How America Is Putting Itself Back Together

American Futures Updates, from MS to AZ to CA

Isabella Greenway, Pioneering American Woman

A Word Cloud of Ajo, Arizona

Growing Up in Ajo

From Xizhou to Eastport to Ajo: Big Dreams in Small Towns

Ajo, Arizona: Oasis in the Desert

Ajo, Arizona: A Small Town Pushed to the Brink, and Coming Back