This is a list which includes a photographic gallery, of some of the structures of historic significance in Superior, a mining town in Arizona. The establishment of the Silver Queen and the later Magma mines was the main factor of the founding if the town. Superior is located approximately 70 miles (110 km) east of Phoenix and the same distance north of Tucson. Within the boundaries of Superior are what remains of Pinal City a former mining town.
Among the earliest inhabitants of the area in which Superior is located were the Native Americans of the Apache Tribe, Pascua Yaqui Tribe and the Tohono O'odham Nation. During the 1870s, at the height of the American Indian Wars, a company of Apache horsemen were ambushed by the US cavalry. After losing 50 men; the Apache retreated up a mountain located within the boundaries of what in the future would become Superior. Accepting defeat; the remaining 75 Apache Warriors leaped to their death rather than being captured by the US Army and therefore the mountain became known as the Apache Leap Mountain.[1][2][3][4][5]
It wasn't long before the first prospectors in search of gold arrived. Prospector Charles Mason staked the first claims in 1875. In 1880, the Silver Queen Mining Company was organized and in 1882 the town of Hastings was founded and platted in 1900. Owners of a successful silver mine named their mine "Lake Superior". These stockholders were originally from Michigan. The "Lake Superior Mine" was the main contributor to the area's economy and therefore in 1902, the community changed the name of Hastings to Superior after the mine.[2][3][4][5]
William Boyce Thompson bought the old Silver Queen Mine in 1910, and by 1912, the new Magma Copper Company was in production running the operations of the Silver Queen Mine. The Magma Copper Company became one Arizona's greatest copper producer after the silver vein of the Queen Silver Mine dried and ran out.[2][3][4][5]
One of the outcomes World War I and World War II was the increased demand of copper and as such the town flourished. However, by the 1980s the main mining operations were moved to the nearby town of Miami. The Magma Copper Company's smelter, with the exception of the historic smelter stack, was demolished.[2][3][4][5]
In December 2017, the Resolution Copper Project began to mine in the land where the old Magma Copper Company was once located. The Resolution Copper Project is a joint venture between Rio Tinto of London and BHP-Billiton of Australia.[2][3][4][5]
According to the Superior Historical Society, its mission is "to preserve the rich history of this beautiful area, to remember those that came before us, who forged on through adversity and, many times, hostile conditions to create this place known as Home".[6]
The following are the properties in this list:
The Caboose Park and Superior History Trail is located at 834 W. Highway 60. The Superior Ore Cart was installed just in time for the ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony of the park and trail on April 25, 2015. Three of the main trails are the U.S. 60 History Trail, the Mining History Trail and the Copper Corridor Ore Cart Trail. Among the open air displays are some of the equipment once used by in the Magma Mine. The Red Caboose is used as the Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center.[13][14] Pictured are the following:
Silver was discovered about 1 mile west of Kings Crown Peak in the fall of 1874 and initially worked until March 24, 1875. The mine which became known as the Silver King Mine was located about 3 miles north of Superior.[15] A direct result of this discovery was the establishment in 1878, of Pinal City which quickly became a boom town of about two thousand residents. General George Stoneman established a military post by the base of the mountain close to Pinal City to protect the residents and the workers of the Silver King Mine from the Apaches. The post was named Picket Post and thus, the mountain in question became known as the Picket Post Mountain.[16] The ores were initially crushed on-site by a Blake crusher and then transported by wagon trains whose ore carts were pulled by many mules to Pinal City.[17] The tracks made by the wagon trains on the soft volcanic trail are still visible.
The Pinal Cemetery was established in 1878. Among those who are buried there are the following:
When the mine dried out, the economic situation in Pinal City worsened. The post office was closed on November 28, 1891 and the cemetery in 1892. The town was deserted shortly thereafter and is now considered a ghost town.[16]
The Boyce Thompson Arboretum is the largest and oldest botanical garden in the state of Arizona. The arboretum was founded in 1924, by William Boyce Thompson. In 1926, the Smith Building and two connecting greenhouses were built. The Arboretum is located on U.S. Highway 60 in the Sonoran Desert along Queen Creek and beneath the volcanic remnant, the Picketpost Mountain.[19] The Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on March 26, 1976, reference: #76000381.[20]
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Further reading
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