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.[3]
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.[4][5]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 37.7 square miles (98 km2), of which 37.6 square miles (97 km2) is land and 0.04 square miles (0.10 km2) (0.08%) is water.
At the 2020 census, there were 1,811 people and 801 households residing in Congress. 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.[2]
There were 801 households, of which 11.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.2% were married couples living together, 17.9% had a male householder with no spouse present, 14.0% had a female householder with no spouse present. The average household size was 2.09 and the average family size was 2.57.[2]
13.3% of the population were under the age of 18, 3.6% from 18 to 24, 13.3% from 25 to 44, 32.1% from 45 to 64, and 37.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 68.3 years.[2]
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.[2]
^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.
