List of ghost towns in Arizona
This is a partial list of ghost towns in Arizona in the United States of America. Most ghost towns in Arizona are former mining boomtowns that were abandoned when the mines closed. Those that weren't set up as mining camps were usually established as locations for mills, or supply points for nearby mining operations.[1]
Conditions
![](../I/m/Wickenburg_Vulture_Mine-Assay_office-1884-1.jpg)
Ghost towns can include sites in various states of disrepair and abandonment. Some sites no longer have any trace of buildings or civilization and have reverted to empty land. Other sites are unpopulated but still have standing buildings. Still others may support full-time residents, though usually far less than at their historical peak, while others may now be museums or historical sites.[1]
For ease of reference, the sites listed have been placed into one of the following general categories.
- Barren site
- Site is no longer in existence
- Site has been destroyed, covered with water, or reverted to empty land
- May have a few difficult to find foundations/footings at most
- Neglected site
- Little more than rubble remains at the site
- Dilapidated, often roofless buildings remain at the site
- Abandoned site
- Building or houses still standing, but all or almost all are abandoned
- No population, with the possible exception of a caretaker
- Site no longer in use, except for one or two buildings
- Semi-abandoned site
- Buildings or houses still standing, but most are abandoned
- A few residents may remain
- Historic site
- Buildings or houses still standing
- Site has been converted to a historical site, museum, or tourist attraction
- Still a busy community, but population is smaller than its peak years
Ghost towns
Town name | Other name(s) | County | Settled | Abandoned | Current status | Remarks | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adamana | Apache | 1896 | Semi-abandoned site | |||||
Adamsville | Sanford | Pinal | 1866 | 1920s | Neglected site | Original farming town mostly destroyed in a flood, now farmland. The remnant abandoned by the 1920s. Only its cemetery and some ruins remain. | ||
Agua Caliente | Maricopa | 1858 | Neglected site | Hotel, ruins of a stone house and a swimming pool. | ||||
Alamo Crossing[2] | Alimo | Mohave | 1899 | 1918 | Barren site | Submerged in Alamo Lake. | ||
Alexandra[2] | Yavapai | 1875 | c.1903 | Barren site | ||||
Algert | Coconino | 1883 | 1921 | Neglected site | Walls of some of the school buildings, and some of the walls of the trading post are still standing. | |||
Allen[2] | Gunsight, Allen City[3] | Pima | c.1880 | c.1886 | Barren site | |||
Alma | Stringtown | Maricopa | 1880 | Historic site | Mormon settlement now part of Mesa, Arizona.[4]:15 | |||
Alma | Pinal | 1891 | 1898 | Abandoned site | Wooden water tanks, concrete ore chute, and metal ore buckets, etc. as well as a small slag heap remain on the site within private property. A settlement with a post office, 6 miles above Old Camp Grant on the west side of the San Pedro River.[4]:16 | |||
Alto | Santa Cruz | 1907 | 1933 | Neglected Site | Adobe Walls of old Post office and Sign for "Alto Camp". Historic Mining district back to the 18th Century. | |||
American Flag[2] | Pinal | c.1879 | c.1884 | |||||
American Ranch | Lee's Ranch | Yavapai | 1863 | c.1883 | Barren site | A stage stop on Mint Wash in Little Chino Valley on the Hardyville - Prescott Road with a large hotel for travelers.[5][6] | ||
Angel Camp | Maricopa | |||||||
Apron Crossing | Yavapai | |||||||
Aravaipa | Graham | |||||||
Aubrey Landing[2] | Aubrey | Mohave | c.1860 | c.1886 | Barren site | A steamboat landing, later inundated when Lake Havasu was formed | ||
Aura | Graham | 1899 | ||||||
Aztec | Yuma | 1880s | Former railroad station | |||||
Bellevue | Gila | 1906 | 1927 | Abandoned site | ||||
Big Bug[2] | Bigbug, Red Rock | Yavapai | 1862 | c.1910 | Barren site | |||
