Town file
Congress, Arizona
Congress, Arizona (Yavapai County, Arizona) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 722, "Death In The Desert" (31 July 2026). Frida Brown was 84 years old in the spring of 1995 and lived in Congress, Arizona, a small former mining town in Yavapai County with a population of 1,548.
- Town
- Congress
- County
- Yavapai County
- State
- Arizona
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 722
- Approximate location
- 34.153, -112.866
Episode 722 / 31 July 2026 / 75 min / express
Death In The Desert
"This is Congress, Arizona ... in Yavapai County" about 0:03:46
The case: Murder of Frida Brown (May 1995). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2026
- Population
- 1548
- Median household income
- $55,104
- Median home value
- $320,000
History, in brief
- Prospecting began in the 1860s in what was then known as the Date Creek Mining District, now the Martinez district. about 0:06:17
- Gold was discovered in 1884 in the Congress mine, twenty years after prospecting started. about 0:06:34
- By 1893 the Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix Railway passed within three miles of the mine to pick up the ore. about 0:06:47
- Congress boomed like Tombstone until the mid-1930s, when the mines closed and there was no other reason to be there. about 0:06:55
The reviews read out
4 stars
"Living downtown is an adventure to say the least; noise, a transient population and drunk idiots are outweighed by the ease of access to everything, which is nothing much."about 0:07:23
1 star
"A horrible place to live: rude and crazy people, too many run-down and junky trailers and homes, scorching hot summers, lots of crime, worthless police and no amenities except a Dollar General and a gas station."about 0:07:59
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Wittmann, Arizona33 miles
- Bagdad, Arizona34 miles
- Prescott, Arizona39 miles
- Williamson, Arizona43 miles
- Lake Havasu City, Arizona86 miles
- Maricopa, Arizona92 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.