List of historic properties in Bisbee, Arizona

List of historic properties in Bisbee, Arizona

View of Bisbee’s Main Street.

Location in Cochise County and the state of Arizona

This is a list of historic properties in Bisbee, Arizona, which includes a photographic gallery of some of the town's historic structures. The majority of these structures are located in the Bisbee Historic District which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in July 3, 1980, reference #80004487. Others are located in the Bisbee Residential Historic District which was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 2010, reference #10000233. Also included are the photographs of individual properties identified as historic by the National Register of Historic Places. These include the Phelps Dodge Headquarters Building, the Muheim House, the Bisbee Women’s Club House, St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church and the Walter Douglas House.

The fact that a property is listed in the National Register of Historic Places does not guarantee that the owner of the same will not have the property demolished. Unfortunately many of the historic sites are in grave danger of collapsing or destruction. According to Jim McPherson, Arizona Preservation Foundation Board President:

"It is crucial that residents, private interests, and government officials act now to save these elements of our cultural heritage before it is too late.”[1]

In 2012, the Arizona Preservation Foundation listed the Courthouse Plaza Miners’ Monument in Bisbee as endangered.

History

Castle Rock
Miner George Warren

An Army Scout by the name of Jack Dunn was filling the canteens of his fellow soldiers’ on a summer day in 1877, on the twin granite monoliths of Castle Rock, when he discovered copper ore and recorded the first mining claim in what in the near future was to be known as the town of Bisbee. Numerous prospectors and speculators headed to the mountains in Bisbee to stake claims. With the discovery of numerous ore bodies, Bisbee became known as the "Queen of the Copper Camps." Bisbee had become the largest city between St. Louis and San Francisco by the 19th century.[2]

Dunn and his commanding officer Lt. John Ruckermet met a prospector by the name of George Warren. They asked Warren to file a claim for them. He agreed but, did not keep his word. Warren established what became known as the Warren Mining District.[3] He held a one-ninth interest in the new Copper Queen mine.[4]

The Phelps Dodge company of Pennsylvania sent James Douglas, the inventor of new methods of smelting copper, to examine potential copper mines.[5]

Phelps Dodge began their mining operations in Arizona in the 1880s. Arizona mining operations at the time stuck strictly to the "rule of the apex," according to which a claim owner could follow a vein of ore onto another claim, if the deposit had come closest to the surface on his land. This had occurred with Copper Queen, and Phelps Dodge, rather than risk losing this strike to the Copper Queen owners, purchased the Copper Queen mine, merging it with the Atlanta claim.[6]

In 1896, the company established its headquarters in what is known as the Phelps Dodge Headquarters Building located in 5 Copper Queen Plaza.[7] Under the guidance of Copper Queen President James Douglas, the parent corporation had initiated a number of programs for Bisbee miners. Among the historic structures which were built by the Phelps Dodge Mining Co. for its' employees was the Copper Queen Hospital, the Copper Queen Library and Bisbee Post Office Building, the Phelps Dodge Clinic (now known as the Bisbee Review Building) and the Bisbee Gym Building.. The company also established the Copper Queen Hotel in 1902 and in that same year sold the deed to the land for 1 dollar where the Presbyterian Church was built.[8] Frederick C. Hurst, an architect for the Copper Queen Mining Co., designed many of the buildings in Bisbee. These included the Bisbee Opera House, Central School and the Old Bisbee Fire Hall/City Hall which is pictured.[9][10]

One of the buildings (The Letson Loft Hotel), located in the Bisbee Historic District, was where the Goldwater-Castaneda Mercantile Store was originally located. This is where a gunfight, known as the infamous "Bisbee Massacre, between a gang of thieves and the citizens of Bisbee occurred on December 8, 1883.[11]

Historic Structures

The following photographs are of some of the historic structures in Bisbee.