Black Diamond | Cochise | |||||||
Bonita[8] | Graham | c.1885 | 1950 | Abandoned site | Catered to Fort Grant | |||
Boyles | Carpenter | Greenlee | 1904 | 1908 | Barren site | Farming and ranching community at the mouth of the Blue River (Arizona)[9] | ||
Bradshaw City | Yavapai | c.1860 | c.1880 | Barren site | ||||
Brigham City[10] | Navajo | 1876 | 1881 | Historic site | ||||
Bumble Bee[1][2] | Yavapai | 1863 | Semi-abandoned site | Privately owned, few residents.[1] | ||||
Calabasas[2] | Calabazas | Santa Cruz | 1866 | 1913 | Abandoned site | Was a Papago Village, Mexican Garrison, Military Base, mining town. The town was known as the gateway to Mexico and had the finest hotel from San Francisco to Denver.[11] | ||
Camp Crittenden | Santa Cruz | 1867 | 1873 | Semi Abandoned site | Private Property, named Camp Crittenden by Generals Orders No. 57 Department of California, September 30, 1867, in honor of Thomas S. Crittenden, Col. 32nd U.S. Infantry Major General U.S. Volunteers. Established to protect settlements of Babocomari. | |||
Camp Reno | Gila | 1867 | 1870 | Abandoned site | [12] | |||
Canelo | Santa Cruz | c.1904 | Semi Abandoned site | Several historic buildings remain, including a one-room schoolhouse and a United States Forest Service ranger station complex. | ||||
Canyon Diablo | Coconino | 1882 | ||||||
Cascabel | Cochise | 1916 | 1936 | Semi Abandoned site | Several occupied adobes and ruined adobe walls, adjacent to Cascabel Rd. | |||
Castle Dome[13] | Yuma | 1869 | 1876 | Historic site | Site of the Castle Dome Mines Museum. | |||
Castle Dome Landing[1][2] | Castle Dome City | Yuma | 1869 | 1884 | Barren site | A steamboat landing, submerged in Martinez Lake. | ||
Chaparral | Yavapai | c.1895 | c.1918 | Barren site | ||||
Charleston[2] | Cochise | 1879 | 1888 | Neglected site | Maintained by the Bureau of Land Management.[14] | |||
Catoctin | Yavapai | c.1902 | c.1920 | Barren site | ||||
Cedar | Mohave | c.1875 | c.1911 | Neglected site | ||||
Cerbat | Campbell | Mohave | c.1869 | c.1912 | Neglected site | |||
Cerro Colorado | Pima | c.1856 | c.1911 | Neglected Site | ||||
Cherry[2] | Yavapai | 1884 | 1943 | Semi-abandoned site | ||||
Chloride | Mohave | 1863 | ||||||
Cleator | Yavapai | |||||||
Clemenceau | Yavapai | 1917 | Historic site | Now part of Cottonwood, Arizona | ||||
Cochise | Cochise | |||||||
Cochran[2] | Pinal | 1905 | 1915 | |||||
Colorado City | Yuma | 1853 | 1862 | Barren site | Colodrado River ferry crossing, Destroyed by Great Flood of 1862 | |||
Congress[1] | Yavapai | |||||||
Contention City[2] | Contention | Cochise | 1880 | 1888 | Neglected site | Maintained by the Bureau of Land Management.[14] | ||
Copper Creek[2] | Pinal | 1880s | 1942 | Neglected site | ||||
Cordes | Antelope Junction | Yavapai | 1883 | 1950s | Semi-abandoned site | |||
Courtland[2] | Cochise | 1908 | 1942 | Abandoned site | Remains of old Jail and Cemetery | |||
Crown King[2] | Yavapai | 1894 | 1954 | Historic site | Old Saloon and Many occupied buildings including general store | |||
Curtis | Arizona City | Yavapai | 1889 | 1907 | Former mining town. Currently the site of a mining operation, just north of Mayer on Big Bug Creek. | |||
Dome | Yuma | 1892 | 1904 | Neglected site | ruins of an adobe building, cemetery | |||
Duquesne | Santa Cruz | 1880s | 1920s | Semi-abandoned site | Several wood buildings including Westinghouse home | |||
Ehrenberg | Mineral City | La Paz | 1863 | 1915 | Neglected site | A steamboat landing, Colorado River ferry, junction of the Bradshaw Trail and La Paz - Wikenburg Road | ||
Fairbank[2] | Junction City, Kendall, Fairbanks[15] | Cochise | 1883 | 1970s | Abandoned site | Maintained by the Bureau of Land Management.[15] | ||
Fortuna | Fortuna Mine | Yuma | 1896 | 1924 | Neglected site | Foundation of General Store, Mill and Reservoir. Interpretive hiking trail maintained with signs by USMC–Yuma Marines. Mine shaft, Sign in log. | ||
