Bisbee: Scores of History in One Mountain

Center w/ desert flora

Lately, I've had the inclination towards mysterious places, be it spots I chanced upon the inter webs, books or locations I may have visited from before. I do remember going to this Arizona town named Bisbee and to this day I am still perplexed by it’s state. The town stood as if suspended in time, somewhat ghostly, yet one could see the town’s vista in the US92 thoroughfare.

The Lavander Pit

Bisbee, was set up as a prime mining town of copper, gold and silver around 1880 thanks to the nearby Lavander Pit. The quarry was very rich in minerals and has yielded much of the turquoise deposits (known as the Bisbee Blue) in the southwest along with other semiprecious stones like Azurite, Aragonite and Cuprite.

Notice anyone?

As I moseyed through the town I found quite an eclectic, new age-y feel to it. History did also reveal that Bisbee was quite the hippy, counter-culture hub in the 60s and it’s esoteric art all around proves it. 

I spy w/ my little eye: Frida, Elvis and an obscure Hula girl...

Art fence for the communal garden, I think...

Even though Bisbee is the current seat of the Cochise County of Arizona, it had that bucolic feel to it, yea, even a torpidity in the afternoon air. Perhaps when the quarry became depleted, so went it’s energy.  Is the bygone feel Bisbee’s charm today where it sits? That’s for the sojourner to say, isn't it?

Lodge

Would make a nice coffee shop, Ey?

A touch of torpedo...

In an odd way, Bisbee took my interest because it’s like several decades were deposited in one mountain here, the old west Americana, standing true to its motto, “an American Original.” 

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