San Xavier, Arizona facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
San Xavier, Arizona
|
|
|---|---|
Mine dump and ruins of rail haulage at San Xavier. Helmet Peak is at the left and the Santa Rita Mountains are in the background.
|
|
 San Xavier, Arizona
Location in Arizona
|
|
| Country | United States |
| State | Arizona |
| County | Pima |
| Elevation | 3,540 ft (1,080 m) |
| Time zone | Mountain (MST) |
| Area code(s) | 520 |
| Post Office opened | March 4, 1887 |
| Post Office closed | May 23, 1892 |
San Xavier is a small community in Pima County, Arizona, United States. It is located about seventeen miles southwest of Tucson. It is also six miles northwest of Sahuarita. San Xavier started as a small silver mining camp in the 1880s. Today, it has mostly rural homes and old, partly abandoned mines. The ghost towns of Azurite and Mineral Hill were once nearby.
Contents
History of San Xavier Mining
Early Mining Days in San Xavier
The San Xavier Mining & Smelting Company began in 1880. Colonel C. P. Skyes started the company. He named it after the San Xavier Mission, which was ten miles away. Soon after, the town of San Xavier grew between Helmet Peak and White Hill. Many mines were in the area. These included Azurite, Mineral Hill, Wedge, and Michigan Maid. There were no smelters in San Xavier. This meant the mined rock had to be sent elsewhere to be processed. Miners were paid with checks for their work.
The Town of Olive
In the early 1880s, the Olivette Mine opened southwest of San Xavier. Because of this new mine, the town was renamed Olive. It was named after Mrs. Olive Stephenson Brown. She was the wife of James Kilroy Brown, one of the mine's owners. The Brown family also owned the Sahuarita Ranch nearby. This ranch later became the town of Sahuarita.
James E. Sherman wrote a book called Ghost Towns of Arizona. He said that Mrs. Brown would give the local miners a free chicken dinner every Sunday. This continued until the late 1880s. Then, the Olivette Mine was sold. The Brown family moved to Tucson.
Changes in Mining and Town Decline
After the Brown family left, the price of silver dropped. Mining in the Pima District then changed to copper. This change led to the town's decline. The Olive Post Office was open for a short time. It operated from March 4, 1887, to May 23, 1892. However, mining continued at the San Xavier Mine until 1918. Since then, the area has been known as San Xavier again.
In 1943, the Eagle-Picher Mining Company bought the San Xavier Mine. They started mining there again. But in 1952, they stopped operations. This was because metal prices were too low.
San Xavier Today
A few people still live in San Xavier. Since 1958, the University of Arizona has used one of the old mine shafts. They have an underground mining laboratory there. A large, modern mine called Pima-Mission Mine is just east of San Xavier. The old mine ruins are not open to the public. This is because there are dangerous mine shafts throughout the area.
Images for kids
-
Ruins of timber structures
-
The ruins of a stone building in San Xavier.
-
Helmet Peak
