What fascinates me most about towns like Bisbee is how they quietly hum. You walk down the main street, passing other tourists, going in and out of shops. Most are run by locals, each of which have their own stories about what brought them there and how long they have stayed. That is intriguing in and of itself, but what lies beneath is even more thought provoking. 

Places like Bisbee have mysteries hiding in the earth and dwelling within the walls of the buildings that have stood the test of time. I feel them bubbling to the surface, waiting to be drawn out…which requires some metaphorical digging. 

How did Bisbee come to be?

Taking it way back to the year 1877, Ethel Jackson Price (Images of America – Bisbee) recounts how the army was in hot pursuit of escaped Apache renegades in southeastern Arizona. After making camp one night, a scout named Jack Dunn went looking for water. He found springs near the base of Castle Rock, but that wasn’t all that he found. He discovered signs of mineral deposits…which is indicative of copper. 

The lucky prospector tasked with filing the claim was George Warren. He is, in fact, credited with locating the body of ore that became the Copper Queen Mine, one of the most fructuous copper mines in Arizona. Word traveled quickly about the discovery, and others followed suit, rushing to file claims. 

Unfortunately for George, he could be described as a “Dipso*” (what they called habitual drunks back in the 1870’s) and a gambler, whose bad habits kept him from becoming a rich man. Still, the Warren mining district was named after him, and a photo of him posing as a miner is the image used on the State Seal of Arizona (which makes him pretty famous!)

Sadly, George was buried in a pauper’s grave, marked only by a wooden plank that said “G.W. 24”. Years later, the Elks (fraternal organization) had his body exhumed and re-interred in a prominent, white marble monument, more fitting for whom many considered to be the Father of the Camp. The plaque affixed to the front reads:

“George Warren-Born Unknown-Died in 1932-Poor in Purse-Rich in Friends”

The Boom Years

George made the discovery, but the driving force behind Bisbee’s rapid growth was Phelps Dodge. The company swooped in and acquired the Copper Queen Mine and introduced advanced smelting techniques, making it one of the most productive mines in the world. This prosperity allowed for the construction of many iconic, historic buildings, most notably, the opulent Copper Queen Hotel (many famous people have stayed here, and you can, too…if you aren’t afraid of ghosts!).

Historic, beautiful… and perhaps a little unsettling. The Copper Queen Hotel has welcomed guests since 1902—including the likes of John Wayne and Harry Houdini back in the day, and more recently, Julia Roberts and Keifer Sutherland. Photo by Marine 69-71 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Edited for dramatic effect.

According to Legends of America, by the early 1900’s, the population had increased rapidly, and the city was officially incorporated in 1902. At the time, it was considered to be one of the most cultured cities in the Southwest. Home to the first community library in the state, the first golf course, the oldest (in the country) baseball field, and a popular opera house. And while these fine establishments flourished, you didn’t have to go far (just down the street, in fact) to find “extracurricular activities”. 

It began with one, A.B. Seiber, who opened a brewery. Sounds innocent enough, right? He smartly dug a giant cellar vault into the mountain and cooled his beer there. He named it “Brewery Gulch” and gave out free samples. This drew a crowd (I mean, who wouldn’t want free beer?) and by the end of the night, someone had tried to rob Seiber, and at least one person was shot and killed. 

It wasn’t just breweries you could find in the gulch. Next thing you know, you’ve got a dance hall, saloons (there were 47 at one point), brothels like the one where Ethel, a San Francisco preacher’s daughter worked (there’s definitely a story here), and opium dens, all open 24 hours a day. 

Mining continued to fuel the economy. The downtown (business portion) was built in the canyon, while houses were built up on the mountain sides. The town was hampered with floods and fires that caused the loss of entire portions of town, but the community always rebuilt. 

Bisbee became modern with the electric railway reaching all the way downtown in March of 1908. A celebration of about 6,000 people ensued! The first trolley rolled in at 2:55pm, when 200 VIP’s boarded for the debut ride. 

At its height (around 1910), the population of Bisbee was about 25,000 people! (Crazy because today the population is only about 5,000.)

Not much changed in those early decades. The economy rose and fell, depending on the price of copper. Businesses came and went, and much of the original, Victorian architecture remained the same. 

In the 1950s, the mining boom ended…however, open- pit mining became a big deal when introduced by Harrison Lavender, aka owner of the Copper Queen hotel. The enormous Lavender pit mine is a crazy 300 acres and a thousand feet deep (and is a big tourist attraction to this day). Some of the prettiest turquoise in the world is found there, and they call it “Bisbee Blue”. 

When Phelps Dodge eventually closed the mines in the mid 1970s, this obviously caused great financial distress to the town. The real estate market collapsed and you know what that means…cheap property! This was attractive to the likes of hippies, retirees, and others who began to restore “Old Bisbee”, which is now established as an official Historic District. 

Today, Bisbee is known as an artist’s community. Many who love to create come here for inspiration, and they share their work not only in galleries, but on walls, in front of buildings, and even on cars! It is clearly a place where freedom of expression is embraced and celebrated. The town thrives on tourism, thanks to those noble citizens who brought the town back to life. It was undoubtedly a small town worthy of my first stop in my travels this year.

Now that you know how it all began, next time I’ll share some of my favorite spots around Bisbee, Arizona—the ones you’ll definitely want to check out when you visit. 

Sources & Further Reading (for curious minds);

• Images of America – Bisbee by Ethel Jackson Price
• Haunted Bisbee by Francine Powers
• Whispers of the Underworld: Bisbee’s Red Light District by Richard William Graeme IV 
• Warren Ballpark (Images of Sports) by Mike Anderson   
• Legends of America (https://www.legendsofamerica.com/az-bisbee/)
• Find a Grave (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/17470348/george-warren)

*If you want to dive deeper, I’ve gathered these books here: https://bookshop.org/lists/dig-deeper-bisbee-arizona

**Some links may be affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.