Ghost Towns (and Historic Towns) of Arizona

Written by Robert C. Jones
Kennesaw, Georgia

jone442@bellsouth.net

Click here to purchase the booklet or DVD slideshow

See also my "Nevada Ghost Towns", "Ghost Towns (and Historic Towns) of New Mexico", "Ghost Towns (and Historic Towns) of California: Bodie, Bay Area, Mojave", "Ghost Towns (and Historic Towns) of Mojave National Preserve" and "Ghost Towns of Death Valley"

Fairbank, Arizona

Published by Robert Jones

Copyright 2003

 Robert Jones
P.O. Box 1775
Kennesaw, GA 30156

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Introduction

Charleston

Courtland

Duquesne

Fairbank

Fort Bowie

Gleeson

Globe/Miami

Harshaw

Jerome

KOFA

Lochiel

Oatman

Pearce

Ruby

Superstition Wilderness and Environs

Tombstone

Yuma Territorial Prison

Sources

P urchase

Introduction

The Arizona desert provides splendid examples of ghost towns (Ruby, Charleston, Courtland) and historic towns (former boom towns that have survived into the 21^st century - Jerome, Tombstone, Oatman).  Echoes from famous figures from the boom town days, such as Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp, can still be heard today.

In 1891, John Randolph Spears recorded his experience visiting “Abandoned Desert Mining Camps” – an experience that we can appreciate and share today within the better-preserved ghost towns:

“It is a ghostly experience to visit such a camp…Everything seems to be complete and in such good order [as one approaches] that the mind can not resist the impression that a thriving community lives there.  Scarce does this impression fade away on nearer approach, in spite of certain tumble-down adobe walls, for numbers of houses stand with doors closed and glazed windows intact, the handle of the town pump still projects invitingly, while the wooden walls of some of the houses show only trifling weather stains.  But once the traveler gets within the limits of the settlement, the smokeless chimneys, the vacant homes, the empty shelves in the stores, and the utter silence – it is as though one had unexpectedly found himself in the midst of a collection of skeletons and graves.”

Throughout this study, I have used a personal rating system (0 low; 10 high) to rank three categories in each ghost town.  These include:

• REMAINS: What is the quantity and quality of remaining boom-days structures in the town or area?
• ACCESSIBILITY: How easy is it to get to the site? 
• EXPLORING: How accessible are the buildings in the town?  Are there interesting back roads to drive down?  Posted "No Trespassing" areas are rated low; open areas in National Forests are rated high.

- Robert Jones, Kennesaw, Georgia, March, 2003

Charleston

Background:

Charleston, located on the bank of the San Pedro River, served as a mill town for nearby Tombstone.  (The mills themselves were actually located in Millville, across the river from Charleston).  When the mines in Tombstone went bust in the late 1880s from flooding, Charleston went bust, too (the Post Office closed in 1888).

There are only a few stone walls left in Charleston and Millville.  An earthquake in 1887 destroyed much of Charleston, and war games during World War II destroyed the rest.

Charleston is very difficult to find, so here is my take.  From the Mormon monument, follow the San Pedro River bed NW for about ¾ of a mile.  When you see some modest cliffs on the west bank (see belowt), find a place to climb to the top.  What’s left of Charleston can be found at the top of the cliff.

Modest stone ruins are left at Charleston

Courtland

Background:

In 1909, Courtland mushroomed from nothing to a town of over 2,000 people in a short time.  Four mine companies and two railroads (including the El Paso and Southwestern) rushed into the town.  By the 1920s, the copper ran out, and the town started to decline.  The Post Office closed in 1942.

All that’s left in Courtland are the shells of two buildings, one of which is the old jail.

Duquesne

Background:

Duquesne was founded in 1890 when the Duquesne Mining and Reduction Company of Pittsburgh established a company town there.  They also established a mill in nearby Washington Camp.  Like many mining towns, its life was short-lived - the Post Office closed in 1920. 

There are several significant buildings still standing in Duquesne, which is located on a loop road above the “main” road that goes through Washington Camp.

  Fairbank

Background:

An Indian village existed on this site as early as 1700, but its creation as a railroad town in 1883 coincided with the mining boom in nearby Tombstone. 

Fairbank has a picturesque (former) post office/mercantile store, several private residences, and a pleasant mile walk back to an old mill.

