Mustang, Arizona

Mustang is a small town founded in 1930 in the southwestern portion of the state on the Gila River. It is located 1.1 kilometers east of Yuma.

Infrastructure

Mustang is a small town with 636 residents, nothing more than a few streets in the open desert. It has a grade school and shares a consolidated high school in the district, though almost all kids in Mustang are home-schooled. That is not unusual in small, isolated towns.

History

The town was constructed around the Naval Medicine Annex Yuma that from 1929 to 1947, this annex held a highly security classification during the time it was active. When the annex closed, many believed that might be the end of Mustang. But the answer to that problem had arrived quietly during the war. Since 1945, the principal industry of the town has been Marine Corps Publications, Inc. This company prints periodicals, advertising and mailer inserts for the United States Marine Corps. Nearly everyone in town is, now, one way or another, connected to the company. Some work low-pay jobs at the outskirts of Yuma, others at Arizona Western College; but few escape the pull of Mustang. As the locals say, it’s the prettiest little piece of nowhere in the state.