Mining History Association Tour
Douglas, Arizona June 5 and 6, 1998 (Reconstructed 2020) | The field trips during the Bisbee Conference did not include Douglas, Arizona, but it is likely that many MHAers drove down to visit this historic smelter town. The Calumet and Arizona Smelter was built in 1902 and the Copper Queen Smelter was built in 1904. When Phelps Dodge consolidated the companies, it closed the Copper Queen Smelter in 1931 and renamed the other the Douglas Reduction Works. That P-D smelter closed in 1987. The MHAers may also have crossed the border to the sister-city of Agua Prieta, Sonora Mexico, site of an important battleground during the Mexican Revolution (1910-1919). While crossing the border is more complicated these days, Douglas is a busy port-of-entry. The photos below were taken in 2020. In addition to the historic sights shown below, an easy walking tour takes visitors through the Main Street business district to the Castro Park/Church Square area where tours of the Douglas-Williams House are available through the Douglas Historical Society. |
PHOTO GALLERY 5 of 5
CLICK ON A PHOTO TO DISPLAY A LARGER IMAGE .jpg)
The Phelps Dodge Douglas Reduction Works (Smelter) is shown in 1940. It closed in 1887. The stack was demolished in 1991. Today only the slag dump remains. (Courtesy, Library of Congress) | .jpg)
The Hotel Gadsden on “G” Avenue, the main business street in Douglas, is called “the last of the Grand Hotels.” It was built in 1907 during the heyday of the copper boom. | .jpg)
In 1928, a fire gutted the hotel but it was rebuilt in even grander style and reopened in the next year. Improvements included an elevator, individual bathrooms, and a telephone exchange. | .jpg)
The majestic marble staircase ascends from the hotel lobby. A cracked marble step recalls Pancho Villa once riding his horse into the lobby. Behind the staircase is a Tiffany-style stained glass mural depicting the southwestern desert. |
.jpg)
The restored El Paso and South Western Railroad Passenger Depot in Douglas was built in1913. The railroad network once converged from all four directions. Ore from the mines in Nacozari, Mexico to the south and Bisbee to the west was transported to the Douglas Smelter. Other branches served the Sulfur Springs Valley in New Mexico to the north and El Paso, Texas to the east. The depot closed in 1961 when the line to El Paso was abandoned. It is now occupied by the Douglas Police Department. (Courtesy, Wikipedia Commons) | .jpg)
On the grounds of the EP&SW Depot are several types of rolling stock used at the smelter and in other Phelps Dodge operations. CLICK for a close-up view of the 1976 Calcine Tank Car (left) and the1906 Dinky Motor (right). The Calcine Tank Car was used to transport calcined ore from the roasters to the reverberatory furnaces. The Dinky Motor was originally used at the Sacramento Pit in Bisbee and later at the Phelps Dodge Mercantile Co. warehouse in Douglas. | .jpg)
This motor was first used in the Jerome-Clarksdale Mining District before being transferred to the Douglas Reduction Works. | .jpg)
This locomotive with trolley pole was built in 1908, three years before Arizona Statehood. It was used at the Douglas Reduction Works. |
Photos Credits: Mike Canty and Mike Kaas unless otherwise attributed.
CONTINUE THE MHA BISBEE VIRTUAL TOUR
CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO THE BISBEE MEETING PAGE
|
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}