Gold was discovered at the Congress Mine in 1884. By 1893, the Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix Railway passed within three miles of the mine, at Congress Junction. Congress boomed, and remained prosperous until the mid-1930s, when the mines closed. Total gold production at the Congress Mine exceeded $8 million, at the then-current price of $20.67 per ounce – or about $400 million, at the 2007 price.[4]
The post office moved to Congress Junction in 1938, where it remains. The community now known as Congress is the old Congress Junction. Little remains at the original mining-camp townsite. The old Congress Cemetery is nearby.[5][6]
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 37.7 square miles (98km2), of which 37.6 square miles (97km2) is land and 0.04 square miles (0.10km2) (0.08%) is water.
As of the 2020 census, Congress had a population of 1,811. The population density was 47.9 per square mile. There were 1,166 housing units at an average density of 30.9 per square mile.[3][9]
The median age was 66.2 years. 8.7% of residents were under the age of 18 and 53.5% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 103.3 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 106.6 males age 18 and over.[10][9]
0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.[11]
There were 908 households in Congress, of which 7.5% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 56.6% were married-couple households, 15.7% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 21.7% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 30.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 19.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.09 and the average family size was 2.57.[10][3]
Of all housing units, 22.1% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.6% and the rental vacancy rate was 9.3%.[10]
The median household income was $48,080 and the median family income was $57,675. About 9.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.4% of those under age 18 and 6.4% of those age 65 or over. The employment rate was 24.4%, and 12.7% of residents had a bachelor's degree or higher.[3]
↑Varney, Philip (1980). "Two: The Wickenburg Area". Arizona's Best Ghost Towns. Flagstaff: Northland Press. pp.26–27. ISBN0873582179. LCCN79-91724.
↑Heatwole, Thelma (1991) [1951]. "Congress: Gold in the Hills". Ghost Towns and Historical Haunts in Arizona. Phoenix: American Traveler Press. pp.47–48. ISBN978-0914846109.