Fort Buchanan | Battle Site | Santa Cruz | 1857 | 1865 | Barren site | Civil War era Frontier Post, The post was officially abandoned in 1861 but during the American Civil War troops of the California Column occasionally manned the post. In February 1865 Apaches attacked and forced the small garrison to retreat. Hog Canyon...Nothing remains. | ||
Galeyville[2] | Cochise | 1881 | 1882 | Barren site | ||||
Geronimo | Graham | |||||||
Gillett | Gillette[16] | Yavapai | 1878 | 1880 | Neglected site | Gillett Cemetery and nearby Burfind Hotel foundations. | ||
Gila City | Ligurta[17] | Yuma | 1858 | 1863 | Barren site | Destroyed by the Great Flood of 1862 | ||
Gleeson[2] | Turquoise | Cochise | 1890 | 1940 | Semi-abandoned site | |||
Goldfield | Youngsburg | Pinal | 1892,1920 | 1898,1926 | Historic site | Goldfield revived as Youngsburg in 1920, is now a tourist attraction. | ||
Goldroad[2] | Acme | Mohave | 1902 | 1942 | Neglected site | |||
Guthrie | Greenlee | 1880s | 1922 | Neglected site | A railroad stop, on the Arizona Copper Company railroad, at a railroad bridge across the Gila River. The town died when the bridge was washed out.[18] | |||
Hardyville | Mohave | 1864 | 1883 | Historic site | Hardyville Pioneer Cemetery, a historic landmark and an unofficial historical marker for nearby Bullhead City, Arizona. A steamboat landing, Colorado River ferry, mining town, junction of the Mojave Road and Hardyville - Prescott Road | |||
Harshaw[1][2] | Durazno | Santa Cruz | 1880 | 1960 | Semi-abandoned site | Cemetery, several adobe walls, flat townsite pads still visible | ||
Helvetia | Pima | 1891 | 1921 | Neglected site | small cemetery on approach with period graves, road to gunsite pass, small adobe wall and smelter stone wall still visible | |||
Hilltop | Cochise | 1880s | 1940s | Neglected site | ||||
House Rock | Coconino | Semi-abandoned site | ||||||
Hyder | Yuma | |||||||
Jerome Junction[19] | Yavapai | 1894 | 1920 | |||||
Johnson | Cochise | |||||||
Kentucky Camp | Pima | 1874 | 1912 | Historic site | Maintained by US Forest Service | |||
Klondyke | Graham | c.1900 | Historic site | Maintained by US Forest Service | ||||
Kofa | Yuma | |||||||
La Laguna | Laguna | Yuma | 1860 | 1862 | Barren site | Mining camp. Site under Mittry Lake | ||
La Paz | La Paz | 1862 | 1875 | Neglected site | Site of the first major gold strike along the Colorado River. Steamboat landing to 1866, Yuma County seat until 1871. | |||
Lochiel | Santa Cruz | c.1880 | 1986 | Neglected site | ||||
Metcalf | Greenlee | 1889 | 1936 | Neglected site | A copper mining town, died after the ore ran out in 1918.[20] Its post office lasted from 1899 to 1936.[21] | |||
Millville | Cochise | |||||||
Marinette[22] | Maricopa | Barren site | Sun City was built on the site of Marinette in the 1960s | |||||
McMillenville[2] | McMillianville, McMillanville | Gila | 1876 | c. 1886 | Neglected site | |||
Mohave City[2] | Mojave City | Mohave | 1863 | 1938 | Barren site | A steamboat landing, mining and garrison town, absorbed into Fort Mojave Indian Reservation.[23] | ||
Mowry | Santa Cruz | |||||||
Mt. Trumbull[24] | Bundyville | Mohave | 1916 | c. 1970 | Abandoned site, historic site |
The site is mostly abandoned, but remains home to a reconstruction of a historic schoolhouse.[25] The town was sometimes called Bundyville, after the family that settled the area. As of 2006 one member of the Bundy family still lived alone on a 320-acre ranch near the abandoned town site.[26] | ||
Oatman | Mohave | 1902 | Historic site | |||||
Obed | Navajo | 1876 | 1877 | Barren site | ||||
Octave | Yavapai | Neglected site | ||||||
Oro Blanco | Santa Cruz | 1873 | 1915 | Neglected site | ||||
Oroville | Oro | Greenlee | 1880 | 1882 | Neglected site | A farm community supporting Clifton.[27] | ||
Pantano | Pima | 1858 | c.1956 | Barren site | ||||
Paradise[2] | Cochise | 1901 | 1943 | Barren site | ||||
