Hike Around Fairbank Ghost Town

On Saturday, January 25, 2020, we said our fond goodbyes to Boomerville and moved from Quartzsite, Arizona to Benson, Arizona. We had lots of cleaning and shopping and other logistical things to do in Benson, but we did set aside one afternoon to hike and explore an area near Benson that we had not gotten to know yet.  This time we picked the Fairbank Historic Townsite, which is located near Sierra Vista, Arizona, south of Benson.

Fairbank Historic Townsite is a preserved ghost town located in the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, which itself runs some 40 miles along where the upper San Pedro River meanders, was designated by Congress as a Riparian National Conservation Area on November 18, 1988.

As we entered the townsite, we spotted the Area sign:

Originally the location of a Native American village known as Santa Cruz in the 18th century, the area was later settled around the time the railroad came through in 1881, and developed further when the local railroad station was built in 1882. It was originally known as Junction City, then Kendall, then Fairbank, and was formally founded as Fairbank on May 16, 1883 on the same day that the local Post Office opened. Due to its proximity to Tombstone, and the fact that it boasted the nearest railroad station to what was then one of the largest cities in the western United States, Fairbank acted as a way point between Tombstone and the rest of the country, bringing supplies into the bustling town, and also acting as the departure point for the ore pulled from Tombstone's silver mines on its way to the mills in Contention City and Charleston. Fairbank was also home to a stage coach station on the Butterfield Overland Mail line which opened in 1885. When the Tombstone mines closed after flooding in 1886, Fairbank's prominence declined as the nearby mills shut down, and the rail depot it offered became increasingly unnecessary. Subsequent droughts drove away area farmers and ranchers, further isolating the town.

We explored the old townsite first, which included a couple houses that have survived from the original period:

One fancy home even boasted a double-seater, which sits on its original site, still boasting of its original glory:

The original Fairbank schoolhouse has been repurposed as a modest visitor center and gift shop, but was closed when we visited:

The post office is being substantially reconstructed and was not accessible to us.  Other buildings in the townsite were similar to the ones shown above.  After gazing at the old structures and reading their history on the well-curated markers, we found the Loop Trail that would take us north along the San Pedro River to the site of the old Grand Central Mill:

 

The loop trail was about 4 miles, with some side trails to points of interest such as the town cemetery.  It was marked by these decorative etched iron signs that rusted naturally in the southern Arizona environment:

 

One of the first features we encountered was the bed of the original Arizona & Southeastern Railroad, which was ultimately taken over by the Southern Pacific Railroad.  Kathy hiked along the railbed looking for the old rails and railroad ties, but to no avail:

Hiking along the trail paralleling the old railbed, we spotted what looked like areas where animals might bed down.  While there was evidence of deer or pronghorn prints, the most common print was of human shoes, we surmised (and as we were warned by our host at the Sierra Vista Visitor Center) that these were areas where illegal immigrants might bed down on their perilous path up the San Pedro River Valley toward hoped-for freedom and solace in the United States.

As we approached the river, we saw more and more frequent cottonwood trees. While their leaves had fallen already, their silver branches gave them away as thriving in a landscape with many dead or dying trees and bushes. The landscape was very dry, and it was encouraging to see some signs of trees living along the waterways.

Eventually, we reached San Pedro River itself.  It is not a large river, but it brings life and beauty to this valley.  We looked upstream --

-- and down:

About halfway around the loop trail, we turned east and headed toward the old Grand Central Mine, which sought and processed lead, copper, gold, and silver.  Nothing is left of the mine or its old stamp mill other than some fenced-off pits and this large stone retaining wall structure:

We could only imagine the impressive stamp mill structures and the deafening noise where this mill concentrated the ore from local mines and processed it for shipment to markets beyond the area.  We wondered whether the soils are still contaminated by the mercury, arsenic and other heavy metals that would have been used to process the ore.

Our eyes swung west toward the Huachuca Mountains and the clouds they make above, with the bunchgrass and prairie grass waving in the breeze below.  We thought that, in less dry years, this San Pedro River Valley might have been a beautiful place to make a home:

Our hike was almost over.  We were less than a quarter mile from the parking lot when we encountered the Fairbanks Town Cemetery.  It sits on the top of a hill off to the east of the Loop Trail.  It has decayed substantially and, based on a conversation we had with a woman who had led a college group to this place 15 years ago, there has probably been much theft and desecration.  We found this toppled cross on one gravesite --

-- and this memorial with a touching rag doll set beside it to keep the departed company:

We had never considered so deeply how much a cemetery and gravesites depend on the continuity of family and community to preserve the graves, as well as the information about who was buried in them.  We thought sadly of the departed who, now, are no longer remembered.

In another quarter mile, we completed our hike and returned to the Jeep, with only a 12 mile drive back to Benson and where our RV was camped.  Tomorrow, it would be time to move on.