Charleston, Arizona
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Charleston is a ghost town in Cochise County, Arizona, United States.
It was occupied from the 1870s into the 1890s. The main commerce was milling silver ore mined in nearby Tombstone, Arizona.
It is located at 31.629122n / 110.174417w, on the banks of the San Pedro River, about 15 km southwest of Tombstone.
[edit] History
Charleston was founded in 1879 as a milling site for ore mined in the silver mines of nearby Tombstone. In 1880 the US census set the population at 350 people. However, its transit population was much more. During its busiest period, the town had four general stores, a meat market, a drug store, two retaurants, two laundries operated by Chinese, one boarding house, two hotels, and between thirteen and fifteen saloons.
The town was known as the "town of cowboys", and had a wild reputation. Noted outlaw Frank Stilwell owned one saloon there, before selling it to Jacob W. Swarts. It was also the home to the successful "Clanton Ranch", started by Newton Clanton, and ran by his sons John, Phin, Ike and Billy Clanton. At the time it was one of the most successful ranches in Arizona. Ike Clanton also owned a boarding house there for a time.
In 1887, an earthquake with more than thirty minutes of tremors left most of the adobe houses in ruins. The town by that time was on a decline, due to the silver mines in Tombstone beginning to close up. The town was never reconstructed, and eventually the remaining population left. All that is left today are a few adobe ruins. It is part of the "San Pedro Riperian National Conservation Area".
[edit] External links
- "Charleston" entry at GhostTowns.com
- "Charleston" entry at clantongang.com
- Charleston, Arizona History
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