Marana is located in
Pima County just northwest of
Tucson between Eloy and Tucson along Interstate 10 on the banks of the Santa Cruz River.
The Marana/Avra Valley area was first inhabited by the Hohokam Indians, who developed extensive canal systems to use the waters of the Santa Cruz River for irrigated agriculture. By the coming of the first Spaniards to the area in the 1690s, the Hohokam had long since disappeared, and their irrigation works had become ruins. In March of 1977 the Town of Marana was incorporated with about 10 square miles. In August of that year the 1,500 townspeople elected their first town council. In early 1979 the Town began growing through an aggressive annexation policy and is now nearly 116 square miles.
