Fort Naco

Ruins of Fort Naco.

Fort Naco others call it Camp Naco or Fort Newell, was one of the last forts built by the United States in continental territory and is the only remaining border fort out of several that were constructed during the Mexican Revolution. Soldiers were first stationed in Naco in November 1910 and remained in the community due to continued fighting across the border, including the Battle of Naco in 1913 and the later Siege of Naco in 1915 in Sonora. Subsequent to Pancho Villa’s attack on Columbus, New Mexico in 1916, Naco was a staging area for American troops protecting the border. Camp Naco was constructed in 1917 as part of the Mexican Border Project. It was the headquarters of the 1st Infantry Regiment of the Arizona National Guard.

From 1935 to 1937, the Civilian Conservation Corps was based there.

In 1990, the youth services organization VisionQuest bought the property with a plan to open a juvenile treatment facility there. They were not able to do that, and in 2006, an arson fire and the discovery of hazardous asbestos on the site prompted the group to abandon the project. George Nerhan, then mayor of Huachuca City, agreed to take the site over rather than having it be destroyed.

As of 2010, the barracks of the fort still stands and has partially been restored.[1]

In 2018, the site was acquired by the city of Bisbee.

More recently, grant funds have been used to clean up and preserve the site. The nonprofit group Friends of Camp Naco continues to look for a nonprofit organization or individual to take over the camp as a permanent project and adapt it for a future use.