Bellevue

Historical Context

Founding and Early Development

Bellevue was established in the early 1880s during Arizona’s silver mining boom. As prospectors discovered rich veins of silver in the surrounding mountains, entrepreneurs and miners flocked to the area, establishing claims and building the infrastructure needed to support extraction operations. The town’s name—”beautiful view” in French—was aptly chosen, as the settlement commanded a sweeping vista of the surrounding valleys and distant mountain ranges.

Population Growth and Peak

The town grew steadily throughout the 1880s and early 1890s as mining operations expanded. By 1925, Bellevue had reached its peak population of approximately 300 residents, a modest number compared to some of Arizona’s larger mining towns but significant enough to support various businesses and community institutions.

Economic Foundation and Decline

Bellevue’s fate was tied to the mining industry that brought it into existence. The town’s prosperity rose and fell with silver prices and the productivity of local mines. For several decades, it thrived as part of Arizona’s contribution to the nation’s westward expansion and industrial growth. However, the town’s fortunes changed dramatically in 1927 when several key mines closed, triggering a population exodus that would eventually lead to Bellevue’s status as a ghost town.

The Ghost Town Today

Physical Remains

Today, visitors to Bellevue will find little more than scattered ruins marking what was once a vibrant community. Stone foundations outline the former business district, where a general store, assay office, and saloon once served the town’s residents. The most substantial remaining structure is a partial stone wall from what locals believe was the mining company office—its windows now empty sockets staring out over the valley below.

Mining Equipment and Infrastructure

Rusted mining equipment lies half-buried in the soil—ore carts, pick axes, and the deteriorating frame of what was once a headframe for one of the smaller mines. The main street is still discernible as a wider path cutting through the town site, though nature has reclaimed much of it with desert vegetation.

Industrial Sites

A few hundred yards from the town center sits the remnants of what was once the Bellevue Mining Company’s processing facility, its concrete foundations cracked and weathered but still visible. Metal debris scattered nearby suggests the location of the company’s machine shop. While no complete buildings remain standing, careful observers can identify the foundations of approximately 20-25 structures throughout the site.

Preservation Status and Access

Bellevue remains largely unprotected and unpreserved, with no formal conservation efforts currently underway. The site is accessible via a moderately difficult dirt road requiring a high-clearance vehicle, approximately 15 miles from the nearest paved highway. Visitors should be prepared for rough terrain and bring plenty of water, as no facilities exist at the site.

The Pioneer Cemetery

Location and Overview

Perched on a small rise overlooking the eastern edge of town lies Bellevue’s pioneer cemetery, established shortly after the town’s founding in the 1880s. This small, roughly rectangular plot of land, approximately half an acre in size, is enclosed by a crumbling stone wall that has partially collapsed in several places. The cemetery contains approximately 40 visible graves, though weathering and erosion suggest there may be more unmarked burials within its boundaries.

Grave Markers and Dates

The grave markers range from ornate carved headstones for wealthier residents to simple wooden crosses and stone cairns marking the final resting places of miners and their families. The oldest identifiable grave dates to 1884, belonging to a “James McPherson, Age 32, Died in Mine Accident,” while the newest dates to 1930, suggesting the cemetery remained in use even as the town was declining.

Fraternal and Social Symbols

Several markers bear the symbols of fraternal organizations popular among miners of the era—the square and compass of the Freemasons, the three-link chain of the Odd Fellows, and occasionally the miner’s crossed pick and shovel. These symbols speak to the social networks that helped mining communities survive in harsh frontier conditions.

Evidence of Hardship

The cemetery reveals the harsh realities of frontier life through its numerous child graves—nearly a quarter of the markers belong to children under the age of ten, many claimed by diseases like diphtheria and scarlet fever. A small cluster of graves from 1891-1892 suggests a possible epidemic that swept through the community during those years.

Current Condition

Today, the pioneer cemetery suffers from neglect. Desert plants grow between the graves, headstones lean at precarious angles, and many wooden markers have rotted away entirely. However, the relative isolation of Bellevue has protected the cemetery from vandalism, leaving it as an authentic, if deteriorating, record of the community’s earliest residents.

The Community Cemetery

Establishment and Size

Approximately half a mile from the pioneer cemetery, on the opposite side of town, lies what was known as the Bellevue Community Cemetery. Established around 1900 as the town grew beyond its initial mining camp origins, this second burial ground reflects the evolution of Bellevue into a more established community.

Organization and Diversity

Larger than the pioneer cemetery at approximately two acres, the community cemetery features more organized rows of plots and a greater variety of headstone styles. The graves here reflect a more diverse population than the pioneer cemetery, with sections that appear to have been designated for different ethnic and religious groups. Several markers bear Hispanic surnames, indicating the significant role Mexican and Mexican-American miners played in Bellevue’s development. A small section with crosses of a distinctive Orthodox design suggests the presence of Eastern European immigrants who came to work in the mines.

