Bisbee, AZ

(Click on the picture to enlarge it)

With much hesitancy, we headed east towards Tucson on HWY 86 Sunday morning. We had scheduled an early appointment for Monday morning at Tucson Dodge for TREK to get an oil change, new fuel filter, and a new air filter. We wanted to keep her purring! We spent the night in the Tucson Mountain Park and enjoyed the surroundings. After completing TREK’s appointment, our plan was to head to the Cochise Stronghold and spend the night. We drove to Sunsites, AZ where we talked with a very interesting fellow in the Chamber of Commerce office. He advised us not to spend the night, as they had been having big problems with the illegal aliens in the area. The stronghold has a very small and unattended campground and he felt that our safety might be an issue of concern. We took his advice and headed to Bisbee, AZ.

Bisbee, AZ was founded in 1880 and named after Judge DeWitt Bisbee, a financial backer of the Copper Queen Mine. It became the county seat for historic Cochise County. This old western town proved to be one of the richest mineral sites in the world, producing nearly three million ounces of gold. It also produced more than eight billion pounds of copper, not to mention the silver, lead, and zinc that came from these rich Mule Mountains. By the early 1900’s the Bisbee community was the largest city in the southwest between St. Louis and San Francisco.

At its prime, Bisbee had a population of over 20,000 people and became the most cultured city in the southwest. Despite its culture, however, the rough edges of the mining camps could be found in the notorious Brewery Gulch, with its saloons and shady ladies. In 1908, a fire ravaged most of Bisbee’s commercial district along Main Street, leaving nothing but a pile of ashes. Reconstruction began immediately and by 1910 most of the district had been rebuilt and remains completely intact today.

Activities began to slow as the mines played out and the population began to shrink. The mining operations became unprofitable in 1975 and the Queen Mine operation shut down. Queen Mine has seven levels, 143 miles of passageways, and natural ventilation due to the many shafts and drifts. The average temperature inside the mine is 47 degrees. In 1954, the mine operations opened Lavender Pit. For 20 years, they extracted over 351 million tons of material which covered 300 acres and was over 1,000’ deep. They closed this operation in 1974, one year before closing the Queen Mine operation when copper prices plummeted.

CLICK HERE to take the Queen Mine video tour and learn more about this historic area.

CLICK HERE to see our Bisbee and Queen Mine pictures. The town is very historic and cultural, but the surroundings are not very appealing as a result of the devastation.