Pedrick's | – | Yuma | 1854 | 1879 | ? | Steamboat landing on the east bank of the Colorado River, just above the Sonora – Arizona border. | ||
Piedmont | Yavapai | |||||||
Pearce | Cochise | 1896 | 1942 | Semi abandoned | Mine Gold/silver workings, general store, cemetery and several occupied dwellings, Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church. | |||
Pinal City | Pinal | |||||||
Ray | Pinal | 1958 | ||||||
Redington | Pima | 1875 | ||||||
Reymert | Pinal | |||||||
Rosemont | Pima | Semi Abandoned | Adobe walls at junction, old house now owned by Rosemont Mine. Soon to be destroyed by pit mine. Rosemont Mine | |||||
Ruby | Montana Camp | Santa Cruz | 1870s | 1941 | Historic site | 25 buildings under roof, including the old jail and houses, the old school, the playground, old mine machinery, buildings and mine workings. Ruby is entirely on private property. | ||
San Rafael | Pima | Barren site | ||||||
Salero | Santa Cruz | 1884 | 1890 | Neglected Site | Old Bunkhouse and Assay Office, now off limits on private property (Gated) | |||
Santa Claus | Santa Claus Acres | Mohave | 1937 | |||||
Sacaton (village) | Pinal | 1857 | 1880s | Barren site | One of the 19th century Maricopa villages among the Pima Villages | |||
Sasco | Pinal | 1907 | 1920s | Neglected site | ||||
Signal | Mohave | 1877 | 1932 | |||||
Simmons | Wilson, Williamson's Valley | Yavapai | 1871 | 1934 | Barren site | A stop on the Hardyville - Prescott Road, and a local post office. | ||
Socatoon Station | Pinal | 1858 | 1870s | Barren site | Stagecoach station | |||
Spenazuma | Graham | 1898 | 1899 | Barren site | ||||
Stanton | Antelope Station | Yavapai | 1863 | 1905 | Historic site | Owned and maintained by the Lost Dutchman Mining Association | ||
Stanwix Station | Flap Jack Ranch, Grinnell's Station | Yuma | 1858 | 1880s | Barren site | Stagecoach station. Site of the Skirmish at Stanwix Station, often considered the westernmost engagement of the American Civil War. | ||
Stoddard[28] [29] | Yavapai | 1882 | 1830s | Neglected site | Supported by several nearby copper mines, the town had a smelter, school, stores, and up to 300 people until it was abandoned when the price of copper fell. | |||
Sunset | Navajo | 1876 | 1887 | Abandoned site | Only the cemetery remains today | |||
Swansea[1][2] | Signal | La Paz | 1908 | 1937 | Abandoned site | Maintained by the Bureau of Land Management. | ||
Tiger[2] | Schultz | Pinal | 1881 | 1954 | Barren site | All structures demolished | ||
Tip Top | Yavapai | 1876 | ||||||
Total Wreck | Pima | 1879 | c.1890 | Neglected Site | Smelter walls and mine still remain, small rock cabin foundation to south, filming location for movie Hombre | |||
Tres Alamos | Cochise | 1874 | 1886 | – | ||||
Twin Buttes | Pima | c.1903 | c.1930 | Barren site | Buried under the Twin Buttes Mine. All that remains is the cemetery. | |||
Vulture City | Maricopa | 1863 | 1942 | Historic site | Privately owned and operated as a tourist attraction | |||
Washington Camp | Santa Cruz | 1880s | 1920s | Semi-abandoned site | ||||
Weaver | Weaverville | Yavapai | 1863 | 1900 | Neglected site | |||
Webb | Cochise | |||||||
White Hills | Mohave | |||||||
Wilford[30] | Navajo | 1883 | 1926 | Barren site | Loose rock foundations. | |||
Wolf Hole | Mohave | |||||||
Zeniff[30] | Navajo | 1909 | 1940s | Barren site | Few walls precariously standing amid piles of wood and adobe rubble. | |||
Images of ghost towns
- Adamsville Ghost Town Marker.
- Adamsville ghost Town Water Tanks.
- The Agua Caliente Resort.
- Stone house ruins in Agua Caliente.
- American Flag Post Office Ranch – 1877.
- Big Bug Marker.
- The General Market Store in what once was Big Bug.
- Front view Clemenceau Public School.
- Bank of Clemenceau.
- Cochise Southern Pacific Railroad Train Depot.
- Ruins of the Fort Buchanan Bridge over Sonoita Creek.
- Fort Crittenden historic Marker historic
- Historic Geronimo Town marker.
