Friday, May 15, 2015

2015 Tucson: Fairbank Ghost Town (5/15/2015)

Friday, May 15, 2015 (continued)
From Kartchner Caverns, we continued on AZ-90, driving through scrubby hilly range land and occasionally seeing dots of cattle. Thus we were distracted and missed the turn for the AZ-82 highway. We realized the mistake when we reached the town of Sierra Vista, and turned around.
Back on AZ-82, we found the turnoff for Fairbank.
Fairbank was first settled in 1881 and known as Junction City, it was the nearest railroad station (New Mexico and Arizona Railroad connecting to the Southern Pacific Railroad) to Tombstone. The name changed to Fairbank in 1883 when the post office was established. The town prospered or not along with the mining industry, then droughts and floods resulted in the decline of the population. By the 1970s, the town was abandoned, and is now part of the San Pedro Riparian Conservation Area.
Karen checks out the WPA-built outhouse (1940s)
Stable (1940s WPA)
We never did see any snakes in the wild
The House (1925)
The Schoolhouse (1920) was used through the 1930s
Karen at the schoolhouse door
A desk original to the schoolhouse
Small house (1885)
Small house
Adobe commercial building
housed the post office, general store, and saloon
Post Office (KAH)
Karen at a gate

Next: Tombstone/Boothill Graveyard.

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