Tucked away in the rugged Mule Mountains of Southeastern Arizona, Bisbee looks more like an Alpine village than what one might expect to find in the stretch of “desert” between Tucson and Mexico. At an elevation of 5,300 feet and surrounded by hills that top 7,300 feet, Bisbee is spared the desert’s wrath and has become a sanctuary for locals and travelers alike.
Though Bisbee was founded in 1880, it’s history reaches back for centuries. In 1534, Spanish conquistadors came through looking for gold. Over the next 300 years, Spanish and Mexican settlers, pioneers, cowboys, and Native Americans—including great Apache warriors Geronimo and Coshise—walked this land.
Not unlike its rowdy neighbor, Tombstone, Bisbee’s character and legend can be traced back to Western vigilantes, rowdy saloons, brawling miners, gunfights and a colorful cast
of characters people are still talking about.
In the 1880s, prospectors headed West following the echos of “eureka” and the siren song of the motherlode. Though gold, silver and iron ore were found in its hills, it would be copper that bore and raised the town of Bisbee. Bisbee soon gained prominence as a national mining center. Bisbee’s waltz with copper thrived throughout the 1920s and even hung on through the 1970s when the mines closed down.
In the 1880s, prospectors headed West following the echos of “eureka” and the siren song of the motherlode. Though gold, silver and iron ore were found in its hills, it would be copper that bore and raised the town of Bisbee. Bisbee soon gained prominence as a national mining center. Bisbee’s waltz with copper thrived throughout the 1920s and even hung on through the 1970s when the mines closed down.
As thousands of miners said good-bye to idyllic Bisbee, a number of visionary artists saw a little town whose indigenous mystique seemed big enough to nourish their souls for decades to come. Today, Bisbee is a renown artist colony that boasts the famed talents of hundreds of writers, actors, poets, jewelers, sculptors, craftspeople, and musicians.
Bisbee’s history enfolds it like the arms of a devoted mother. It’s ambiance is lovingly preserved and its streets, still lined with vintage storefronts, excellent restaurants and cozy hotels, bustle with locals and tourists as if the wheels of commerce had never stopped. Bisbee’s sloping hillsides are intimately peppered with historic home creating a cozy, picturesque village of days gone by.
Bisbee’s untamable history coupled with today’s eclectic charm make a visit to Bisbee an experience not to be missed.
