Bisbee, Warren, Tintown, Saginaw

 Hallelujah!!  For the next few days we are hanging out at around 95 degrees.  It's a glorious 77 right now and I'm soaking it up!

Back to Bisbee .. here's some info right from the horses mouth so to speak.  This was written by the grandson of LeRay and Minnie Brehm who moved to Bisbee in 1921 and owned a jewelry store for 65 years.  Who would have thought a jewelry store would be a good thing in a mining town. 

Bisbee suffered from repeated calamities of floods, fires, and epidemics. Sewage ran freely everywhere. Garbage and animal carcasses littered the streets. Burned black powder, sulfurous smelter fumes, and wood smoke added to the pervasive, pungent odors. There was constant noise from round-the-clock mining operations, including rock crushers, explosions of dynamite, steam hoists, and railway locomotives. The upper end of Brewery Gulch housed Bisbee’s red-light district, an area of whorehouses, dance halls, gaming parlors, and saloons. This area was notorious for robbery, assault, and drug use. Overcrowded schools and inadequate parks contributed to poor living conditions for miners and their families.

I had a couple of interesting photos of the districts in Bisbee, but they refused to load.  This one I captured on my phone and was one part of town I was looking for to take a picture in the exact same spot.  

It doesn't exactly sound like the best place to live, but money was the name of the game.  Apparently different mining companies set up their own little towns to keep their miners happy. The Warren District was one, as was Tintown, Saginaw, Galena ... and many others.  Tintown was settled by Mexican immigrants and got its name from the scraps of tin they used to roof their houses.

Little did I know when I said I need to find Brewery Gulch, that it was the home of gaming parlors, saloons, dance halls and the red light district, where over a hundred ladies of the night plied their trade. 

Once we made the big loop around the one way road, we landed smack dab in the middle of what appears to be the exact same red light district.  There are lots of seedy looking bars with the accompanying characters out front.  I only realized this when I got back home, so no exact same picture.

THERE IT IS could probably be heard around the block when I spotted the Pop-Up Art Gallery.  At least that's what they are calling it.  Someone got the idea to nail a few pictures they had painted on the wall.  I guess that came from the "artist community" that took up residence here after the mines closed.  I wouldn't exactly call them Ar-tists ..... but beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Patty and Dan said they were not in need of artistic awakening and stayed in the car.  The mountainsides are littered with these winding steps and stairways going up the hills.  The better to hide the nefarious goings on I suppose.  

The sign says Surgery Room and Therapy.  Yup I can just imagine the kind of therapy behind THAT door.

I kept looking over my shoulder as I ran up the stairs, but didn't see a soul.  Maybe a ghost or two.  There's a lot to take in, as the gallery wall goes all the way around the corner and up the mountain.  

That was enough for me.  I turned around and headed back down the steps, just imaging the things that went on here back in the day and I'm sure STILL go on today.

A little research came up with the fact that your chances of getting hit with a violent crime in Bisbee is 1 in 50.  It's not exactly the safest town around.  It's fascinating though, and every little district has it's own history.  

In the parking lot at the botton of the stairs sits the Old Bisbee Brewing Company.  Though not open when we were there, I hear they have good food and lots of beer if you are interested.  The Gallery steps are right across the street.

Both places are easy to find.  Make a left behind the Mining and Historical Museum on Howell Ave, a right on Opera Drive and another right on Taylor Ave, which heads back down the hill.  I wouldn't advise your one ton truck ... maybe a jeep.  You'll know it when you get there.  There is another one way path up the hill, but we missed it.

As we headed out, we stopped by the mine pits.  Yup ... that's a big hole in the ground that gave birth to the fascinating little town of Bisbee, followed by many more districts to lure the miners into working.  The mine with the nicest housing and amenities, got the cream of the crop miners.

I'll go into that a little more tomorrow, and yes, there is yet another little town to visit.  In the meantime I'm enjoying a little COOL.