Bisbee Historic District

Bisbee derives its historical significance from its role in the creation of one of the giant industrial corporations of the twentieth century. Social significance comes, not from its development as a typical company-dominated mining town, but from the national prominence it acquired during the labor strife of 1917 which resulted in the notorious Bisbee Deportation. Architecturally, the city is virtually suspended in the years from 1895 to 1915 and vividly illustrates its inhabitants' adaptation to a difficult terrain and an uncertain economy.

Bisbee is characterized by an architectural organization of turn-of-the-century white frame miners' cottages, exhibiting both the Neo-Classic Revival and Queen Anne styles, arranged on small and random lots in extremely high density about the surrounding hillsides, and red brick commercial buildings strung wall-to-wall along Main Street and lower Brewery Gulch. The commercial buildings represent the industrial prosperity of Bisbee during the first decade of the twentieth century and the confidence expressed by the community. Noted among the commercial buildings of the historic district is the cartouch-and-console ornamented B.P.O.E. Building (S-1), the Fair Store (S-15), embellished with decorative frieze and deep shells, the Letson Block (S-21) with oriel windows, the Second Renaissance Revival Bisbee Review Building (S-4) and United States Post Office Building (S-33), and the 1939 Streamlined Moderne Phelps Dodge Mercantile (S-28). Significant buildings dominating Queen Plaza are the Italianate Copper Queen Hotel (S-13), with its broad verandas, and the Phelps Dodge General Office Building ( at the intersection of the town's two canyons. This intersection was the hub of the mining and business district and was close to the railroad depot and 0.K. Livery Stables. The Phelps Dodge General Office Building is now used as the Bisbee Civic Center and Historical Museum.

The finest example of lodging houses is the Castle Rock Hotel (S-6) which exhibits a three-sided, two-story veranda supported by colonettes with scrollwork brackets.

The city is actively taking part in historic and architectural preservation and is restoring the Phelps Dodge General Office Building and the Muheim House (nominated separately). Daily tours are made through the restored Queen Mine opposite Copper Q Plaza.

The town of Bisbee lies in one of the most productive mining districts in the state. By 1970, $2 billion worth of ore had been produced in the district, but 1975 saw the ores exhausted and the mines closed. The architecture of the town reflects its econ history. A few old miners' cabins still cling to the hillsides, and the scarcity of post-World War II buildings demonstrates the town's conscious decline.
The town is essentially turn-of-the-century, roughly 1895-1915 when the community acquired the stability for major construction. In most towns, these buildings would have been razed or drastically remodeled by now, but in Bisbee, the economic future did not warrant such an investment.

The rich ores of the Mule Mountains, to whose canyons Bisbee clings, were discovered by an Army scouting party in 1877, and civilian prospectors soon followed. The original Copper Queen Mine was located in December of that year, and the first smelter was built in 1878, but it failed to pay expenses.

The years 1879 and 1880 saw the flow of San Francisco and the Eastern capital into the area. The informal camp became a town of sorts and was named for Judge DeWitt Bisbee of San Francisco, who was associated with some of the investors. The town was not yet very imposing, but the mining activity there and in Tombstone had increased to the point that a new county was needed and Cochise County was formed in February of 1881.

The strongest individual influence on the history of Bisbee was that of James Douglas, and through him, the town came under the heavy corporate influence of the Phelps Dodge Corporation. Douglas, who had acquired some expertise and had developed some innovations in processing in Pennsylvania, received a shipment of copper bars from the Copper Queen Mine in 1880. He was impressed by their quality, and, when he had an opportunity to go to Bisbee early in 1881, he was impressed with the future of the district. On his recommendation, the Phelps Dodge Company purchased the claim adjoining the Copper Queen and began its venture into copper mining. Douglas was put in charge of the operations. Both Douglas and the company, which gradually acquired extensive mining properties throughout the state, achieved outstanding success. The company became one of the giants of the industry and the Douglas family achieved national prominence and influence.

Transportation was a big problem in the early years. In 1880 ore was shipped by wagon to the nearest railhead at Benson and then to New York. The next year it was found to be cheaper to send it west from Benson to San Francisco and then by ship to New York. Then it was discovered that shipping by rail to Guaymas was even cheaper.

There were other problems arising from the success of the district. By 1886 the first smelters proved to be inadequate. A new one was built which produced over one million pounds a month. This was over 100 tons of freight a day, so the company asked Santa Fe to build a branch line to Bisbee. The suggestion was refused, so the company built its own railroad from Bisbee to the new rail station at Fairbank in 1887-1888. Slag was used for the roadbed. A quarrel with Santa Fe led Phelps Dodge to extend its own railroad from Fairbank to Benson to meet the Southern Pacific.

