Eloy Cleanup and Restoration

The city of Eloy, AZ is located in Pinal County between Phoenix and Tucson. When the Southern Pacific Railroad was laying lines in 1880, they named that stop East Line of Yuma( an acronym for Eloy). A local legend says a railroad worker was looking at the barren desert all around. He called out, “ Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani!”, which is Aramaic and Hebrew for “My God, why hast thou forsaken me?”. The area’s climate proved to be a good place to grow cotton, and in 1918 a town called Cotton City was established. In 1919, the name Cotton City was rejected by the newly established post office because they were in favor of the name Eloy. The incorporation of Eloy as a city took place in 1949. The current population is about 18,400 and the city receives many Winter visitors/residents during its cooler months.

The heart of Eloy lies in the downtown area. It is home to City Hall, and the US Post Office, along with police and fire stations. Eloy has many community services offered. Those include Sun Life Family Health Center, Eloy Veterans Center, Pinal Hispanic Council, Community Action Human Resources Agency, among others.

Running parallel to the Union Pacific Rail are Interstate 10 and Historic Frontier Street. A large area of utility-served and industrially zoned properties make up Eloy’s business corridor. Major employers of this area call Eloy home. Among those companies are Travel Centers of America, National Gypsum, Owens Corning and more. Eloy’s largest employer is CoreCivic. Core Civic has operations at four facilities: The Red Rock Correctional Center, La Palma Correctional Facility, Saguaro Correctional Center, and Eloy Detention Center.

One of the big things Eloy is known for is Skydive Arizona. As a matter of fact, it is world-known. It originated north of Phoenix in 1978 by founders Larry and Liliane Hill. After much growth, they relocated to Coolidge, Arizona in 1986, then to Eloy in 1990.

Eloy has a lot of community facilities. They include a skate park, a swimming pool with a splash park, three recreation centers and more.