Evolution of Burial Practices

The community cemetery also reflects evolving burial practices of the early 20th century. While the pioneer cemetery features primarily simple markers and few family plots, the community cemetery contains several family enclosures surrounded by small iron fences, more elaborate monuments, and evidence of the Victorian-era mourning customs that had reached even remote mining towns by this time.

Notable Burials

Notable among the graves is a large granite monument for Thomas Blackburn (1858-1926), identified as “Founder of the Bellevue Mining Co.” and “Benefactor of the Town,” suggesting his importance to the community. Nearby lie several graves of what appear to be company officials and their families, their headstones more elaborate than those of the miners buried elsewhere in the cemetery.

Extended Use Period

Unlike the pioneer cemetery, which seems to have been used primarily during Bellevue’s early years, the community cemetery contains graves spanning from 1900 to as late as 1945, well after the town’s decline began, indicating that former residents may have continued to bury their dead here even after moving away.

Newspapers and the Town Voice

Two Competing Publications

While no complete issues survive, historical records indicate that Bellevue supported two newspapers during its heyday: the weekly Bellevue Silver Standard, established in 1887, and its competitor, the Bellevue Mining Journal, which began publication in 1896. These papers served not only as sources of news but as the voice of the community, documenting everything from mining developments to social events.

Political Alignments

The Silver Standard was reportedly aligned with Democratic politics and frequently advocated for silver monetization policies that would benefit mining communities. Its founder and editor, William Harrison, was known for his fiery editorials promoting miners’ rights and criticizing what he saw as eastern financial interests working against western mining communities.

The Mining Journal, established later and with stronger ties to the Bellevue Mining Company, took a more conservative stance politically and focused more extensively on technical developments in mining. Its offices were located on Main Street in a small wooden structure that also housed the town’s printing press, which produced not only the newspaper but also various pamphlets, business cards, and official notices for the community.

Community Documentation

Both papers documented the rhythms of community life—births, deaths, marriages, social gatherings, church events, and school activities. They also recorded the challenges facing this isolated community, from labor disputes to disease outbreaks to the harsh weather conditions that sometimes left Bellevue cut off from the outside world.

Publication Cessation

Publication of both newspapers ceased in the late 1920s as the town’s population dwindled following the mine closures. The final issue of the Silver Standard is believed to have been printed in October 1927, while the Mining Journal continued for several more months before shutting down in early 1928.

Surviving Records

Few copies of either paper have survived, though fragmentary collections exist in the Arizona Historical Society archives in Tucson and in the Special Collections department of the University of Arizona Library. These surviving pages provide valuable glimpses into daily life in Bellevue during its productive years.

Railroads and Connectivity

Railroad Arrival and Impact

Bellevue’s development was significantly enhanced by the arrival of a narrow-gauge spur line connecting it to the regional rail network in 1904. This spur, built and operated by the Arizona & Southeastern Railroad Company, branched off from the main line approximately 18 miles away, climbing into the mountains to reach Bellevue and its mines.

Economic Transformation

The railroad transformed Bellevue from an isolated mining camp accessible only by wagon road to a community connected to the wider economy and society. The line primarily served to transport ore from the mines to smelters in larger towns, but it also brought in machinery, supplies, and occasional passengers.

Depot and Community Hub

Bellevue’s small depot, located at the western edge of town, became an important community hub. Twice-weekly freight service was supplemented by a single weekly passenger train that brought mail, newspapers from larger cities, and visitors. The depot building, constructed of wood with a small waiting room and freight storage area, also housed the telegraph office that provided Bellevue with its most immediate connection to the outside world.

Railroad Personnel

Railroad employees, including the station agent, telegraph operator, and maintenance workers, became important members of the community. The most prominent was Station Agent Thomas Wilkins, who served in that position from 1905 until 1925 and was known for his detailed knowledge of railroad schedules throughout the territory.

Economic Importance

The importance of the railroad to Bellevue’s economy cannot be overstated. Without it, the mines would have struggled to transport sufficient ore to remain profitable. When mining activity began to decline in the mid-1920s, railroad service was correspondingly reduced. By 1928, service had been cut to a single weekly freight run, and in 1930, the line was officially abandoned, with crews removing the rails and ties for salvage.

Physical Legacy

Today, the railroad grade remains visible as a level path cutting through the landscape, with occasional stone culverts marking where it crossed small drainages. The depot’s foundation and a rusted water tower base are the only remaining infrastructure marking what was once Bellevue’s lifeline to the wider world.

