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Once the civil war ended railroad construction exploded again across the nation. By 1869 the first transcontinental railroad was completed when the Union Pacific and Central Pacific met at Promontory Summit, Utah on May 10th of that year.
A track crew works on the Central Pacific Railroad in the late 1860s
By early 1880, the Southern Pacific Railroad, building east from Los Angeles had reached Tucson and then arrived in Deming, New Mexico by the end of that year. Early March, 1881 saw the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad build their railroad down to Deming, making a connection with the Southern Pacific, and thus completing the 2nd transcontinental railroad.
In 1882 the ATSF began construction of a new railroad south from the town of Benson, located on the bank of the San Pedro River. This new subsidiary railroad, the New Mexico & Arizona Railroad, was designed from the very beginning to take advantage of the growing mining operations and ranching interests of the southeastern part of the Arizona Territory. The road pushed south for about 30 miles along the banks of the San Pedro River before turning southwestward towards its eventual destination of the US-Mexico border. A border town at the location naturally sprang into existence at this location to become the towns of Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Mexico.
The location where the NM&A turned to the southwest became the railroad town of Fairbank. The town was well located as there were several mills operating in the area due to the proximity of a number of mines in the area.
The town that everyone knows from the story of the Gunfight at OK Corral, Tombstone, AZ is just 10 miles to the east of this location and this new railroad immediately reduced the cost of shipping for the people and businesses in the area. No longer were wagon trains required to haul material all the way to and from the Southern Pacific mainline in Benson. It goes without saying that the rail line to Fairbank was a welcome development for the interests of Bisbee as well!
A view of Tombstone sometime in the first half of 1881.
On June 22nd of that year a fire destroyed 66 businesses on the east end of the business district.
The fire apparently began because of an inattentive cigar owner and a barrel of whiskey.
Next Chapter - The Copper Queen, the foundation of Bisbee and early transportation
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