Nothing in Nothing

Driving along Arizona State Highway 93 from Wickenburg to Wikieup, you get the feeling that the "hills have eyes".  It is eerie in some areas and wondrous in other.  The scenery changes several times from cacti everywhere to a forest of Joshua trees.  This highway is where many have seen the phantom ghost bus driving fast upon their vehicles only to go right through them and then disappear.  This usually happens at night so we did not see the bus which haunts this highway.  Sharon and I heard about a place called Nothing, AZ and just had to check it out.  We made it a day trip from my house to Wikieup, which is about 20 miles north of Nothing.

We finally saw the "Nothing" sign and were excited to be near.  We turned into a large dirt lot where the sign, one abandoned building, and a faded sign reading "All Mart" was all that was visible.  Near the "Nothing" sign was a large cell tower and solar panels which seemed out of place.  Slightly behind the mart was a tin shed.  We really didn't see much of anything else except junk.

How did the location get its name? The story is told by the local residence to anyone who traveled near the town that it “got named by a bunch of drunks”. I guess they were having a desert party in 1977 about 100 miles northwest of Phoenix near Wikieup (the rattlesnake capital of Arizona) and decided to give the piece of dirt a name. They posted a Nothing town sign which read:

“Town of Nothing, Arizona. Founded 1977. Elevation 3269 ft. The staunch citizens of Nothing are full of Hope, Faith, and Believe in the work ethic. Thru-the-years-these dedicated people had faith in Nothing, hoped for Nothing, worked at Nothing, for Nothing.”