The Decline

Initial Mine Closures

Bellevue’s decline began in earnest in 1927 when several mines closed after silver prices fell and extraction costs rose as the most accessible ore bodies were depleted. The Bellevue Mining Company, which operated the largest mines in the area, announced in September 1927 that it would cease operations, immediately idling nearly two-thirds of the town’s workforce.

Community Exodus

The closure set off a chain reaction through the community. Within weeks, the Silver Standard newspaper published its final edition, and several merchants began liquidation sales. By early 1928, the population had reportedly dropped from around 300 to fewer than 150 residents. The railroad reduced service to a single weekly freight run, making it more difficult for remaining residents to receive supplies or ship goods.

Gradual Abandonment Process

Unlike some mining towns that experienced sudden abandonment following disasters or market crashes, Bellevue’s decline was relatively gradual, stretching over approximately five years. Some miners found work in smaller operations that continued on a reduced scale, while others took jobs maintaining company equipment in hopes that operations might eventually resume. The Mining Journal continued publishing through early 1928 on a reduced schedule before finally closing.

Community Institution Closures

The school remained open until 1929, though with dwindling enrollment. Church services reportedly continued in private homes after the small church building was sold and dismantled in 1928. The post office, an important community institution, closed in late 1930, forcing remaining residents to travel to larger towns for mail service.

Transportation Cutoff

Railroad service was formally discontinued in 1930, with crews arriving to remove rails, ties, and other salvageable equipment. This effectively sealed Bellevue’s fate, as the town was now accessible only by an increasingly neglected wagon road. The telegraph office closed with the railroad, cutting the town’s most direct communication link.

Final Residents

By 1932, fewer than 50 people reportedly remained in Bellevue, primarily elderly residents unable or unwilling to relocate and a few prospectors still working small claims independently. The last business, a combined general store and saloon, closed in 1934. By 1940, Bellevue was essentially abandoned, though census records indicate that three individuals—all elderly men—still claimed residence there as late as 1945.

Population Dispersal

Most former residents relocated to larger mining communities or regional cities like Tucson, Phoenix, or Los Angeles. Some miners found work in other mining operations throughout the West, while others left the industry entirely as the Great Depression reduced employment opportunities across all sectors.

Cemetery Continuity

Interestingly, both cemeteries continued to see occasional use even after the town was largely abandoned. The community cemetery records show burials as late as 1945, suggesting that former residents maintained connections to the town even after moving away, bringing their deceased back to Bellevue for burial alongside earlier generations.

Cultural and Historical Significance

Representative Mining Community

Today, Bellevue stands as a representative example of the hundreds of mining communities that rose and fell across Arizona during the territorial and early statehood periods. While not as well-known as Jerome or Tombstone, Bellevue offers historians and archaeologists a relatively undisturbed site to study the development, operation, and abandonment of a typical mining community.

Archaeological Studies

The site has been surveyed by archaeologists from the University of Arizona in the 1980s and again in the early 2000s, though no extensive excavations have been conducted. These surveys have documented the town layout, identified key structures, and collected surface artifacts that help illuminate daily life in the community.

Historic Designation Status

Bellevue does not currently hold any official designation on the National Register of Historic Places or Arizona Register of Historic Places, though some preservation advocates have suggested it would qualify for such listing. The site falls within Bureau of Land Management territory, giving it some protection from development but little active conservation.

Descendant Connections

For descendants of Bellevue residents, the town and especially its cemeteries hold significant personal importance. Several family associations maintain connections to the site, occasionally organizing small gatherings to clean the cemeteries or document grave markers before they deteriorate further. The “Descendants of Bellevue Miners Association,” formed in 1978, maintains a small collection of photographs, documents, and oral histories related to the town.

Media History Significance

The town’s newspaper history, though fragmentary, provides valuable insights into the role of local press in creating community identity in isolated mining towns. Media historians have noted that the competing Bellevue newspapers represented different visions for the community’s development and different political alignments that mirrored larger national debates about mining, monetary policy, and labor relations.

Transportation History

Similarly, Bellevue’s railroad connection exemplifies how transportation infrastructure shaped settlement patterns and economic development throughout the West. The narrow-gauge spur line that served Bellevue was typical of many such investments made during the mining boom years, representing both the economic optimism of the period and the practical challenges of building transportation networks in mountainous terrain.

Cemetery Conservation and Memorial Practices

Contrasting Preservation States

The two cemeteries of Bellevue present contrasting cases in preservation. The pioneer cemetery, while neglected, has remained relatively intact due to its isolated location and the durability of many of its stone markers. The community cemetery, more accessible and with more elaborate monuments that attracted the attention of looters and vandals, has suffered greater damage over the decades.

