Miscellaneous

Arizona Ghost Towns

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Gleeson, Arizona is a ghost town located in Cochise County on the eastern slopes of the Dragoon Mountains on Arizona Route 191. The town of Gleeson was founded in 1900 when John Gleeson registered a mining claim and opened the Copper Belle Mine. Subsequently the Gleeson post office, established on October 15, 1900, supported a town of about 500 people engaged primarily in copper mining, though veins of lead, silver and zinc were also mined. Other mines in the immediate area followed including the Silver Belle, Brother Jonathan, Pejon, and The Defiance.

In 1912 a fire consumed 28 buildings but the town was rebuilt.

Copper production flourished throughout World War I, however the mines played out by the 1930s and eventually the Gleeson post office was closed on March 31, 1939. Though several families still live on the site, Gleeson is, by all measures, a ghost town. Visitors can find the ruins of a hospital, a saloon, a jail, the foundation of the village school and evidence of the extensive mining in the surrounding hills near town. The Gleeson cemetery is west of the town on the road to Tombstone, Arizona that lies about 30 miles to the southwest of Gleeson.

01. Gleeson Ghost Town

02. Gleeson Jail

03. Gleeson Jail Cell. 3ft X 3ft

04. Gleeson Hotel

05. Hospital Ruins

06. Gleeson Cemetery. It is still used

07. Gleeson Cemetery. It is still used

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10. Hospital Ruins

Courtland's post office was established March 13, 1909 and discontinued September 30, 1942. Courtland was a large enough town to support two newspapers, one called the Courtland Arizonan. Courtland had over 2000 inhabitants at one time. The town even boasted over 5 miles of water mains and a movie theater. There were baseball games, horse races, weddings and all types of events one would expect of a modern town. But, the mines played out and the town slowly died, closing its post office in 1942. One of the most interesting buildings remaining is the old jail

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