Abandoned Towns
Broken stone walls at the Courtland townsite among prickly pear and mesquite, with hills behind

Copper mining town

Courtland

A copper boomtown that grew to about 2,000 people in a few years and was largely empty by 1921. A concrete jail, foundations and mine workings remain.

31°46′12″N 109°48′31″W · 4,842 ft

Photo: StellarD, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Private ruins · 2026 report

The townsite and its mining claims have been privately owned since 2017. The owners ran guided tours and turquoise collecting by appointment, and the newest tour reviews we found are from 2022. Their website now forwards to an online turquoise shop. A March 2026 guide describes the jail and ruins still standing. Look from the Ghost Town Trail, and don't enter ruins, mine workings or fenced land without permission.

Overview

Four companies, one boom

Tents and new frame buildings, June 1909
Tents and new frame buildings, June 1909 · Photo: West Coast Art Co., Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

Courtland sits about three miles north of Gleeson, at the southeast corner of the Dragoon Mountains. Prospectors had worked these hills for years, but the town only appeared in 1908 and 1909, when high-grade copper brought in four mining companies at once: the Great Western, the Calumet & Arizona, the Copper Queen and the Leadville. The post office opened in March 1909, named for Courtland Young, one of the brothers who owned the Great Western.

Growth was fast. Two townsites merged into one, and within a few years Courtland had around 2,000 people, two newspapers, hotels, a movie theater, an ice cream parlor, a car dealership, a ballfield and five miles of water mains. Two railroads built branches in. A Calumet & Arizona superintendent predicted 20,000 residents by 1915.

It didn't happen. In 1917 the shafts reached limestone about 300 feet down, and the companies began to pull out. Most people left by 1921, though the post office hung on until 1942. Today the concrete jail is the most complete building, surrounded by foundations, sidewalks and the shafts and dumps of the old mines. The land has been private since 2017.

Timeline

A boom measured in school seats

Outside the Crescent Cafe, July 1909
Outside the Crescent Cafe, July 1909 · Photo: Unknown, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Courtland's street grid on the 1916 Pearce sheet
Courtland's street grid on the 1916 Pearce sheet · Map: U.S. Geological Survey, USGS catalog, Public domain
  1. Rich copper ore draws four companies to the southeast end of the Dragoon Mountains: Great Western, Calumet & Arizona, Copper Queen and Leadville.
  2. The Courtland post office opens. The town is named for Courtland Young, one of the Great Western's owners.
  3. The Courtland Arizonian prints its first issue.
  4. The county builds a concrete jail for $1,000 to replace a mine shaft with a wooden door.
  5. School enrollment swings from 182 in 1909 to 77 in 1912, 125 in 1913 and 44 in 1915.
  6. A chamber of commerce forms, and a water and ice company lays five miles of water mains.
  7. The county abolishes the local deputy's post. On August 12, Deputy John Henry Bright is wounded in the town's only recorded gunfight.
  8. Shafts hit limestone about 300 feet down, and companies start to give up.
  9. Most of the remaining people leave.
  10. The county strips the jail's gates and barred windows for reuse in a new jail at Benson.
  11. The post office closes.
  12. Michael Oster's companies buy the townsite and patented mining claims and start guided tours and turquoise collecting.
  13. A March 2026 guide describes the jail, building ruins, sidewalks, mine sites and the cemetery still in place.

1909–1916

A jail, a deputy and one gunfight

For its first months Courtland locked prisoners in an abandoned mine shaft behind a wooden door. On June 2, 1909, a prisoner tried to burn his way out by setting his mattress on fire. That same month the county built a real jail of reinforced concrete and steel, using scrap rails and ties, for $1,000. It has two cells, each 14 feet square, joined by a small office. Gleeson got a near twin the next year, and Gleeson's has since been restored. Courtland's has not, and it carries heavy graffiti.

John Henry Bright served as Courtland's deputy and constable from 1908 until the county abolished the job in 1916. In 1913 he arrested Jennie Canady Parker for killing Dan Danielson; Governor George W. P. Hunt pardoned her in November 1916. On August 12, 1916, Bright was wounded in the only shootout recorded at Courtland. The jail saw little use after that year.

What's left

Jail, foundations and a hillside of shafts

Poured-concrete walls, 2010
Poured-concrete walls, 2010 · Photo: StellarD, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

The jail stands near the Ghost Town Trail. Around it are the ruins of stores and houses, old sidewalks, the cemetery southeast of town, and the shafts and dumps of the mines. Destination4x4 notes that some of the concrete works near the Mame Mine came after the boom and were used to precipitate copper from solution.

