Flagstaff, Arizona
city in and county seat of Coconino County, Arizona, United States
Flagstaff ( FLAG-staf) is a city in and the county seat of Coconino County, Arizona, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 76,831.
Flagstaff is the principal city of the Flagstaff metropolitan area, which includes all of Coconino County, and has a population of 145,101. Flagstaff lies near the southwestern edge of the Colorado Plateau and within the San Francisco volcanic field, along the western side of the largest contiguous ponderosa pine forest in the continental United States. The city sits at around 7,000 feet (2,100 m) and is next to Mount Elden, just south of the San Francisco Peaks, the highest mountain range in the state of Arizona. Humphreys Peak, the highest point in Arizona at 12,637 feet (3,852 m), is about 10 miles (16 km) north of Flagstaff in Kachina Peaks Wilderness. The geology of the area includes exposed rock from the Mesozoic and Paleozoic eras, with Moenkopi Formation red sandstone having once been quarried in the city; many of the historic downtown buildings were constructed with it. The Rio de Flag river runs through the city, but only flows in response to rain or snowmelt.
Originally settled by the pre-Columbian native Sinagua people, the area of Flagstaff has fertile land from volcanic ash after eruptions in the 11th century. It was first settled as the present-day city in 1876.
“Flagstaff, Arizona” enters the record as city in and county seat of Coconino County, Arizona, United States. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Flagstaff, Arizona and city can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Flagstaff, Arizona” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Flagstaff, Arizona and city provides the most credible route into that argument.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q79842. VIAF identifies the subject as 150085094. The Library of Congress control number is n79084303. Authority coordinates are 35.199, -111.631. 4 of 6 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020 and 1876.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Flagstaff, Arizona”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Flagstaff, Arizona primary sources, Flagstaff, Arizona archive and Flagstaff research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Flagstaff, Arizona”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Flagstaff, Arizona” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.