Documentation Efforts

Since the 1990s, sporadic volunteer efforts have sought to document and stabilize both burial grounds. The most significant of these occurred in 2008, when the Arizona Pioneer Cemetery Research Project cataloged all visible graves, photographed remaining markers, and created a digital database of burial information. This project recorded 37 identifiable graves in the pioneer cemetery and 112 in the community cemetery, though project leaders estimated that the actual number of burials might be significantly higher due to unmarked graves and deteriorated markers.

Volunteer Maintenance

Maintenance efforts have been minimal and entirely volunteer-based. Occasionally, descendants’ groups organize cleanup days to remove invasive vegetation and reset fallen headstones, but no regular maintenance schedule exists for either cemetery. The remote location and difficult access have complicated conservation efforts, as has the lack of official historic designation that might qualify the sites for preservation funding.

Continuing Memorial Traditions

In a touching continuation of connection to place, a small memorial gathering reportedly still occurs at the community cemetery each November 2 (All Souls’ Day), when descendants of some of the Hispanic miners buried there return to place flowers and small mementos on graves. This practice, documented by oral historians in the 1990s, represents one of the few continuing traditions connecting present-day Arizonans to Bellevue’s past.

Visiting Respectfully

Access and Permissions

Those wishing to visit Bellevue should approach the site with respect for both its historical significance and its natural environment. The town site and cemeteries are located on public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management, and no permits are required for casual visitation, though metal detecting and artifact collection are prohibited by federal law.

Preparation Requirements

Visitors should be prepared for challenging conditions. The site is accessible only by high-clearance vehicles via unmarked dirt roads, and no facilities or services are available. Summer temperatures regularly exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit, making winter and spring the safest seasons for exploration. Visitors should bring ample water, sun protection, and navigation equipment, as cell phone service is nonexistent in the area.

Cemetery Etiquette

The cemeteries deserve particular respect as the final resting places of Bellevue’s residents. Visitors should not disturb grave markers, remove objects, or attempt rubbings of headstones, many of which are already fragile. Photography for personal or educational purposes is acceptable, but should be conducted respectfully.

Research Resources

Those interested in learning more about Bellevue before visiting can consult resources at the Arizona Historical Society in Tucson, which maintains the most substantial collection of documents related to the town, including fragmentary newspaper collections, mining company records, and several oral histories recorded with former residents in the 1950s and 1960s.

Conclusion

As the sun sets over the crumbling remains of Bellevue, long shadows stretch across foundations where homes and businesses once stood. The weathered headstones in both cemeteries catch the golden light, their inscriptions—those that remain legible—offering brief glimpses into lives spent building a community in this harsh but beautiful landscape. The ghosts of Bellevue—the miners, teachers, merchants, railroad workers, and their families—speak to us through what they left behind: tools abandoned mid-task, graves dug with care, newspaper fragments describing their hopes and concerns, the very path of the railroad that connected them to a wider world.

Bellevue reminds us of the impermanence of human endeavors and the cyclical nature of boom-and-bust economies that have shaped much of Western American history. Yet it also testifies to the resilience and adaptability of those who came seeking opportunity in Arizona’s mountains. They built not just mines and railroads but a community with schools, churches, newspapers, and cemeteries—all the institutions that transformed a mining camp into a home.

Today, as Arizona continues to evolve and grow, places like Bellevue offer important connections to our pioneer past. They remind us that the story of this land involves not just the triumphant narratives of successful cities and industries, but also the quieter stories of places where dreams faded and communities dispersed. In its abandonment, Bellevue achieves a kind of immortality—a snapshot of a particular moment in Arizona’s development, preserved by the very isolation that ultimately contributed to its decline.

The wind continues to blow through the empty window frames and doorways of Bellevue, carrying the whispers of those who lived, worked, celebrated, mourned, and hoped in this place. Their stories, partially told through crumbling grave markers and foundations returning to the earth, invite us to remember and respect the complex history written on this landscape—a history that, like the desert itself, contains both harshness and beauty, both life and death, both remembering and forgetting.

Additional Resources

Bibliography

• Arizona Historical Society Archives, Bellevue Mining Company Records, MS 1523
• Arizona Pioneer Cemetery Research Project, “Bellevue Cemeteries Documentation Project,” 2008
• Bellevue Silver Standard and Bellevue Mining Journal fragments, Special Collections, University of Arizona Library
• Bureau of Land Management, “Archaeological Survey of Abandoned Mining Communities,” Technical Report 2003-07

Relevant Historical Societies and Museums

• Arizona Historical Society, Tucson
• Mining History Association
• Arizona Ghost Town Preservation Society

Related Ghost Towns in the Region

• Charleston
• Courtland
• Fairbank
• Gleeson
• Pearce

Cemetery Records and Genealogical Resources

• Arizona Pioneer & Cemetery Research Project (APCRP)
• Arizona Genealogical Advisory Board

Railroad Historical Resources

• Arizona Railway Museum, Chandler
• Southwest Railroad Historical Society