“This is what they mean by ghost town, she thought. It truly feels like a place frozen in time.” ~ Jeremy Robinson
Welcome to the ghost town of Fairbanks, AZ, located just outside of Tombstone in Cochise County. It’s not a hokey ghost town ~ there’s no gunfight re-enactments, characters dressed in old-time attire, nor souvenir trinkets bearing it’s name for sale. Just the well preserved remnants of a historic town settled in 1881 and deserted by the 1970s.
The past beats inside me like a second heart ~ John Banville
An adobe building, a schoolhouse, post office, a few small and larger wooden buildings, an outhouse and stable, and the skeleton of a platform of an old railroad line. We visited this well-preserved and lightly visited railroad town back in April when the weather was somewhat cooler.
Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment ~ Buddha
The forty mile San Pedro River trail, part of the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, flows through the town of Fairbanks and many other historic sites. If you keep going you’ll find a significant archeology site and the remains of a Spanish presidio all along the river. Our focus that day was on Fairbanks.
Don’t die old, die empty. That’s the goal of life. Go to the cemetery and disappoint the graveyard ~ Myles Munroe
It was a warm day for April, but we were determined to find the Fairbanks cemetery. Although it seemed like a long walk, I believe it was only a half mile from the township. Built on top of a hill, we walked the yard and found the graves of Pancho and Angelita, along with other deceased Fairbanks residents.
If a train does not stop at your station, then it’s not your train ~ Marianne Williamson
By noon, it was getting really hot and the hubby was ready to go, but after questioning another couple hiking, I found out that the old train depot was nearby. Just a quarter mile from the center of town were the fragments of what made this town…..the old railroad depot.
Winding up the day, I hurried passed the depot to check out the banks of the San Pedro River. I know the hubby was ready to go, but I figured I could at least sneak a peak at one of the last undammed rivers in the Southwest before we headed home.
I plan to return to the area in the cooler months and check out the rest of the preserve. We were there on a weekend and the folks were minimal ~ we seemed to have it all to ourselves. It’s a beautiful place to spend the day, interesting, peaceful and a step back in time.
Just Regular Folks Wandering 