In 1540, Spanish colonial expeditions under Hernando de Alarcón and Melchior Díaz visited the area and immediately recognized the natural crossing of the Colorado River as an ideal spot for a city.

During and after the California Gold Rush to the late 1870s, Yuma was known for its ferry crossing on the Southern Emigrant Trail. This was considered the gateway to California, as it was one of the few natural spots where travelers could cross the otherwise very wide Colorado River.

Opened while Arizona was still a U.S. territory, Yuma Territorial Prison accepted its first inmate on July 1, 1876. For the next 33 years, 3,069 prisoners, including 29 women, served sentences there for crimes ranging from murder to polygamy.

Yuma Union High School occupied the buildings from 1910 to 1914. When the school's football team unexpectedly defeated the Phoenix Union High School Coyotes, the angry Coyotes called Yuma "criminals". Yuma High adopted the nickname with pride, sometimes shortening it to the "Crims". The school's symbol is the face of a hardened criminal, and the student merchandise shop is called the Cell Block.

On average, Yuma receives 3.36 inches (85 mm) of rain annually. Even in the wettest year of 2005, only 7.39 in (188 mm) fell. The driest year at Yuma Airport was 2007, with only 0.15 in (3.8 mm) recorded.

The Tatooine exteriors in the opening sequence of Return of the Jedi were shot over a period of two weeks in the Yuma Desert.

Unless you're a homesteader, a Sunbelt resident who eats only food from your local farmers market, or an extremely devout carnivore, you've almost certainly eaten lettuce from Yuma, Arizona. In fact, the Yuma area produces about 90 percent of all lettuce grown in the United States from November to March, when it's too cold to grow produce in most of the rest of the country.

Yuma homeowners could be fined if they allow water to run off their lawns and onto the street. City code enforcers say the water deteriorates the roads.

The last time Yuma saw snow was 1967, when a few flakes fell mixed with rain. The last time a light coating of snow actually covered the city was December 12, 1932.

Following the establishment of Fort Yuma on the Colorado River, several settlements developed about a mile downriver, including Jaeger City, Colorado City, and Arizona City. Colorado City and Jaeger City were both destroyed by the Great Flood of 1862 and rebuilt on higher ground, becoming part of Arizona City, which took the name Yuma in 1873.