Fort Bowie

Background

Fort Bowie was a military fort established in 1862 to fight against Geronimo and the Apaches.  It’s raison d’etre ceased after Geronimo’s surrender in 1886.  Many of the buildings were dismantled in 1911 when the site was sold.  It became a National Historic Site in 1964.

A 1.5-mile walk is required to get into the site.  There are several adobe and stonewalls remaining, in a particularly picturesque setting in the Chiricahua Mountains.

Gleeson

Background:

Gleeson was founded in 1900 near the site of an earlier mining camp named Turquoise.  It is named after a prominent Irish miner named John Gleeson.  Although fire wiped out much of the town in 1912, the World War I demand for copper assured its survival for a while longer.  The post office closed in 1939.

Today, there are several interesting buildings remaining, including a jail and a school, as well as a few residents.

Globe/Miami

Background:

Globe and nearby Miami are both historic mining towns with many extant historic buildings, both occupied and abandoned.  Globe was founded first in 1876, when significant silver deposits where discovered.  In time, though, Globe became a copper mining town, with the Old Dominion Mine being the most famous operator (Old Dominion closed in 1931).  In 1917, striking miners were “persuaded” to return to work by troops sent in by Arizona governor Thomas Campbell.

Miami (east of Globe) was founded in 1909 when workers at nearby copper mines grew tired of commuting from Globe. 

Harshaw

Background:

Harshaw has been occupied by Indians, Spanish padres, Mexican families, and miners in its history.  The Mexicans called it “Durazno”.  It became  Harshaw in the late 1870s, named after a miner that made it big there.  For two years (1879-1881), Harshaw was a boom town.  Fire and flood brought it down, and it never recovered.  The Post Office closed in 1903.

Jerome

Background:

Jerome may be the most famous “ghost” (it has several hundred residents) town in Arizona.  There are significant remnants from the mining days here, and parts of the town have been slowly moving down hill for most of the last century (Jerome is located on a fault, and it has 85 miles of mines underneath it.  A huge dynamite blast in 1925 probably contributed, as well).

The Tuizigoot Indians mined these mountains as long as a thousand years ago.  Modern mining began in earnest when the United Verde Company was formed in 1882 to mine copper (Jerome was named after an early investor).  Phelps-Dodge conducted significant operations here from 1935-1953.  After 1950, the town went into decline, but it has perked back up in recent years as a tourist town and artist colony. 

KOFA

Background:

KOFA (short for King of Arizona) was a bustling gold mining operation in the early part of the twentieth century.  KOFA mine shut down in 1910, although there has been sporadic mining in the area in the late 20^th century.

Today, there is nothing but rubble at the site, and some concrete pads from later mining.  The  photo shows KOFA Butte in the background.

Lochiel

Background:

Lochiel has had various names in its existence, including Luttrell and La Noria.  A Post Office was established as Lochiel in 1884. 

In addition to its mining past, Lochiel was visited by Pancho Villa numerous times in the early 20^th century (with less dramatic results than at Columbus, New Mexico!).  Also, there is a monument in Lochiel to Fray Marcos de Niza, a Franciscan monk, and the “first European West of the Rockies” (1539). 

Today, Lochiel has a small U.S. Customs station.  

Monument to Fray Marcos de Niza

Oatman

Background:

Originally named Vivian, the town was renamed Oatman in 1908/09, ostensibly after a pioneer family attacked and killed by Indians near Gila Bend, Arizona in 1851.  As Oatman, the town grew quickly, and 50 mines operated in the area between 1904 and 1931.  (Some mines still operated as late as 1942).  The town received double blows, first in the 1950s, when Route 66 was re-routed around Oatman, and later when I-40 was routed well south of the town.  However, Oatman still survives as a tourist town, and is known for its wild burros that visit the town during daylight hours.

 The main street of Oatman is well preserved, and there are extensive mining ruins on the approaches on both sides of the town.  Nearby Goldroad has active mining operations.

Pearce

Background:

Legend has it that Jimmie Pearce discovered a rich gold vein by accident one day in 1894.  His discovery led to the development of the Commonwealth Mine.  Between 1894 and the 1930s, $30,000,000 in ore was mined.  It is said that, like Panamint City in Death Valley, gold bars were sometimes made intentionally heavy, so that thieves wouldn’t be able to rob the gold shipments.

Today there are several standing buildings from the boom days.   

