Fairbank

Ghost towns are a popular destination in the Southwest and one of the most popular is Fairbank in Arizona. The town was settled in 1881 and was the closest train stop to the town of Tombstone. The town was named after the founder of the Grand Central Mining Company, Nathaniel Kellogg Fairbank. Due to its proximity to Tombstone and the railroad, Fairbank served as a depository for goods and services headed west. It was a stage coach station and was home to about 100 residents. Many of the locals worked at the quartz mill, and the town also featured a butcher shop, a general store, a saloon, a restaurant, and a Wells Fargo office. After flooding in 1886 the Tombstone mines closed and Fairbanks began to decline. There were numerous droughts in the years that followed and after a flood in 1890, the town faced significant damage. Less than 100 years later, the town was practically deserted. Many of the buildings were deemed unsafe in the 1970's and all of the residents were gone within a few years. While many people assume that ghost towns were deserted long ago and have laid dormant until the last 50 or so years when people began visiting them as a novelty, Fairbank was actually operational up until more recently.