Gleeson Arizona
Gleeson is situated in Cochise County, Arizona. Now considered as a ghost town, it is on the eastern slopes of the Dragoon Mountains on Arizona Route 191. The town was founded by John Gleeson in 1900. It was when he claimed mining in the area and opened the Copper Belle Mine. Afterwards, on October 15, 1900, the Gleeson post office was established which then supported a town with a population of about 500 people who are engaged primarily in copper mining. Lead, silver and zinc was also mined in the area. It was then followed by other mines in the immediate area; these include Silver Belle, Brother Jonathan, Pejon and the Defiance. Twenty-eight buildings were destroyed by a fire in 1912 but the town was built up again.
During World War I, copper mining flourished widely but by the 1930s, the mines played out and eventually on March 31, 1939 the Gleeson post office was closed. Today, Gleeson is already a ghost town even though several families still live on the site. Ruins of a hospital, a saloon, a jail, the remaining foundation of the village school, and evidence of extensive mining can be still be seen and visited in the area.
