List of historic properties in Superior, Arizona | |
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Cities, towns and CDPs in Arizona with lists and images of historic properties, forts, cemeteries or historic districts |
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This is a list which includes a photographic gallery, of some of the structures of historic significance in Superior, a mining town in Arizona. The establishment of the Silver Queen and the later Magma mines was the main factor of the founding if the town. Superior is located approximately 70 miles (110 km) east of Phoenix and the same distance north of Tucson. Within the boundaries of Superior are what remains of Pinal City a former mining town.
Among the earliest inhabitants of the area in which Superior is located were the Native Americans of the Apache Tribe, Pascua Yaqui Tribe and the Tohono O'odham Nation. During the 1870s, at the height of the American Indian Wars, a company of Apache horsemen were ambushed by the US cavalry. After losing 50 men; the Apache retreated up a mountain located within the boundaries of what in the future would become Superior. Accepting defeat; the remaining 75 Apache Warriors leaped to their death rather than being captured by the US Army and therefore the mountain became known as the Apache Leap Mountain. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
It wasn't long before the first prospectors in search of gold arrived. Prospector Charles Mason staked the first claims in 1875. In 1880, the Silver Queen Mining Company was organized and in 1882 the town of Hastings was founded and platted in 1900. Owners of a successful silver mine named their mine "Lake Superior". These stockholders were originally from Michigan. The "Lake Superior Mine" was the main contributor to the area's economy and therefore in 1902, the community changed the name of Hastings to Superior after the mine. [2] [3] [4] [5]
William Boyce Thompson bought the old Silver Queen Mine in 1910, and by 1912, the new Magma Copper Company was in production running the operations of the Silver Queen Mine. The Magma Copper Company became one Arizona's greatest copper producer after the silver vein of the Queen Silver Mine dried and ran out. [2] [3] [4] [5]
One of the outcomes World War I and World War II was the increased demand of copper and as such the town flourished. However, by the 1980s the main mining operations were moved to the nearby town of Miami. The Magma Copper Company's smelter, with the exception of the historic smelter stack, was demolished. [2] [3] [4] [5]
In December 2017, the Resolution Copper Project began to mine in the land where the old Magma Copper Company was once located. The Resolution Copper Project is a joint venture between Rio Tinto of London and BHP-Billiton of Australia. [2] [3] [4] [5]
According to the Superior Historical Society, its mission is "to preserve the rich history of this beautiful area, to remember those that came before us, who forged on through adversity and, many times, hostile conditions to create this place known as Home". [6]
The following are the properties in this list:
The Caboose Park and Superior History Trail is located at 834 W. Highway 60. The Superior Ore Cart was installed just in time for the ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony of the park and trail on April 25, 2015. Three of the main trails are the U.S. 60 History Trail, the Mining History Trail and the Copper Corridor Ore Cart Trail. Among the open air displays are some of the equipment once used by in the Magma Mine. The Red Caboose is used as the Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center. [13] [14] Pictured are the following:
Silver was discovered about 1 mile west of Kings Crown Peak in the fall of 1874 and initially worked until March 24, 1875. The mine which became known as the Silver King Mine was located about 3 miles north of Superior. [15] A direct result of this discovery was the establishment in 1878, of Pinal City which quickly became a boom town of about two thousand residents. General George Stoneman established a military post by the base of the mountain close to Pinal City to protect the residents and the workers of the Silver King Mine from the Apaches. The post was named Picket Post and thus, the mountain in question became known as the Picket Post Mountain. [16] The ores were initially crushed on-site by a Blake crusher and then transported by wagon trains whose ore carts were pulled by many mules to Pinal City. [17] The tracks made by the wagon trains on the soft volcanic trail are still visible.
The Pinal Cemetery was established in 1878. Among those who are buried there are the following:
When the mine dried out, the economic situation in Pinal City worsened. The post office was closed on November 28, 1891 and the cemetery in 1892. The town was deserted shortly thereafter and is now considered a ghost town. [16]
The Boyce Thompson Arboretum is the largest and oldest botanical garden in the state of Arizona. The arboretum was founded in 1924, by William Boyce Thompson. In 1926, the Smith Building and two connecting greenhouses were built. The Arboretum is located on U.S. Highway 60 in the Sonoran Desert along Queen Creek and beneath the volcanic remnant, the Picketpost Mountain. [19] The Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on March 26, 1976, reference: #76000381. [20]
Globe is a city in Gila County, Arizona, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 7,249. The city is the county seat of Gila County. Globe was founded c. 1875 as a mining camp. Mining, tourism, government and retirees are most important in the present-day Globe economy.
