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In 1903, Murphy and his chief engineer, William Field
Staunton, purchased the Union Mine and the Mammoth Mine in the Silver Bell Mountains and combined them to form the Imperial Copper Company and the Silver Bell Mine. One year later, DCA built the Arizona Southern Railroad to connect the Silver Bell
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into one single organization under his control, mining operations would be much more effective and profitable. Murphy's plan was years ahead of its time, because it called for the creation of one large mine that would employ hundreds of workers over a large area, as opposed to most other mines, which
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Asarco closed the Silver Bell Mine in 1921 to focus on operations elsewhere, and in late 1933 most of the buildings in Sasco were demolished, along with the railroad that served the town. The remains of several structures can still be visited today, including the Hotel
Rockland, the Sasco Jail, and
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When the smelter was finished, work on the town and efforts to attract settlers were undertaken. Soon the town of Sasco was home to a residential neighborhood of 600 people, as well as a few stores and
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that served several mines. Once an impressive and little-known ghost town, today Sasco is a common sporting destination with shotgun shells, airsoft bb's, paintball splatter, and litter in the area.
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took over the Silver Bell Mine in 1915 and reopened the Sasco smelter, which temporarily revived the town, but disaster again struck. During the winter of 1918 and 1919, the
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spread to Sasco and devastated it. Most of the graves in the Sasco
Cemetery with plain concrete headstones represent victims of the pandemic.
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342:, and the Silver Bell Mine. In its heyday, the Sasco smelter employed 175 men and by 1910 had already processed 245,000 tons of copper ore.
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area forced Murphy to file for bankruptcy, and the Sasco smelter was closed for the first time.
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Sasco owes its existence to the
Development Company of America (DCA), which was headed by
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were still operated on a small scale, by only a "handful" of miners at a time.
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286:. Sasco, which is an acronym for the Southern Arizona Smelter Company, was a
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Although Sasco was set to become "one of the premier smelting towns in the
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1279:‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties
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The Sasco Jail was built of concrete to stop prisoners from escaping.
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U.S. Geological Survey
Geographic Names Information System: Sasco
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the smelter complex. According to James E. Sherman, in his book
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Heatwole, Thelma (1991) . "SASCO: Acronym of the Past".
506:. Phoenix: American Traveler Press. pp. 131–133.
624:"Silver Bell Complex, Vignettes in Time Exhibit, BLM"
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The Sasco Power House with the town in the background
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566:Sherman, James E.; Barbara H. Sherman (1969).
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678:– Ghost Town of the Month at azghosttowns.com
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504:Ghost Towns and Historical Haunts in Arizona
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398:The Hotel Rockland sometime before 1921.
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386:The smelter complex at Sasco in 1910.
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1339:Populated places established in 1907
1171:San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation
18:Ghost town in Arizona, United States
434:The ruins of the smelter at Sasco.
712:Municipalities and communities of
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1177:Tohono Oʼodham Indian Reservation
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574:. University of Oklahoma Press.
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78:Location in the state of Arizona
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462:List of ghost towns in Arizona
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1349:Mining communities in Arizona
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114:Show map of the United States
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671:Sasco description and photos
667:travel guide from Wikivoyage
1166:Gila River Indian Community
539:"Experience Arizona: Sasco"
410:The Hotel Rockland in 2014.
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215:1,837 ft (560 m)
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320:Southern Pacific Railroad
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111:Sasco (the United States)
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1344:Company towns in Arizona
1161:Ak-Chin Indian Community
1324:Ghost towns in Arizona
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570:Ghost Towns of Arizona
367:Ghost Towns of Arizona
143:32.53500°N 111.43944°W
1329:Cemeteries in Arizona
946:Sacaton Flats Village
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715:Pinal County, Arizona
596:"Sasco to Silverbell"
311:Silver Bell Mountains
280:Pinal County, Arizona
1354:Spanish flu pandemic
1297:United States portal
997:Upper Santan Village
911:Lower Santan Village
656:at Wikimedia Commons
467:Twin Buttes, Arizona
148:32.53500; -111.43944
1153:Indian reservations
981:Sweet Water Village
139: /
81:Show map of Arizona
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265:September 15, 1919
262:Post Office closed
254:Post Office opened
225: • Total
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991:Top-of-the-World
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901:Goodyear Village
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164:United States
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124:Coordinates:
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1211:Copper Creek
1143:Valley Farms
1128:South Santan
1113:Smelter Town
951:Saddlebrooke
926:Queen Valley
876:Campo Bonito
861:Arizona City
734:
627:. Retrieved
603:. Retrieved
599:
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542:. Retrieved
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497:
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344:
328:
316:
307:Oakes Murphy
301:
288:company town
271:
270:
15:
1188:Ghost towns
896:Gold Canyon
891:Dudleyville
881:Casa Blanca
826:Queen Creek
761:Casa Grande
730:County seat
665:Ghost towns
359:Spanish flu
336:town center
278:located in
146: /
134:111°26′22″W
1313:Categories
1231:Pinal City
1226:Jackrabbit
1196:Adamsville
1133:Sweetwater
986:Tat Momoli
966:Santa Cruz
956:San Manuel
866:Blackwater
581:0806108436
478:References
340:Silverbell
282:, west of
276:ghost town
220:Population
131:32°32′06″N
33:Ghost town
1275:Footnotes
1266:Youngberg
1118:Snaketown
1093:Riverside
1017:Populated
971:Stanfield
837:Winkelman
351:Tombstone
347:Southwest
234:Time zone
212:Elevation
201:Abandoned
1221:El Llano
1108:Sif Vaya
1088:Randolph
1063:La Palma
1032:Bapchule
1002:Vaiva Vo
931:Red Rock
832:Superior
805:Florence
776:Maricopa
766:Coolidge
737:Florence
629:March 3,
605:March 3,
544:March 3,
440:See also
324:Red Rock
304:Governor
284:Red Rock
1241:Reymert
1206:Cochran
1043:Chiapuk
1027:Arizola
941:Sacaton
921:Picacho
886:Chuichu
821:Mammoth
373:Gallery
332:saloons
298:History
292:smelter
193:Founded
175:Arizona
160:Country
1359:Asarco
1256:Sonora
1216:DeNoon
1103:Santan
1098:Sacate
1078:Olberg
1058:Kelvin
1053:Heaton
1019:places
916:Oracle
906:Kohatk
816:Kearny
810:Hayden
747:Cities
578:
510:
355:Asarco
182:County
1261:Tiger
1246:Sasco
1068:Magma
797:Towns
676:Sasco
274:is a
272:Sasco
239:UTC-7
187:Pinal
170:State
105:Sasco
72:Sasco
1138:Troy
848:CDPs
771:Eloy
631:2014
607:2014
576:ISBN
546:2014
508:ISBN
245:(no
228:~500
207:1921
196:1907
1236:Ray
247:DST
243:MST
1315::
733::
718:,
615:^
598:.
554:^
522:^
249:))
205:c.
1179:‡
1173:‡
1039:‡
993:‡
839:‡
828:‡
812:‡
757:‡
705:e
698:t
691:v
633:.
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548:.
516:.
241:(
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.