By 1900, it was again necessary to increase the smelting operations. The lack of sufficient water at Bisbee led to the construction of the new smelter town of Douglas (1901-1904) on the Mexican border. As the smelter fumes disappeared, the vegetation on Bisbee's hills began to return.

The fortunes of the town necessarily fluctuated with those of the copper industry. In 1881, there were 300 people. Three years later, there were 500, and the tents began to be replaced by wood and adobe buildings. The smelter had not yet destroyed the oaks on Main Street. The denuding of the hillsides increased the severity of the floods in the steep canyons. Three of the worst floods were in 1886, 1890, and 1908. This last one left several feet of mud and debris in the post office. That same year a fire did $5 million worth of damage. Bond issues were passed to pay for subways and retaining walls to keep the rush of water out of the streets and buildings. In the flood of 1890, a 20-foot wall of water had roared down the canyon in the night.

By 1890, there were over 1500 people, the mining industry had acquired an air of permanence, and Main Street's wood false fronts were being replaced with substantial commercial buildings with intricate ornamentation. The hillsides were dotted with miners' wood cottages, creating the town's unique complexion. Those who could afford finer houses escaped the congested sections and built them on Quality Hill and Higgins Hill to the west along Tombstone Canyon away from the saloon environment.

Lower Brewery Gulch was given to saloons, shops, and wooden sidewalks. Farther up the Gulch was the red light district and beyond that, single-family residences. Because of the influx of bachelors, numerous lodging houses occurred, and these were not only fronted by long porches, but in many cases, they have raised because of the steep incline of the hills. Frequently the porches were on stilts over waterways.

Several major buildings in Bisbee were designed by Henry Trost, a prominent El Paso architect, who was much influenced by Sullivan and the Chicago School. Local architect Frederick Charles Hurst, who also had Chicago connections, designed a very large number of Bisbee buildings, ranging from small commercial structures to elaborate lodge halls.

The town was incorporated in 1902, and the new municipal government had brick paving laid on Main, Howell, and Brewery. Previously, the streets were either dust or mud with stepping stones placed for pedestrians to cross the streets.

By 1904, Bisbee had over 10,000 people and was rapidly adding more brick buildings. Electric lights and gas were added the same year. Streetcars were installed in 1908 and ran until 1927 when they were replaced by buses. Bisbee became the county seat in 1929.
A major building boom occurred immediately after the disastrous fire of 1908, which destroyed all of the buildings on Upper Main down to, and including, the Angius Hotel and the Fair Store (S-15). After that, an adequate water supply was finally secured and fire, which had plagued the town for years, became a rarity.

There was a big slump in the copper market after World War I because of the huge wartime stockpiles, the lack of a further military market, and the discovery of new deposits in South America. However, the industry revived gradually in the 1920s. The depression brought another slump which was offset by a tariff on imported copper in 1934.

As the quality of the ore declined, the industry was able to maintain itself through the continual development of new methods for extracting copper from low-grade ores. Open pit mining at Bisbee was started in 1917 at Sacramento Hill (Pit). Steamshovel operations there ceased in 1929. The famous Lavender Pit, one of the largest open-pit copper mines in the world, was opened in 1951 and continued in operation until 1974. The Copper Queen Mine was closed down in the summer of 1975.

By the 1970s, the Bisbee operations had become a minor part of the Phelps Dodge production, but the closing of the mines was a serious blow to the town, which had been dependent on them from the beginning. The county offices would continue, of course, and there was some hope that tourism, retirees, and families of people stationed at Ft. Huachuca would help the town to stay alive.
The most notable single event in the history of Bisbee was the Deportation of 1917, part of the long concerted effort of the mines to crush organized labor in Arizona. It was vigilante action, financed and directed primarily by Phelps Dodge, and grossly violated the civil liberties of the workers involved. It was a national scandal that embarrassed the U.S. abroad and could only be shoved aside because of the far greater impact of the War.

Much of the trouble was apparently caused by company-hired detectives posing as Industria Workers of the World, but there were real grievances as well. The miners protested that the companies were evading the anti-blacklist law by sending the men for physical examinations and telling the doctor which ones to turn down. The men also asked that blasting not be allowed during working shifts, that there be no discrimination against union members, and that the men receive a flat minimum wage rather than a sliding scale. The companies refused to meet with the grievance committee and said that the War made such demands "treasonable". The strike was called for the next day, June 27, 1917.

Sheriff Harry Wheeler, with the help of the mine managers (directed by Walter Douglas), had already organized a posse of 1200 men, with another 1000 in Douglas for the purpose of deporting over 1000 workers from the district in cattle and box cars especially provided by the El Paso & Southwestern Railroad (a Phelps Dodge subsidiary). In addition to the mass kidnapping, the vigilantes conducted kangaroo courts and maintained tight control over the district for several weeks.

No one was ever punished for the violations or for the flagrant disobedience of the state and federal laws that occurred.