NOGALES, AZ — From artists to cowboys to big business, the voices of Nogales share a pride for the area’s identity among a diverse group of people.
The border community is working to revive its downtown core, maintain safety in both rural and urban areas, and advocate for the everyday needs of the people who live along the border.
Trains and trade: Nogales history & today
Nogales began as a trading post in the 1880s before being fully incorporated in 1893.
The city established itself along the border when it was just a dirt line, then a small inspection station, and now a wall.
A gem in downtown Nogales, The Pimería Alta Museum, holds treasures of times gone by in the city.
Christine Courtland, Pimeria Alta Museum Board President, said people settled in the area from all over the world, thumbing through records with Mexican, Lebanese, French, Spanish, and even Russian families, to name a few.
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“So many settlers came looking for opportunities and many found them and many are still here,” Courtland said. “Just this conglomeration of ethnicities that have combined to build what we have here today, and it's, I think it's quite incredible.”
Courtland said “Ambos Nogales," as it is sometimes known, was built upon the train system, mines, ranches, and the border, with much of that still ringing true today.
Currently, Nogales boasts a trade industry worth roughly $30 billion in produce and manufactured goods that come in and out of the port every year.
“We have a huge produce industry here,” Courtland said. “The vegetables that are on plates across all over the country that have come through our border.”
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Revitalization through art
For decades, the downtown core along Morley Avenue has relied on shoppers from Mexico.
While you’ll find shoppers coming back and forth daily, those who work along the avenue say it’s not what it used to be.
Evan Kory runs La Línea Art Studio on Morley Avenue. His family has been an anchor in the local business community for nearly eight decades.
Kory says he’s working with local artists to create a grassroots revitalization of the downtown area.
“We know Nogales as Ambos Nogales, which means 'both Nogales.' Everything we do revolves around being a bi-national culture,” Kory said. “We are a gateway to both countries.”
But he says larger, long-term investments into border communities are needed.
“It was a prosperous place because of its proximity to the border, and both sides benefited,” Kory said. “So it could be that way again if we had policy in place and more attention to really supporting and building that aspect of our community.”
As artist Carlos Ibarra touches up his latest mural overlooking Morley Avenue, he explains the meaning of the painted Nogales cityscape which highlights twins and a heart in the middle.
He hopes to paint a new, collaborative picture of the border.
“It's about Nogales and growing up in Nogales,” Ibarra said. “Everyone from Nogales, Sonora, had family growing up on this side, and everyone here had obviously vice versa.”
Ranching on the border: A call for more security
Drawing a straight line through the desert west of Nogales, you’d run into Jim Chilton’s ranch 25 miles away.
Chilton is a fifth-generation cattle rancher whose land touches the international line.
“I'm a fifth-generation Arizona rancher,” Chilton said. “This area is marked by the border and wonderful cattle ranches.”
He says his ranch, and those like his on the outskirts, captures what’s not seen as frequently in the city: people illegally crossing the border onto his property daily.
Chilton’s top concern right now is border security.
“We've got such a wonderful country, and we love immigrants, but these immigrants should come in legally,” Chilton said. “We should secure the border, at the border.”
A pocket of blue: Voter makeup of Nogales
In a state where Republicans outnumber Democrats, Nogales is different.
According to Santa Cruz County voting data, more than 30,700 people are registered to vote.
Out of those, nearly 13,600 people identify as Democrats while 5,300 people are registered as Republicans, and 11,500 are labeled “non-partisan.”
Inside the Numbers: The changing demographics of Nogales, Arizona
