BB, Henri and Me: Bisbee Arizona: December 2013

On December 22, 2013, Fred and Mary Ann Hoff, BB and I toured Bisbee. For this trip, both of our dogs, Henri and Gibson, were banished to the soft, safe confines of our respective RV's.

Bisbee, founded in 1880 as a copper, gold and silver mining town, is a fascinating town to visit. Thanks to my sources on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisbee,_Arizona), and the Cochise College /http://skywalker.cochise.edu/wellerr/geology-SEAZ/mules/Mules-list.htm Open pit mining was introduced around 1917 to meet the heavy copper demand of World War I. The Lavender Pit Mine, an open pit mine operated by the Phelps-Dodge Corporation until 1975, is something to behold.

Old Bisbee is an eclectic collection of victorian and art deco homes and structures, within the narrow and steep confluent ravines in the heart of the Mule Mountains, and is less than 8 miles from the international border with Mexico. Because old Bisbee was laid out prior to the automobile, the town has what has been described as a "European" feel. (Not having traveled in Europe - I can only agree with the description from the photos and movies I've seen.) The town's hilly terrain is exemplified by the old Bisbee High School, which has ground floor entrances on all four floors.

Bisbee includes the subdivisions of Lowell, Warren, and San Jose. Lowell and Warren were founded by their own mining subdivisions, and Warren has the distinction of being Arizona's first planned community. The four of us had a great breakfast in Lowell, and toured the automotive-motorcycle oriented remains of Lowell. Most of the original Lowell townsite was consumed by the expansion of the Lavender Pit mine during the 1950's

BB, Fred and Mary Ann Hoff and I went on a walking tour of the steep streets of Bisbee. Fred is an admitted "the bear goes over the mountain to see what he can see" type of guy, and following his lead, to find out what was around that next corner, or over the next hill, we saw parts of Bisbee we would never have seen.

During our walk, we met a Bisbee resident jogging the steep streets. She told us she was preparing for the Bisbee 1000 and the "Ice Man" competition. The Bisbee 1000 is a 5K that goes up and down 1,034 steps. Since most homes could not be reached by a car, in the past, ice was delivered by hand before the advent of refrigeration. The Ice Man competition honors these delivery people. The entrants race up 155 steps, carrying a 10-pound block of ice using antique ice tongs.

In the 1970's Bisbee began attracting artists and hippies fleeing the larger cities of Arizona and Caifornia. Bisbee today has numerous interesting art galleries and craft shops.

We had a great tour of Bisbee. Here are some photos of our trip.