Bisbee, Arizona: Mining and a Little Ghost Hunting

Bisbee Was a Boomtown, Today You Can Still Go Down in the Mine

By Maureen C. Bruschi

Entrance to the Queen Mine in Bisbee, Arizona. Photos by Maureen Bruschi.
Entrance to the Queen Mine in Bisbee, Arizona. Photos by Maureen Bruschi.

In 1877, Army Scout Jack Dunn led a group of cavalrymen to Mule Mountain, Arizona, searching the area for rebellious Apaches. Instead, Dunn discovered copper deposits in the walls of the canyon near where his group camped for the night.

Before long, fortune hunters rushed to Mule Mountain hoping to strike it rich. Mines and diggings scattered the hillsides. Bisbee, Queen of the Mining Camps, emerged as one of the richest mineral sites in the world producing not only copper but an abundance of gold, silver, lead, zinc, turquoise, and azurite. At its peak, the mines included more than 2,500 miles of tunnels.

Bisbee’s Turn-of-the-Century Charm

In the early 1900s, Bisbee’s population soared. The town boasted more than 47 saloons (famously know as Brewery Gulch), gambling establishments and their own stock exchange. Bisbee became the biggest city between St. Louis and San Francisco. This booming mining community’s glory days lasted for close to a century.

The mines produced over 8 billion pounds of copper, 77 million pounds of silver, 2.8 million ounces of gold, as well as millions of pounds of zinc, lead and manganese. When depleted ore reserves closed the mines in 1975, it looked like Bisbee might come to a grinding halt. But the town continued to prosper in other ways.

The Revival of Bisbee

Don, Mike and Sara Bruschi take the miners' train down 1,500 feet into the Queen Mine.
Don, Mike and Sara Bruschi take the miners’ train down 1,500 feet into the Queen Mine.

In 1976, Bisbee’s mayor Chuck Eads promoted mine tours as a way to keep the miners employed. When my family and I visited Bisbee recently, we took the Queen Mine Tours and found out what it was like to work in a mine.

We started our mining excursion by donning yellow slickers and hard hats and wrapping a miner’s headlamp around our shoulders. Mining trains carried us 1,500 feet down into the mines where the temperature dipped to 47 degrees.

A retired miner led the tour and described working conditions and the dangers miners encountered underground. He also explained the drilling equipment they used and how they transported the minerals to the surface.

But the mine tours were just one way the town survived. When the mines closed, the Bisbee housing market collapsed and real estate was at an all-time low. But fortunately for Bisbee, cheap housing and an alluring climate attracted artists and visionaries and the mining town took on a new look. Art galleries, antique shops, gourmet restaurants, coffee houses, book stores and specialty shops blossomed.

Main Street in Bisbee
Main Street in Bisbee.

Wander down Main Street today and you’ll discover hand-made gold and silver jewelry, and pottery using gemstones and local minerals at Paleface Trading Company. Killer Bee Honey offers tasty samples of their delicious honey, honey butter, and award-winning honey mustards.

You’ll also come across a number of galleries, including the Belleza Gallery offering art from local artisans. If you’re searching for a one-of-a-kind gift for someone special, The Copper Shop offers solid copper art pieces handmade in Bisbee as well as solid copper wall sconces, clocks, switch plates and outlet covers.

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Discover eateries that offer gourmet delicacies, homemade specials, freshly baked bread, and pasta and pizzas scattered along the main shopping district.

Check out the Bisbee Grille if you’re looking for seafood, soups, or grilled foods. Sip specialty coffees and teas while you munch on quiches, pastries, and cakes at Bisbee Coffee Company.

The Bisbee Coffee Company
The Bisbee Coffee Company.

Experience elegant Italian dining at Café Roka. Roka serves a delicious and reasonably priced four-course dinner and extensive wine list. (You won’t be disappointed if you try their succulent Roasted Quail.)

Renovations to Bisbee’s European and Victorian-styled houses and buildings in the late 1970’s also enhanced property values. One renovation in particular, The Copper Queen Hotel, was a key reason Bisbee retained its authentic old town charm.

The Phelps-Dodge Mining Company initially built the hotel at the end of the 1800s to house dignitaries and investors visiting the mines. After the mines closed, artist Stephen Hutchison and his wife bought and renovated the hotel and its revival helped spark Bisbee’s turnaround.

The famous Bisbee B on B Hill
The famous Bisbee B on B Hill.

Watch Out for the Ghosts

The Copper Queen Hotel has more than just old mining town charm. SCI-FI Channel’s Ghost Hunters episode “Spirits of the Old West” featured The Copper Queen Hotel. If you stay there, you may get an opportunity to experience paranormal activity.

During your visit, listen for phantom footsteps of a young giggling boy running through the hallways. Polk around the Julia Lowell Room and you might hear the former “lady of the evening” whisper in your ear.

Don’t be surprised if you glance toward the Teddy Roosevelt Room and catch a glimpse of an apparition of a tall, older gentleman wearing a black cape and a top hat. (And that’s just a few of the ghostly figures that wander the hotel’s hallways.)

But Wait, There’s More

Sara and Mike Bruschi listen as a retired miner explains life underground.
Sara and Mike Bruschi listen as a retired miner explains life underground.

Across from the Copper Queen Hotel you’ll find the Bisbee Mining & Historical Museum, a Smithsonian Affiliate. Here you’ll find out about the town, the people who lived here, and what life was like over a century ago.

If You Have an Extra Few Days

Time permitting (when you’re not hunting for ghosts or mining for copper and gold) there are a couple of neighboring towns worth a visit.

Enjoy gunfight shows, the Bird Cage Theatre, the O. K. Corral, and stagecoach and wagon tours at the historic western town of Tombstone; examine a stunning limestone cave filled with minerals not found in any other cave at Kartchner Caverns State Park in Benson and treat yourself to wildlife action and intriguing vegetation at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson.

Further Information:

Tuscan International Airport is about 90 miles north of Bisbee. Take I-10E to AZ-80E. Follow signs for Bisbee.

Queen Mine Tours

Discover Bisbee

City of Bisbee

Where to Stay in Bisbee:

Copper Queen Hotel
11 Howell Avenue

Audrey’s Inn
20 Brewery Avenue

Eldorado Suites Hotel
55 OK Street

The High Desert Inn Hotel
8 Naco Road

Where to Eat in Bisbee:

Café Roka
35 Main Street

The Bisbee Grill
2 Copper Queen Plaza

The Bisbee Coffee Company
2 Copper Queen Plaza

MaurMaureen Bruschieen Bruschi, a freelance travel writer, and photographer from Hunterdon County, New Jersey, has written articles for a number of publications including BootsnAll Travel, TravelLady Magazine, Offbeat Travel, 40plus Travel and Leisure, Travel Post Monthly, Budget Travel.com blog, and The Writer.

Read Maureen Brushci’s story: Peer into Into the Past: A Whirlwind Tour of Prague

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