- The ruins of the 1878 Burfind Hotel in Gillett.
- Different view of the ruins of the Burfind Hotel in Gillett.
- Goldfield’s Main Street.
- Old Hyder building.
- Kofa Hotel built in 1904.
- The Morristown Hotel/Store was built in 1899.
- Morristown commercial building built in 1920.
- Oatman Drug Company Building built in 1915 and listed in the NRHP.
- Oatman Hotel originally the Durlin Hotel built in 1902
- Old ranch house in Pearce.
- Side view of the C.H. Cook Memorial Church, a historic Sacaton church.
- The grave of American Civil War and Confederate Veteran Colonel James Patton Perkins in the C.H. Cook Memorial Church Cemetery in Sacaton.
- Ruins of the 1895 Sentinel Train Depot.
- 1890 Ranch house in Sentinel.
- Abandoned Twin Arrows Trading Post, now within the boundaries of Winslow.
- Abandoned cafeteria in Twin Arrows.
- Round stone house/tower ruins in Two Guns, now within the boundaries of Winslow.
- Abandoned zoo building in Two Guns.
- Vulture City ghost town houses.
- Rita's Brothel in Vulture City.
See also
References
- Varney, Philip (2005). Stieve, Robert (ed.). Arizona Ghost Towns and Mining Camps: A Travel Guide to History (10th ed.). Phoenix: Arizona Highways Books. ISBN 1-932082-46-8.
- Sherman, James E.; Barbara H. Sherman (1969). Ghost Towns of Arizona (First ed.). University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-0843-6.
- U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Gunsight
- Barnes, Will C., Arizona Place Names, University of Arizona Bulletin, Vol. VI. No. 1, University of Arizona, Tucson, 1935
- U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: American Ranch
- "Photographs Virtual Browsing Book – Buildings-Ranches – Sharlot Hall Museum". Retrieved 7 April 2016.
- "A day trip to Seligman on the Williamson Valley Road". Sharlot Hall Museum Library & Archives. Archived from the original on 2 May 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
- "Ghost Towns, Arizona: Bonita". Retrieved 2012-12-21.
- U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Blue River
- "Historic Sites – Brigham City". Arizona Heritage Traveler. Archived from the original on 2011-07-07. Retrieved 2010-07-27.
- U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Calabasas Hotel (historical)
- "Camp Reno". Retrieved 30 May 2019.
- Lowe, Sam (2007). "Southwest Arizona". Arizona Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff (2nd ed.). Globe Pequot. p. 226. ISBN 0-7627-4114-7.
- "San Pedro RNCA – Cultural Resources". Bureau of Land Management. February 2, 2009. Archived from the original on January 15, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-30.
- "Fairbank Historic Townsite". Bureau of Land Management. February 2, 2009. Archived from the original on June 8, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-29.
- U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Gillette
- U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Ligurta
- U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Guthrie
- Massey, Peter; Wilson, Jeanne (2006). Backcountry Adventures Arizona: The Ultimate Guide to the Arizona Backcountry for Anyone With a Sport Utility Vehicle. Adler Publishing Co. ISBN 1-930193-28-9. Retrieved July 31, 2010.
- U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Metcalf
- U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Metcalf Post Office (historical)
- Grant, Tina (1988). International directory of company histories. 14. St. James Press. p. 163. ISBN 1-55862-342-6. Retrieved July 31, 2010.
- "Area Information: Our Past". Mohave Valley Chamber of Commerce. Archived from the original on March 3, 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
- George H. Billingsley and Helen C. Dyer, prepared in cooperation with the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management (2003). "Geologic Map of the Upper Hurricane Wash and Vicinity, Mohave County, Northwestern Arizona: Pamphlet to accompany Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-2410". US Geological Survey.
Hurricane Wash begins near the abandoned village of Mt. Trumbull (Bundyville), Arizona.
Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - "Mount Trumbull – Arizona Ghost Town". Archived from the original on 29 April 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
- Mark, Shaffer (21 May 2006). "Arizona man cherishes freedom, isolation". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
- U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Oroville
- "Stoddard, Arizona". Arizona Pioneer & Cemetery Research Project. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
- James E. Sherman; Barbara H. Sherman (1969). Ghost Towns of Arizona. University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 147–. ISBN 978-0-8061-0843-8.
- Hanchett, Jr., Leland J. (1993). The Crooked Trail to Holbrook – An Arizona Cattle Trail (First ed.). Arrowhead Press. p. 163. ISBN 0-9637785-0-1.