Sierra Vista (/siˌɛrə ˈvɪstə/; Spanish: [ˈsjera ˈβista]) is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States.

Sierra Vista, Spanish for 'mountain view', is 75 miles (121 km) southeast of Tucson and serves as the main commercial, cultural, and recreational hub of Cochise County.

The closest port of entry to Mexico is Naco in the Mexican state of Sonora which is 24 miles (39 km) from Sierra Vista to the southeast.

Sierra Vista is home to University of Arizona, College of Applied Science and Technology, a Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) designated Intelligence Community - Center of Academic Excellence (IC-CAE) university, Cochise College, and Wick Communications, a media company operating 27 newspapers and 18 specialty publications in 11 states.

This area was the home to a large Sobaipuri[6] Pueblo near Fairbank[7] which had several smaller pueblos and settlements[8] throughout the valley,[9][10] a Spanish Fort, Presidio Santa Cruz de Terrenate[8][11] between modern Huachuca City , Whetstone, and Tombstone, on the west bank of the San Pedro River.

[12][13][14] Coronado National Memorial was established in the southern Huachuca Mountains to commemorate the expedition of the Spanish conquistador Francisco Vázquez de Coronado utilizing the nearby San Pedro River in his northward search of the Cities of Cíbola, often referred to now as the mythical Seven Cities of Gold.

At the end of the Apache Wars in 1886, with the protection of the fort[16] and the completion of the Southern Pacific and El Paso & Southwestern railroads, the San Pedro Valley began to be populated by American settlers.

[6] At this site was a post office and a school house that served children in Buena, Garden Canyon, and outreaches of the local area.

Oliver Fry[19] and his two oldest sons traveled from Texas on the railroad and settled on 320 acres (1.3 km2) just east of Fort Huachuca in January 1913.

This name came from the Overton Mercantile and Investment Company, which took an option on the Carmichael property with plans to develop a townsite outside Fort Huachuca.

It is believed that the company was unable to persuade anyone to move to the area, so when the option expired the Carmichaels took back the property with a general mercantile store and the post office.

It was made worse in these respects during the construction of the cantonment...." (p. 282) When the base was reactivated on February 1, 1954, base commander Brigadier General Emil Lenzner, pushed for incorporation as both a way to solve the on-base housing problems as well as to distance themselves from reputation of "The White City" and Fry Town Settlement, hoping to encourage people to want to live off base in a more family-friendly community, away from undesirables like the minorities allowed to live unsegregated in Fry Town.

[6][23] Sierra Vista annexed Fort Huachuca, a U.S. military base, one of the largest employers in Arizona, and the adjacent community, in 1971.

[25] The owner, Dave Rich, drove the innovative approach to gain the business of the soldiers from nearby Fort Huachuca.

Due to the dry climate the rest of the year and the city's high elevation, daily winter low temperatures range from 20 to 30 °F (−6.7 to −1.1 °C) on average and up to 50 °F (10.0 °C) on rare occasions when moist fronts bring warm air from the Gulf of California.

In the Huachuca Mountains, Ramsey Canyon is one of the prime locations to see hummingbirds in the U.S. An ecological crossroads between desert and tropics, the mountains that rise from the arid surroundings of this part of southeastern Arizona trap rainfall and create island-like biodiverse areas.

Most notable are the beryline and violet-crowned hummingbirds, which breed in Central America but only migrate as far north as the southwestern United States.

Excellent views of the clear night sky have led Sierra Vista to become the chosen center of amateur astronomy in Arizona, with more than a dozen well equipped amateur observatories in the area and a large observatory at the University of Arizona College of Applied Science & Technology within the city limits.

Veterans Memorial Park consists of an Aquatic center called The Cove, benches, bike racks, children's playgrounds, drinking fountains, flag pole, horseshoe pits, grass play area, Ramadas, restrooms, skate and bike court, softball fields, teen and youth center, and volleyball courts.

The CER indicates that there has been an increasing trend for residents to attain a bachelor's degree or higher making the local area competitive in today's technological working environment.

Fort Huachuca, a U.S. Army post, an active and historical military installation and a communications and information technology hub, was annexed into the city in 1971.

Some of the major events include the Cochise Cowboy Poetry and Music Gathering in February, the Festival of the Southwest in the spring, Independence Day celebration, the Southwest Wings Festival in August for bird watching enthusiasts, and Arizona's longest-running holiday parade in December.

During the winter months, the Sierra Vista Symphony Orchestra presents three concerts of classical and popular music, including pre-concert seminars, and puts on special fund raising events.

Throughout the year, the Art Discovery Series presents plays, concerts, and musicals, and in the summer, there are regular band concerts at Veterans' Park, as well as many activities at the Sierra Vista Public Library such as a film series, lectures, readings, and other programs for children and adults.

The US Department of Veterans Affairs opened a clinic in Sierra Vista to better serve the area's large retired military population.

[50] Residents and health professionals became concerned after observing an elevated number of leukemia and related childhood cancer cases being reported in Sierra Vista since 1995.

By October 2002, the ADHS in conjunction with the Arizona Cancer Registry, determined that, "No common environmental exposure from drinking water, ambient air or waste sites were identified that might have placed residents of the Sierra Vista area at greater risk of developing leukemia."

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) was hesitant to investigate in depth, initially leaving the matter to state health departments, but became involved after the ADHS requested their assistance in the spring of 2003.

They cautioned that with such a small number of study participants, "any attempt to measure associations between environmental exposure and disease would be inherently suspect and not statistically appropriate."

Sierra Vista established its Sister Cities program in 1989 with Resolution 2282 in order to promote a relationship with Cananea.