Wittmann, Arizona

Wittmann is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 684, down from 763 in 2010. It is located along U.S. Route 60 in the central part of Arizona, 35 mi northwest of central Phoenix, and is part of the Phoenix metropolitan area, although just outside the urban portion.

A variant name was "Nadaburg"; the present name is for Joseph Wittmann and his wife Eleanor van Beuren Wittmann, a couple who attempted several times to get approvals to build a dam project in nearby Box Canyon that would have benefitted the town. This was to be a successor to the poorly engineered Walnut Grove dam that had collapsed in February 1890, less than two years after it had filled. Eleanor van Beuren's father was the nominal head of a group of East Coast investors that had funded what was then primarily a placer mining project. One of the Walnut Grove Water Storage Company's engineers (not responsible for the design) was Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Oswald Brodie, who was later appointed Arizona's territorial governor.

Governmental approval and adequate funding lacking, the replacement dam project plans faltered. A long-projected time for repayment of supplemental government funding killed Joseph Wittmann's project in the 1940s, leaving promises to Maricopa County families broken.

The naming of nearby Morristown also refers to the Wittmann and van Beuren families, for they had residences in Morristown, New Jersey.

History
The town was first named "Nadaburg", which is a combination of two words, the Spanish word "Nada", which means "nothing" and the German word "burg", which means "castle". R.E. Wells of the Southern Transcontinental Railroad named the site Nadaburg when a railroad switch was installed in the area years before it was formally opened to homesteading as a result of the Department of Interior Act of December 29, 1916.

William Hovey Griffin, a native of Texas, founded the town of Nadaburg (Wittmann). He filed his homestead petition in September 1920. That same year he also plotted out the town site. Griffin donated a block of land to the Maricopa County School District where the little Red School House (it was white at that time) was built. The school currently serves as the Nadaburg Unified School District Governing Board's Boardroom. In 1925, Griffin applied to the state corporation commission explaining the necessity of a water utility and requesting a permit to construct one in the town. Up to that point, Griffin had been providing water for about 20 families in the area from his original well that he drilled upon his arrival in 1920.

Joseph Wittmann, continuing a legacy initiated by his father-in-law, endeavored to build a dam on the Hassayampa River, which would bring irrigation water to the town of Nadaburg. In 1926, lots and acreage were given to Wittmann, by the citizens of Nadaburg, in support of the construction of the dam. In 1929, the people of Nadaburg changed the name of the town to Wittmann, honoring the family who promised them the water reserves and canals that would irrigate their fields. Hydroelectric dams to were also promised to bring power the community and others nearby. Other land and claims included those that had belonged to the Wittmann-van Beuren family ever since the Walnut Grove Water Storage Company went into receivership in the 1890s. However, unable and/or ill-equipped to keep his family's promise, Joseph Wittmann and his son Joseph Jr. were sued by the citizens of the town; at least half of them were able to recover their lands.

The town's economy is largely rooted in agriculture with the town's fertile soil. In the 1930s, the town widely grew dates, citrus, grapes, alfalfa, lettuce and cantaloupes. There have also been numerous livestock farms and dairies.

Demographics
As of the census of 2010, there were 763 people living in the Wittmann census-designated place. The population density was 56.3 people per square mile. The racial makeup of Wittmann was 83.8% White, 0.8% Black or African American, 1.2% Native American, 0.5% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 10.6% from other races, and 3.0% from two or more races. 24.0% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Climate
According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Wittmann has a hot desert climate, abbreviated "BWh" on climate maps. The hottest temperature recorded in Wittmann was 119 F on June 28, 2013, and June 20, 2017, while the coldest temperature recorded was 12 F on January 13, 1963.