Historic Bisbee, Arizona
(National Register of Historic Places[12])
The Copper Queen Hospital was built 1880 and is located in 29 Howell Street. 
The Letson Loft Hotel (Letson Loft Block) was built in 1883 and is located on 26 Main Street. It was where the Goldwater-Castaneda Mercantile Store was originally located. On December 8, 1883, Daniel "Big Dan" Dowd, Comer W. "Red" Sample, Daniel "York" Kelly, William "Billy" Delaney and James "Tex" Howard held up the Goldwater-Castaneda Store. A gunfight between the thieves and the citizens of Bisbee took place on Main Street in front of the store leaving four people dead in what is known as the infamous "Bisbee Massacre".[11] 
The Tombstone Canyon Inn was built in 1890 and is located in 102 Tombstone Canyon. 
The Inn at Castle Rock was built in 1895 and is located in 105 Tombstone Canyon. 
The Phelps Dodge Headquarters Building was built in 1896 and is located in 5 Copper Queen Plaza. The building was the headquarters of the Phelps Dodge Mining Co. from 1896 to 1961. It now houses the Bisbee Mining & Historical Museum. It was the first museum in the southwest to be distinguished as a Smithsonian Affiliate Museum. The building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on June 3, 1971, reference #71000109. 
The Silver King Hotel was built in 1900 and is located in 41-43 Howell Street. 
The Bisbee Improvement Company Building was built in 1900 and is located in 100-180 Naco Road. 
The Muheim House was built in 1900 and is located in 207 Youngblood Hill. The house was built for Joseph and Carmelita Muheim. It is now referred to as Muheim Heritage House Museum. The house was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on January 23, 1979, reference #79000746. 
The Copper Queen Library and Bisbee Post Office . The building which both the library and the post office share was the original location of a corner grocery. The post office was established in 1900 and the library in 1907. They are located in 4-6 Main Street. 
The Old City Hall (originally the Bisbee City Fire Hall) was built in 1902 and is located at 110-112 Naco Road. The bell which was located in the tower warned of dangers from fires and cave-ins to Apache attacks. 
The Presbyterian Church was built in 1902 and is located in 19 Howell Street. 
The Copper Queen Hotel was built in 1902 and is located 11 Howell Street. President Teddy Roosevelt and actor John Wayne had been guests in the hotel. It is the oldest continuously operating hotel in Arizona. 
The Phelps Dodge Clinic (now known as the Bisbee Review Building) was built in 1902 and is located in 12 Main Street. 
The Bisbee Women’s Club House was built in 1902 and is located in 74 Quality Hill. The house was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in January 31, 1985, reference #850000145. 
The Bisbee Gym Building was built in 1903 and is located in 39 Howell Street. 
The Python Castle was built in 1904 and is located in 29 OK Street. 
The Stock Exchange Building was built in 1905 and is located in 15 Brewery Ave. 
The Bisbee Grand Hotel was built in 1906 and is located on 61 Main Street. 
The Walter Douglas House was built in 1908 and is located in 201 Cole Ave. The house was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in September 22, 2000, reference #00001125. 
The Old Jail was built in 1909 is located in 9 OK Street. 
The Old Bisbee High School was built in 1914 and is located in 104 Clawson Ave. 
The Old Bisbee High School Gym was built in 1914 and is located in 104 Clawson Ave. 
St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church was built in 1917. It is located in 100 Quality Hill. The church was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on September 7, 1995, reference #950001080. 
The School House now the School House Inn was built in 1918 and is located in 818 Tombstone Canyon. 
The Sheriff's Office and Justice Court Building was built in 1918 and is located in 116 Naco Road. 
The Mule Pass Tunnel was built in 1958 and is located on SR 80 in Cochise County and in the northern entrance to the town of Bisbee. The tunnel is 1,400 ft. long. It was the longest tunnel in Arizona until construction of the tunnel in Phoenix on Interstate 10 . 

The historic Warren Ballpark was built by the mining companies and is still in use today.[13]

Historic Warren Ballpark
The Historic Warren Ballpark built in 1909
The original ticket booth made of wood of theWarren Ballpark. The Warren Ballpark was built in 1909 and is located in the corner of Arizona Street and Ruppe Road. The ballpark is one of the oldest professional baseball stadiums in the United States. It has hosted baseball Hall of Famers John McGraw, Connie Mack and Honus Wagner and also some of the members of the Chicago White Socks involved in the 1919 Black Sox Scandal, such as Hal Chase, Chick Gandil and Buck Weaver. The ballpark was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 2010 as part of the Bisbee Residential Historic District, reference #10000233. 
The concrete grandstand of the Warren Ballpark 
Underneath the grandstand of the Warren Ballpark are housed the concrete dugouts, locker rooms, showers and manager’s office. 
View of the concrete grandstand and home plate in the field of the Warren Ballpark. 

Further reading

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Buildings in Bisbee, Arizona.

Other cities and towns in Arizona with articles of their historic properties

References

  1. ↑ Arizona Preservation Foundation
  2. ↑ Bisbee History
  3. ↑ Cox, Annie M. (1938). History of Bisbee 1877 to 1837. Master's Thesis. University of Arizona.
  4. ↑ "Wager of A Lifetime". Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  5. ↑ Robert Paul Browder and Thomas G. Smith, Independent: A Biography of Lewis W. Douglas (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1986), p. 7
  6. ↑ Phelps Dodge Corp
  7. ↑ Bisbee Museum
  8. ↑ Things to do in Bisbee: Architectural Treasures (Grand Old Buildings)
  9. ↑ Bisbee Opera House
  10. ↑ Central School
  11. 1 2 Legends of America
  12. ↑ Bisbee Historic District
  13. ↑ Back in Time
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