Best Web Design in Marana, AZ (2026)

Web Design for Marana, Arizona

Marana is a fast-growing Sonoran Desert town northwest of Tucson that spreads across Pima County (with a sliver in Pinal County) along the Santa Cruz River. Its name comes from the Spanish 'marana' for 'thicket,' after brush that railroad crews cleared in the 1800s, and it grew from a cotton-and-cattle farming community into a modern hub of logistics, aerospace, and desert-resort tourism. Nearby Pinal Airpark, a former WWII pilot base and Cold War CIA hub, is now the world's largest commercial aircraft 'boneyard.'

AppWT works with Marana, AZ businesses from Livonia, Michigan, mostly online and travelling as needed.

About Marana

History. The area holds some of North America's deepest human history: the Las Capas site was occupied roughly 4,200 to 2,500 years ago and contains the oldest-known cemetery in the American Southwest and the oldest-known canals in North America. In 1775 the Juan Bautista de Anza expedition traveled north along the Santa Cruz River; a 15-mile segment of that route through Marana is part of the Anza National Historic Trail. Early economic life centered on mining and ranching before agriculture took hold after World War I. During WWII the Army built Marana Airfield (1942-45), which became the largest pilot-training center in the world, training some 10,000 flyers. Marana incorporated on March 21, 1977, founded by local farmers and ranchers seeking to manage water and development; it started around 10 square miles and about 1,500 residents. Through aggressive annexation beginning in 1979 the town grew past 120 square miles, and its population climbed from about 1,154 in 1970 to 51,908 in 2020.

Local economy. Historically an agricultural center producing cotton, wheat, barley, alfalfa, and pecans in the fertile Santa Cruz Valley. The modern economy spans logistics, aerospace, manufacturing, tourism, and residential growth. Top employers include the Marana Unified School District, the Town of Marana itself, and Walmart. Asarco's Silver Bell copper mine operates in the nearby desert, continuing the area's mining legacy. Nearby Pinal Airpark supports aviation storage, heavy maintenance, and aircraft recycling on a global scale.

Culture and community. The Marana Founders' Day Parade & Festival, held the third Saturday of March, opens with 'The Biggest Little Parade in Arizona' and celebrates the town's farming and ranching heritage. The Marana Fall Festival at Heritage River Park brings carnival rides, mutton bustin', rodeo demonstrations, a sunflower field, and food trucks. The Marana Pumpkin Patch and Farm Festival is a popular autumn draw with a diesel train ride, corn maze, pig races, and pumpkin picking on a working farm. Agriculture and Western heritage remain central to the town's cultural identity along the Santa Cruz River.

What makes Marana distinct. Pinal Airpark near Marana served as the home base for the CIA's Air America and the front company Intermountain Aviation during the Vietnam War, and was linked to the Fulton Skyhook surface-to-air recovery system. The same desert airfield that trained 10,000 WWII pilots is now where hundreds of retired jetliners go to be parked, mothballed, or scrapped for parts. The town's name literally means 'thicket' in Spanish, coined from the brush railroad workers hacked through in the 1800s. Marana sits in the middle of a valley with 4,200 years of continuous human settlement, including North America's oldest known irrigation canals. Founders literally incorporated the town in 1977 to control water rights, and it has since ballooned to more than 120 square miles through annexation.

Marana Landmarks and Local Life

• Pinal Airpark - the world's largest commercial aircraft storage and heavy-maintenance boneyard, using the dry desert to preserve retired airliners
• The Wild Burro Trailhead in the Tortolita Mountains - a gateway to trails linking to the Arizona Trail
• The Ritz-Carlton - Dove Mountain resort and its golf course, which hosted the PGA Tour's WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship from 2007-2014
• The Arizona Veterans Memorial Cemetery at Marana - one of the state's veterans cemeteries
• The Marana Heritage River Park - centered on the town's agricultural history