The community of Centerville was originally not on land owned by the United Verde Copper Company. However, running water and electricity were provided by the town. In the past it has sometimes been referred to as "Romita", according to one resident, Gloria Herrera.

It was founded by Mexican miners and smelter workers before World War I and later fell within the incorporated boundaries of Clarkdale (1957). At one point many years ago, some enterprising soul put up a wooden post with a plaque on top. He placed it in a dusty wash in Centerville, declaring the spot as the exact center of Arizona. But Marshall Trimble, our long-time state historian, disagrees completely. " I think those people need to go back to math class," said Trimble. The discussion doesn't end there and this article will only hold to the fact that the exact center is somewhere in Yavapai county. But Centerville's claim to fame is no laughing matter to locals. The history of Centerville is sketchy at best. During the 1920's, a Mr. Brown, who had purchased the community, sold the land to the Orrantia family. They are shown as residents in the 1920 census. Luis Orrantia was the first to get elected in Romita and his father was responsible for getting water diverted from the overflow of a reservoir. Manuel Varela owned a store in Centerville which provided groceries to its citizens. "Don" Manuel's son Marcelino went house to house taking orders, then would deliver them.  We know a resident Vicente Tomallo owned pigs, cows, chickens and made tamales. When the smelter closed, Jesus Carillo, from Jerome declared himself "Mayor of Centerville". He also worked for the town of Clarkdale. He decided to change the original street numbers to his friends' last names. This explains the familiar names of Calle Rosas, Calle Medina, Calle Tomallo, Calle Figueroa, Avenida Macias (see photo), Calle Carillo, Calle Padilla and others. Official street signs were added during the 1980's.

Information for this article was taken from an interview with Jesus Valdez, May 2, 2018, and from a special edition of "The Arizona Republic" entitled "Arizona Daily", July 2, 2000, and "The Oral History of Mary Rosas Ontiveros", recorded on DVD by Jim Gemmill on March 1, 2014.