Adamsville

Overview

A river town the river took back

Adamsville stood on the south bank of the Gila River, about two miles west of Florence. Fred A. Adams settled here in 1866, and it became one of the first two towns in what is now Pinal County. The 1870 census counted 400 people, which made it one of the bigger places in Arizona Territory at the time.

It was a farm town, with homes, stores, water tanks and a flour mill. In 1871 a post office opened, but under the name Sanford. Wikipedia's account says Richard McCormick, a political enemy of Adams, picked the name to honor a cavalry captain. Locals ignored it, and the mix-up lasted until the post office closed in 1876. The state's 1965 marker remembers Adamsville as a place where "shootings and knifings were commonplace, and life was one of the cheapest commodities."

The 1880 census found only 39 people at Sanford. In 1900 the Gila flooded and washed out most of the adobe town, and the survivors moved to Florence. The settlement was gone by 1920. Adams himself died in 1910 and is buried in the old A.O.U.W. cemetery between Adamsville and Florence.

Timeline

Adamsville, alias Sanford

1. 1866Fred A. Adams settles on the south bank of the Gila River, west of where Florence will grow. Some sources date the town's founding to 1870.
2. 1870The census counts 400 people at Adamsville, then in Pima County, one of the largest settlements in the territory.
3. 1871A post office opens under the name Sanford, chosen by Adams's political rival Richard McCormick for Capt. George B. Sanford of the 1st U.S. Cavalry. Residents keep calling the place Adamsville.
4. 1870sA flour mill and a few stores are the center of town. The Bichard brothers run the first flour mill here.
5. 1875Pinal County is created, and Adamsville becomes part of it.
6. 1876The Sanford post office closes.
7. 1880The census counts 39 people at Sanford.
8. May 31, 1894The Ancient Order of United Workmen cemetery is established, by Wikipedia's date.
9. 1900The Gila River floods and washes away most of the town. Survivors move to Florence.
10. 1910Fred Adams dies. He is buried in the A.O.U.W. cemetery.
11. By 1920The settlement is gone.
12. 1965The state puts up a Ghost Town of Adamsville marker on the Florence–Coolidge Highway.
13. 1970The National Register of Historic Places lists an Adamsville Ruin on August 25, with its address restricted.
14. 1996An Eagle Scout project cleans up the cemetery and identifies 54 graves.
15. Oct 2024Photos on Wikimedia Commons show the water tanks, tower and roofless building still standing.

What's left

Tanks, a shell and a marker

The most visible remains are four big riveted steel water tanks and a water tower beside Adamsville Road. Nearby stands a roofless stuccoed building with doorways and window openings that photographers label the store. An undated listing also names the old flour mill and some ruins. We found nothing that dates the tanks or the building, so treat their link to the 1870s town as unconfirmed. The adobe houses of the old town are gone.

Wikipedia says the site is on the National Register of Historic Places. The Register does list an "Adamsville Ruin," added on August 25, 1970. Wikipedia's list of Pinal County listings describes it as water tanks that once served Adamsville, but the address is restricted, and we haven't confirmed from the Register itself that the listing covers these tanks and the building. Even the town's exact spot is uncertain. The volunteer who documented the state marker notes that versions vary on where Adamsville stood.

The historic maps below help. The 1900 survey marks Adamsville with a benchmark at 1,441 feet, on the road west from Florence, with Brady's Ranch and Beasly's Ranch nearby. The 1965 sheet shows a few buildings at Adamsville on Adamsville Road, with a small cemetery just to the southwest.

• Four riveted steel water tanks
• Water tower
• Roofless building, called the store
• 1965 state marker at AZ 287
• A.O.U.W. cemetery, established 1894

Cemetery

The A.O.U.W. cemetery

The Ancient Order of United Workmen, a fraternal lodge, established the cemetery. Wikipedia dates it to May 31, 1894, and it's one of the few original pieces of Adamsville left. It sits about 400 feet north of East Adamsville Road at T O Village Road, roughly 1.2 miles west of Florence's Main Street. In 1996 Eagle Scout V. Phil Hawkins cleaned and repaired it and identified 54 graves.

Fred A. Adams is buried here. So is Granville H. Oury, a judge and Confederate officer who later served in the territorial legislature and in Congress, whose grave got an E Clampus Vitus marker in 1999. Felix and Martha Hardwick lie here too. In 1883 the territorial legislature paid Felix $500 for the first bale of commercial cotton raised in Arizona.

Historic maps

Adamsville on USGS maps, 1900–1994

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

19001:125,00019541:250,00019651:24,00019941:100,000

Map & directions

Getting there

Florence is next door, about ten minutes away. From Phoenix, the fastest route runs down I-10 and across through Coolidge on AZ 387, AZ 87 and AZ 287. Both routes end on Adamsville Road at the state marker.

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.

Photos

Adamsville in photos

The four water tanks, 2024The 1965 state marker, 2015Water tanks and water tower, 2024The roofless building called the store, 2024The same building in 2015The water tanks up close, 2024

Visitor reports

Been to Adamsville?

Been there lately? Tell the next visitor what you found: whether you could get in, the state of the road and what's still standing. Photos are welcome. We read every report before it appears here.

Thanks. Your report reached us, and we'll read it before it goes on the page.

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Nearby

Other sites near Adamsville

Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our Arizona index.

• Cochran18.2 mi E · Pinal
• Reymert20.1 mi NE · Pinal
• De Noon20.2 mi NE · Pinal
• Pinal25.4 mi NE · Pinal
• Pinal City25.4 mi NE · Pinal
• Sonora27.9 mi E · Pinal
• Ray28.3 mi NE · Pinal
• Silver King Mine30.0 mi NE · Pinal

Sources

Sources and credits

1. ghosttowns.com, "Adamsville": fact sheet fields (roads, climate, best time, remains, location on Adamsville Road).
2. Wikipedia, "Adamsville, Arizona", retrieved October 2026: Fred Adams, the Sanford post office, the 1900 flood, census counts, coordinates and elevation (GNIS).
3. Wikipedia, "Adamsville A.O.U.W. Cemetery", retrieved October 2026: 1894 founding date, 1996 Eagle Scout project, notable burials.
4. HMdb, "Ghost Town of Adamsville" (revised 2022): marker text, 1965 date and location, uncertainty about the townsite.
5. HMdb, "Granville H. Oury": cemetery location, 1999 E Clampus Vitus marker.
6. E. S. Oldaker, "Arizona Museum notes," Arizona Historical Review 3 (October 1930), as indexed by the University of Arizona: the Bichard brothers' flour mill.
7. Wikipedia, "National Register of Historic Places listings in Pinal County, Arizona": Adamsville Ruin, listed August 25, 1970 (#70000114).
8. Photos of the current remains: Wikimedia Commons contributors, 2015–2024 (see photo credits). Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026. Status checked against the sources above on October 19, 2026.

Photo and map credits

• The four water tanks, 2024: Goldmoney10, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
• The 1965 state marker, 2015: Tony the Marine, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
• Water tanks and water tower, 2024: Goldmoney10, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
• The roofless building called the store, 2024: Goldmoney10, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
• The same building in 2015: Tony the Marine, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
• The water tanks up close, 2024: Goldmoney10, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
• Area base map, topo and aerial imagery: USGS The National Map (public domain).
• Historic maps: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain): Florence 1900, 1:125,000; Mesa 1954, 1:250,000; Florence 1965, 1:24,000; Mesa 1994, 1:100,000.