BISBEE, ARIZONA

'Bisbee' is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, USA, 82 miles (132 km) southeast of Tucson. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 6,177. Annual Estimates of the Population for All Incorporated Places in Arizona The city is the county seat of Cochise County.

Contents

History

Mining industry

Bisbee Deportation

Mining decline and closure

Modern Bisbee: tourism and art

Suburbs

Geography

Demographics

Sites of interest

Sports teams

Popular culture

References

External links

History

Bisbee was founded as a copper, gold, and silver mining town in 1880, and named in honor of Judge DeWitt Bisbee, one of the financial backers of the adjacent Copper Queen Mine.

Mining industry

Mining in the Mule Mountains proved quite successful: in the early 20th century the population of Bisbee soared. Incorporated in 1902, by 1910 its population swelled to 9,019 and it sported a constellation of suburbs, including Warren, Lowell, and San Jose, some of which had been founded on their own (ultimately less successful) mines. In 1917, open pit mining was successfully introduced to meet the heavy copper demand due to World War I.
In 1929, the county seat was moved from Tombstone, Arizona to Bisbee, where it remains.

Bisbee Deportation

''For full article see Bisbee Deportation''
In 1917, the Phelps Dodge Corporation deported 1,185 suspected Industrial Workers of the World miners.[1] This followed a similar incident earlier that year in central Arizona, the Jerome Deportation.

Mining decline and closure

By 1950, boom times were over and the population of the City of Bisbee had dropped to less than 6,000, but the introduction of strip mining and continued underground work would see the town escape the fate of many of its early contemporaries. However, in 1974-1975, the Phelps Dodge Corporation finally halted mining operations in its massive Bisbee mine, the Lavender Pit.

The resulting exodus of mine employees might have been the end of the town. Still, as the county seat, the city's economy soldiered on.

Modern Bisbee: tourism and art

The sudden flood of real estate onto the market and crash in housing prices, coupled with an attractive climate and picturesque scenery, led to Bisbee's subsequent rebirth as an artists' colony. The rediscovery of Bisbee by baby boomers in the 1990s saw it develop a more polished look, complete with coffee shops and live theater. Many of the old houses have been renovated, and property values in Bisbee now greatly exceed those of other Southeastern Arizona cities.
Today, the original city of Bisbee is known as "Old Bisbee," and is home to a thriving downtown cultural scene. Old Bisbee is also noted for its architecture, including its Victorian houses and elegant Art Deco courthouse. Because its plan was laid out before the automobile, Old Bisbee has an almost European feel. The town's hilly terrain is exemplified by the old three-story high school: each floor has a ground-level entrance.

Suburbs

The "City of Bisbee" now includes the historic downtown Bisbee, as well as the geographically spaced but administratively combined satellite towns. Warren's small downtown is economically depressed, but its residential district houses a significant portion of the population and it boasts ownership of many public services including City Hall and the elementary and high schools. San Jose, on the southern side of the Mule Mountains, has seen the most new growth in the last two decades, as it is not restricted by mountains. It hosts many newer county government buildings and a large shopping center.

Bisbee is also known for high quality turquoise, called "Bisbee Blue".

Geography

Bisbee is located at (31.418390, -109.897772).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 12.5 km² (4.8 mi²), all land.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 6,090 people, 2,810 households, and 1,503 families residing in the city. The population density was 488.8/km² (1,266.3/mi²). There were 3,316 housing units at an average density of 266.2/km² (689.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 84.12% White, 0.46% Black or African American, 1.22% Native American, 0.49% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 11.07% from other races, and 2.58% from two or more races. 34.38% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 2,810 households out of which 21.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.8% were married couples living together, 12.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.5% were non-families. 39.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.15 and the average family size was 2.90.
In the city the population was spread out with 21.6% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 24.1% from 25 to 44, 27.8% from 45 to 64, and 19.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 90.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $27,942, and the median income for a family was $36,685. Males had a median income of $29,573 versus $23,269 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,129. About 12.9% of families and 17.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.2% of those under age 18 and 9.0% of those age 65 or over.

Sites of interest

(excluding those mentioned under '''History''')

★ Arizona Cactus Botanical Garden: this garden is no longer open due to the death of David Epple in May 2005.

★ The Lavender Pit is an inactive open pit mine site in the center of the city.

★ The Warren Ball Park, a baseball stadium built in 1909, has housed a number of professional teams and can make a legitimate claim as the sport's oldest park still in use.

★ The Thomas Ranch, a family-owned and operated beef cattle ranch since 1902, the year Bisbee was incorporated.

Sports teams

Professional:

★ Bisbee/Douglas Copper Kings (1928-1955) (2003) Baseball
Semi-Professional:

★ Bisbee Kings (2006-) Baseball

Popular culture

★ Joanna Brady is the protagonist of a series of mystery novels by author J. A. Jance, centered on Bisbee and surrounding desert-mountain-border areas.

★ The 1956-1958 TV series Sheriff of Cochise was set in and around Bisbee, legal seat of Cochise County.[2]

★ On the ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' episode originally aired December 5 2005, Bisbee is visited by Larry David. The city's name is misspelled "Bisby" in the episode.

★ On the television show ''Supernatural'', in the episode "Skin," Dean claimed to be a police detective from Bisbee.

★ In 2000, the low-budget William Shatner film ''Groom Lake'' was filmed in Bisbee and surrounding areas.

★ In the double-Oscar winning 1997 film ''L.A. Confidential'', actress Kim Basinger plays Lynn Bracken, a Veronica Lake look-a-like beauty originally from Bisbee.

★ The Stephen King 2006 made-for-television film ''Desperation'' was filmed around Tucson and Bisbee, using several extras from Bisbee itself, including Mayor Ron Oertle.

★ Actor Earl Hindman, best known for portraying Wilson W. Wilson Jr. on the sitcom ''Home Improvement'', was born in Bisbee in 1942.

★ The song "Bisbee Blue" was included on the 2006 Calexico album, ''Garden Ruin''.

★ Legendary mixed martial arts fighter Don Frye was famously fired from the Bisbee Fire Department after winning an early Ultimate Fighting Championship event, UFC 8. Due to the negative stigma surrounding mixed martial arts at the time (the sport was called "Human cockfighting" by Arizona Senator John McCain), Frye, an Arizona State University alumni, was terminated from his position on the Fire Department.

★ While the nearby town of Tombstone is known as "The Town Too Tough to Die", locals jokingly refer to Bisbee as "The Town Too High to Care."

★ Renowned science fiction author Jack Williamson was born April 29, 1908 in Bisbee.

★ In the movie, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," one of the previously-alien-abducted men who was returned to earth atop Devil's Mountain stated (in the movie) "John DeLorean: Bisbee, Arizona".

★ It is featured in the 2007 film .

References

External links

★ City of Bisbee

★ Chamber of Commerce

★ Sierra Vista Herald/Bisbee Daily Review (newspaper)

★ The Bisbee Observer (newspaper)

★ Local walking tour (tribal knowledge)

★ The 1917 Bisbee Deportation

★ Bisbee photos and information at Western Mining History