Fairbank

CHANGE NOTICE
Fairbank Hike Without Picnic

Dear Friends,
With regret, I have decided to skip the "picnic" part of our Fairbank hike, with hopes to reschedule later in the year when the Coronavirus situation is under control. Anne & I think there is too much sharing food and utensils that might make some of us uncomfortable.

However, we're still going to have the basic Historic Fairbank hike this Saturday, March 21. We'll meet at the Courthouse at 9AM, carpool to the Fairbank parking lot (Route 80 past Tombstone, left at the Border Checkpoint on Route 82 for 6 miles, parking area on right). From the townsite, we'll see the mill ruins & graveyard, on to the riverside and take a break and snack, and let the dogs swim in the river. Then back on the flat and easy loop trail. It's about 6 miles roundtrip-with an option to  return after our break from where we started, which makes it much shorter. At the end, we'll re-group at the townsite and check out the museum and other restored structures. Have a leash for dogs. Bring water & lunch. Back mid-afternoon. For more details contact Doug at 432-0307 or reiniger@wyoming.com.

For those of you not familiar, Fairbank has a fascinating history. It was settled on a Mexican land grant in the 1870s as a stage stop on the way to Tombstone and became an official town in 1883. The railroad connected to Fairbank in 1882, which became an important depot for the shipment of cattle, materials and ore from Tombstone (which wasn't connected to the rail line until 1903) and south to Nogales and Mexico, in addition to a central point of entry for miners, prospectors. The mines played out in 1901, and the heirs of the original land grant took over and evicted everyone but a few town residents. Still, the town remained active until the 1940s, with a school and post office and general store. The school closed in 1944. The post office closed in the 1970s, and the general store hung on a few more years. In 1987, the Bureau of Land Management acquired the land grant and made Fairbank part of the  San Pedro Riparian Conservation Area (NCA). NCA has been working on stabilizing, preserving and restoring buildings such as the old school house (now a museum) and a couple of old homes and a stable.

-Doug