Ruby

Background:

The Ruby story begins in the 1870s when the Montana Mine was established.  In fact, the town was known as Montana Camp until 1912.

In 1912, a post office opened here.  The town was re-named Ruby, after the wife of the postmaster.  The mines closed in 1940, and the town became a ghost.

There are efforts underway to preserve and restore Ruby, but under normal circumstances, the town is behind a locked gate.

Superstition Wilderness and Environs

Background:

The 158,000-acre Superstition Wilderness (and environs) have it all for the Western explorer – a ghost town (Goldfield), Indian ruins, abandoned ranches, and abandoned mines.  And, perhaps most important of all – a tale of a fabulous lost gold mine.

There is no question that there is/was gold in the general area of the Superstitions.  In the Goldfield area (near the modern day Lost Dutchman State Park), several large gold mines operated beginning in 1892, including the Mammoth Mine and the Bull Dog Mine (one mine was still producing in the 1970s).  But there has always been some debate as to whether any gold was ever mined in the Superstition Wilderness itself.

There are many versions of the Lost Dutchman Mine story, but here is a middle of the road version.  Some time in the late 1870s or 1880s, a German named Jacob Waltz and his partner Jacob Wiser are said to have discovered a fabulous gold mine in the Superstitions.  There are various versions of how they found the mine, ranging from the two Jacobs stumbling upon some Mexican miners already working the claim, to having had a map given to them from a man they rescued from a card-game fight. 

Before Waltz died in 1891, he told two companions the location of the mine.  People have been searching for the Lost Dutchman Mine ever since.  Did the mine ever exist?  If so, does it still exist today?  Has the mine already been discovered and mined secretly or publicly (one of the Goldfield-area mines)?  No one knows the answer to those questions, but people have been searching for the last 100+ years for the fabled fabulous mine.

There are many hiking and exploring opportunities here, as well as a splendid little State Park at the NW corner of the Wilderness.  The Superstitions are my favorite place to hike in the West.

A view of the Superstitions from the NW corner of the Wilderness area

In the bowels of the Superstitions, on the Peralta Trail

Tombstone

Background:

Tombstone gets its colorful name from one of its original prospectors named Ed Schieffelin.  When his associates heard he was going to prospect in the area, they told him that he would only find his tombstone in this Apache-dominated area.  Ed did indeed find silver in the area, and in its mining heyday (1880-1886), Tombstone was a rich producer.

The most famous event in Tombstone history occurred on October 26, 1881, when Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan Earp, aided by Doc Holiday, faced down the Clanton and McLaury brothers at the OK Corral.  The fighting lasted only a minute or so, but when it was over, the McLaurys and Billy Clanton were dead or dieing.

There are many well-preserved remains in Tombstone from its famous past, including the O.K. Corral, the Cochise County Courthouse, the Bird Cage Theater, Boot Hill (“Here lies Lestr Moore, four slugs from a 44. No Les, No More”), and the office of the Tombstone Epitaph.  

Old Cochise County Courthouse

Graves of Billy Clanton and the McLaury brothers on Boot Hill

Yuma Territorial Prison

Background:

Yuma Territorial Prison operated from 1876-1909, and housed over 3,000 prisoners in its brief history.  The site also served as Yuma Union High School from 1910-1914.

Still left to see: cell blocks, the guard tower, the sally port.

Guard tower

Sources

• California-Nevada Ghost Town Atlas, Robert Neil Johnson (1967, Cy Johnson & Son)
• Fort Bowie, http://www.ghosttowntrails.com/fortbowie.html
• Ghost Towns of Arizona, James E. and Barbara H. Sherman (University of Oklahoma Press, 1988)
• Ghost Towns of the West, Lambert Florin (1970, Promontory Press)
• Globe Arizona History, http://www.geocities.com/~zybt/globe.htm
• Hiker’s Guide to the Superstition Wilderness, Jack Carlson and Elizabeth Stewart (1995, Clear Creek Publishing)
• History of the Miami Arizona Area, http://www.geocities.com/~zybt/miamhist.htm
• Illustrated Sketches of Death Valley, John Randolph Spears (1892, Rand, McNally & Company)
• Ruby, http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/az/ruby.html
• Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park, http://www.pr.state.az.us/parkhtml/yuma.html

Color photos by Robert Jones (most photos 1995-1999)

The author with friends in Oatman, AZ

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