Published February 7, 2023, for State 48 A2Z
As we have discussed over and over in previous articles, Arizona, as well as the southwest overall, for the most part, doesn’t have a shortage of ghost towns, but some are more vacant than others. Officially, a ghost town is defined as “a deserted town with few or no remaining inhabitants” and, while the title “Ghost Town” has been batted around a lot, mainly to try to boost tourism to a location that would otherwise never be traveled to. For this week’s trip, we hit the road from our temporary base in Sierra Vista and take a drive along the famed Ghost Town Trail to our first stop of three abandoned towns along the trail.
Originally settled as Turquoise because the area had been previously worked by Native American tribes for its Turquoise that they used in trades with other tribes, the town of Gleeson didn’t last much longer than its predecessor. Turquoise was first established in the 1870s and, despite the town's name, the Anglo settlers found copper, lead, and silver in the ground. The town must not have been too popular a mining spot as it didn’t receive a post office until October 22, 1890. A few years following the post office opening, the mines shut down and Turquoise was abandoned.
But, in 1900, an Irish miner by the name of John Gleeson staked his claim to the Copper Belle mine, after painstakingly prospecting the area that was Turquoise. With his claim staked claim, the town was moved down the hill to the flatland to be closer to water and renamed itself, Gleeson. Later that same year, the new town of Gleeson received its post office on October 15th. At the time, Gleeson was already sporting a population of more than 500 people, mostly engaged in mining operations.
Mining operations in Gleeson were centered mainly around copper, but there were also veins of silver, lead, and zinc that were extracted from the mine. As with many mining towns, it seemed that Gleeson was off to becoming the next big thing. But, as often happened in the 1800s and early 1900s, the town was nearly destroyed by a fire in 1912 that burned a total of 28 buildings to the ground.
The town was able to rebuild itself and was relatively prosperous in the mid-1910s, supported by the demand for copper needed for World War I. But, by the 1930s, the demand for copper had dropped substantially and on March 31, 1930, the post office closed, and the town was abandoned once again.
Today, several families still reside in Gleeson. But very little remains from its short-lived past. Visitors today can find the ruins of a jail, hospital, saloon, cemetery, and the remnants of the old village school. The jail, however, is the only building that has been renovated and is currently owned by Joe Bono, who was born in Gleeson and whose father owned and operated the Bono General Store in town. As of the time of my visit, the jail was only opened on the first Saturday of each month for tours, which, disappointedly, didn’t line up with my travel dates through the area.
The town of Gleeson can be accessed by traveling Gleeson Road eastward from just below Tombstone. In all the 16-mile trip will take about 21 minutes. From Gleeson, you can head a bit further east on Gleeson Road (roughly one mile) and pick up Ghost Town Trail which will take you through the ghost towns of Courtland and Pearce. These other two ghost towns will be covered in upcoming articles in the next few weeks.
That’ll wrap things up for this week. As always, thanks for reading, stay safe, and happy travels. Be sure to like and follow us on social media (links below), share our blog posts, and feel free to give us your feedback. We’d love to hear from you. Peace!
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