The historic maps below track the rise and fall. The 1916 sheet shows Courtland as a street grid north of Browns Peak, with rail lines converging on it. The 1926 sheet names the Copper Queen, Calumet and Leadville properties, a power house and a well rated at 500 gallons a minute. By 1958 the grid is a cluster of buildings beside an old railroad grade, and the 1985 and 1996 sheets show mine shafts, adits, prospects and four-wheel-drive tracks but no town name.

  • Jail (1909)
  • Store and house ruins
  • Sidewalks
  • Mine shafts, adits and dumps
  • Copper cementation works near the Mame Mine
  • Cemetery (fenced by 2019)
USGS topographic map of Courtland with North Pearce Road and Turquoise Mountain to the west
USGS The National Map, topo. Courtland sits on the road north to Pearce, with Turquoise Mountain to the west.
Aerial view of Courtland: a dirt road winding between dark hills, with pale mine dumps at left
Aerial imagery, same area. The Ghost Town Trail winds through the townsite; the pale patches at left are mine dumps.

Historic maps

Courtland on USGS maps, 1916–1996

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.

USGS topographic map around Courtland, 1916
Pearce sheet, 1916, 1:125,000 · U.S. Geological Survey, public domain · catalog record

Map & directions

Getting there

Tombstone is the closest town. Both routes follow Gleeson Road through Gleeson and then turn north onto the Ghost Town Trail, which is unpaved from there. The trail continues north past Courtland to Pearce.

USGS topographic map between Tombstone, Gleeson and Courtland with the route drawn on it

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

From downtown Tombstone21.1 miabout 48 min
  1. From downtown Tombstone, take 4th Street to Fremont Street (AZ 80) and head east.0.8 mi
  2. Turn left on Camino San Rafael.1.1 mi
  3. Turn right on Gleeson Road and follow it east through Gleeson to the Ghost Town Trail turnoff, about a mile past town.15.5 mi
  4. Head north on North Ghost Town Trail. The pavement ends here.2.7 mi
  5. Turn left to stay on the Ghost Town Trail into Courtland.1.0 mi
Google Maps directionsApple MapsOpenStreetMap

Road and safety notes

  • Gleeson Road is paved. The Ghost Town Trail north of it is gravel and dirt in OpenStreetMap; an undated listing calls it a good dirt road for 2WD.
  • Arizona Highways advises checking weather and road conditions, carrying plenty of water and not traveling alone on these back roads.
  • The townsite and claims are private. Don't enter ruins or mine workings, and respect fences and signs.
  • Legends of America warns that the mines and shafts around Courtland are hazardous, and the topo maps show dozens of them. Stay out.
  • There are no services here. Get fuel and water in Tombstone.

Photos

Courtland in photos

Visitor reports

Been to Courtland?

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.

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Nearby

Other sites near Courtland

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

Sources

Sources and credits

  1. ghosttowns.com, "Courtland": fact sheet fields (roads, legal description, climate, best time, remains, post office dates, population).
  2. Wikipedia, "Courtland, Arizona", retrieved October 2026: coordinates and elevation (GNIS), companies, railroads, amenities, school enrollment, the jail, Deputy Bright, decline, the 2017 purchase and tours.
  3. Legends of America, "The Ghost Town Trail" (updated July 2024): naming, two newspapers, post office dates, remains, mine hazards, road notes.
  4. Arizona Daily Star, William Ascarza, "Mine tales: Turquoise Mining District still operational": the merged townsites, the 20,000 prediction, the graffitied jail.
  5. Arizona Highways, "Ghost Town Trail" (undated): population, businesses, closing around 1920, the jail as Gleeson's twin, travel advice.
  6. Destination4x4, "Courtland, Arizona" (March 2026): current remains, cementation works near the Mame Mine.
  7. Southern Arizona Guide, "Ghost Town Trail": the cemetery cleaned up and fenced by 2019.
  8. Tour status: Tripadvisor reviews of Courtland Ghost Town & Turquoise Gallery (2020–2022), and courtlandghosttown.com, which forwarded to an Etsy shop when checked in October 2026.
  9. Trails and Tales of Cochise County: Gleeson history tour and Courtland–Gleeson turquoise mine trips, prices and booking terms, as of October 2026.
  10. gleesonarizona.com, the site of the jail's owner: overview (open the first Saturday of every month and by arrangement), the posted notice of the sale to Joe Bono with his phone number, and the Ghost Town Loop Tour from Tombstone, as of October 2026.
  11. Old Pearce Preservation Association, historicpearce.com: the Pearce jail opens the first Saturday of each month from October to May, as of October 2026.
  12. Circle K, 15 W. Bruce St., Tombstone: open 24 hours, gas and diesel, as of October 2026.
  13. Big Nose Kate's Saloon, official site: Allen Street location, saloon and kitchen hours, as of October 2026.
  14. Road surfaces: OpenStreetMap, October 2026. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026. Status checked against the sources above on October 19, 2026.

Photo and map credits