New name for unincorporated Queen Creek area

Residents of unincorporated Queen Creek will vote June 22 on a new name for their community but it’ll only represent what the Postal Service calls it.

The heart of the issue is the county line that divides Maricopa and Pinal counties. To the north is the town of Queen Creek itself and to the south, the unincorporated Pinal area.

About 80,000 people live in Pinal County on the outskirts of Queen Creek – about 79,000 more than lived there 10 years ago.

Mail for the area came from the Queen Creek post office, and back then, it was just practical to call the whole stretch Queen Creek.

Then, new housing sprang up rapidly from 2003 to 2007, with giant subdivisions like Johnson Ranch, San Tan Heights, Copper Basin and others cutting across the once rural land southwest of Hunt Highway near the San Tan Mountains.

The revised ZIP code is set to take effect for unincorporated Queen Creek on July 1.