Ghost Towns in Arizona
22 documented ghost towns
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History
Arizona has over 275 documented ghost towns. Copper, silver, and gold mining created boomtowns that went bust when ore ran out.
Regions: Sonoran Desert • High Desert • Mountains
All Ghost Towns
Chloride
Chloride is Arizona's oldest continuously inhabited mining town, established around 1862-1863. Named for the abundant silver chloride ore in the Cerba...
Congress
Congress was built around one of Arizona's most productive gold mines, which produced over $8 million in gold. President William McKinley visited in 1...
Courtland
Courtland was unusual for Arizona - it was built of concrete and masonry instead of wood. This means ruins survived where wooden towns vanished. The c...
Crown King
Crown King sits at 6,000 feet in the Bradshaw Mountains, accessible only by a challenging back road. The gold town survives as a weekend destination w...
Fairbank
Fairbank was the railroad hub for Tombstone, serving as the closest rail stop to the silver boomtown. Named for Chicago investor N.K. Fairbank who fin...
Gleeson Jail
Gleeson was a copper and turquoise mining town that boomed across three different eras. The stone jail, hospital, and school ruins remain photogenic a...
Gleeson
Originally called Turquoise for the gemstone mined by Native Americans, Gleeson became a copper boomtown after Irishman John Gleeson struck a copper c...
Goldfield
Goldfield is a twice-dead ghost town reborn as a tourist attraction in the shadow of the Superstition Mountains and Lost Dutchman legend. It boomed to...
Jerome
Jerome was one of the largest copper towns in Arizona. The sliding jail (which moved 225 feet downhill) is famous. About 450 people live here now amon...
Jerome
Jerome was once Arizona's third-largest city with 15,000 residents. After the copper mines closed in 1953, the population plummeted to under 100. Toda...
Oatman
Oatman is a living ghost town on Route 66 famous for its wild burros that roam the streets. Named after captive Olive Oatman, it was a gold mining boo...
Pearce
Pearce boomed with the Commonwealth Mine—one of Arizona's richest gold strikes. When the gold ran out, it became a ghost town. Then it revived as a re...
Ruby
Ruby is one of Arizona's best-preserved ghost towns, named after storekeeper Julius Andrews' wife Lille B. Ruby. Originally Montana Camp, it boomed in...
Stanton
Stanton earned a reputation as Arizona's most violent town. Named for a man who allegedly killed the original owner, the town saw murder after murder....
Swansea
Swansea was a copper smelting town in the harsh western Arizona desert. The smelter processed ore from nearby Clara Consolidated Mine. When copper pri...
Swansea
Swansea was named for the Welsh smelting city. Its copper smelter and furnaces produced metal during WWI. When copper prices crashed, so did Swansea. ...
Tombstone
Tombstone is the most famous Wild West town in America. The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral on October 26, 1881 lasted just 30 seconds but created legends...
Total Wreck
Total Wreck got its name from a prospector's reaction to finding the wrecked remains of his claim. The silver mine produced well for a few years, then...
Two Guns
Two Guns was a bizarre Route 66 roadside attraction built over Apache Death Cave, where dozens of Apaches were killed in 1878. The owner promoted the ...
Two Guns
Two Guns was a particularly strange Route 66 attraction. The owner promoted a cave where Apaches were allegedly killed as a tourist destination, compl...
Vulture City
Vulture City sprang up around Arizona's richest gold mine, discovered in 1863 by Henry Wickenburg. At its peak, 5,000 people lived here mining over 34...
Vulture Mine
The Vulture Mine produced 340,000 ounces of gold. High-graders (ore thieves) were hanged from an ironwood tree. Tours are available....