Superior is a town in Pinal County, Arizona. According to the 2020 census, the population of the town is 2,407. Superior was founded as a mining town for the Silver King and the later Magma mines; silver was mined at first, and then transitioned to copper. Currently, exploitation of the huge Resolution Copper deposit is being explored.
Dewey–Humboldt is a town in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. The population of the town was 3,894 according to the 2010 census. The Dewey–Humboldt area was a census-designated place (CDP) at the 2000 census, at which time its population was 6,295.
Boyce Thompson Arboretum is the oldest and largest botanical garden in the state of Arizona. It is one of the oldest botanical institutions west of the Mississippi River. Founded in 1924 as a desert plant research facility and “living museum”, the arboretum is located in the Sonoran Desert on 392 acres (159 ha) along Queen Creek and beneath the towering volcanic remnant, Picketpost Mountain. Boyce Thompson Arboretum is on U.S. Highway 60, an hour's drive east from Phoenix and 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Superior, Arizona.
William Boyce Thompson was an American mining engineer, financier, prominent in the Republican party, philanthropist, and founder of Newmont Mining. Thompson was one of the significant early twentieth century mine operators that discovered and exploited vast copper deposits that revolutionized Western American mining, and reaped for themselves tremendous fortunes. He currently has a school named after him in Yonkers, New York, called the William Boyce Thompson school.
Silver mining in Arizona was a powerful stimulus for exploration and prospecting in early Arizona. Cumulative silver production through 1981 totaled 490 million troy ounces. However, only about 10% of Arizona's silver production came from silver mining. More than 80% of the state's silver was a byproduct of copper mining; other silver came as a byproduct of lead, zinc, and gold mining.
The Jerome Historic District is a National Historic Landmark District encompassing the former mining community of Jerome, Arizona. The town was founded as a mining camp associated with copper deposits that were mined from the late 19th century until 1953. The district was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1966 and was included into the then-new National Register of Historic Places.
Sasco is a ghost town located in Pinal County, Arizona, west of Red Rock. Sasco, which is an acronym for the Southern Arizona Smelter Company, was a company town with a large smelter that served several mines. Once an impressive and little-known ghost town, today Sasco is a common sporting destination with shotgun shells, airsoft bb's, paintball splatter, and litter in the area.
Pinal or Pinal City is a ghost town in Pinal County in the U.S. state of Arizona. The town was populated from the 1870s into the 1890s, in what was then the Arizona Territory.
Harshaw is a ghost town in Santa Cruz County in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Arizona. The town was settled in the 1870s, in what was then Arizona Territory. Founded as a mining community, Harshaw is named after the cattleman-turned-prospector David Tecumseh Harshaw, who first successfully located silver in the area. At the town's peak near the end of the 19th century, Harshaw's mines were among Arizona's highest producers of ore, with the largest mine, the Hermosa, yielding approximately $365,455 in bullion over a four-month period in 1880.
The San Manuel Copper Mine was a surface and underground porphyry copper mine located in San Manuel, Pinal County, Arizona. Frank Schultz was the original discoverer, in 1879, but the main body of the deposits were discovered by Henry W. Nichols in 1942. The exploration drilling went on from 1943 to 1948, with the first mine shaft built 1948. Louis Lesser developed a mining city to service Nichols’ newly discovered deposits, and the development was completed about 1954. The first major production began in 1955. The mine and smelter were permanently closed in 2003.
The Silver King Mine is an inactive silver mine located near Superior, Arizona in the United States. The richest silver mine in Arizona, it produced an estimated US$42 million worth of silver ore between 1875 and 1900.
The Historic Pinal Cemetery, first known simply as "Pinal Cemetery", is a cemetery located on a hill in what once within the jurisdiction of the now ghost town of Pinal City, Arizona. The Pioneers' Cemetery Association (PCA) defines a "historic cemetery" as one which has been in existence for more than fifty years. In 2009, the Tonto National Forest made it its goal to develop and manage the cemetery as an interpretive site while preserving its historic context and integrity as an archaeological resource. Among those who are buried in the cemetery is Celia Ann “Mattie” Blaylock Earp who was Wyatt Earp's common law wife. The role of Mattie Earp was played by actress Dana Wheeler-Nicholson in the 1993 American Western film Tombstone.
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