Gleeson

Overview

Copper on top of turquoise

Gleeson sits on the southern edge of the Dragoon Mountains, about 16 miles east of Tombstone. Native people mined turquoise in the hills here long before Americans arrived, and the first mining camp took that name. Turquoise had a post office from 1890 to 1894, then emptied when gold turned up at Pearce.

John Gleeson, an Irish miner living in Pearce, went back to the old claims and found copper. His Copper Belle Mine opened around 1900, and a new town named for him grew up just downhill from the old camp. It had about 500 people by 1910, along with a hospital, a school, saloons and stores. That year the county built a concrete jail. In June 1912 a fire burned 28 buildings, and the town rebuilt. World War I copper demand gave Gleeson its best years.

Falling copper prices and the Depression closed the mines in the 1930s, and the post office shut in March 1939. Since then Gleeson has been a near-empty town with a few residents. The jail is the landmark. Private owners restored it after 2008 and later opened it as a small museum, though we couldn't confirm its current hours.

Timeline

From Turquoise to Gleeson

1. Before 1870sNative people dig turquoise from the hills here, long before any mining claims are filed.
2. Late 1870sAmerican prospectors work the district heavily. Some small operations carry on for decades.
3. Oct 22, 1890A post office opens at the turquoise camp, named Turquoise.
4. Sep 17, 1894The Turquoise post office closes. The camp empties after the 1894 gold strike at Pearce.
5. 1900John Gleeson, an Irish miner living in Pearce, works the old claims and opens the Copper Belle Mine. A new town grows just downhill of the old camp.
6. Oct 15, 1900The Gleeson post office opens.
7. Apr 1910Cochise County finishes a reinforced-concrete jail for $1,778. About 500 people live in town that year.
8. Jun 1912Fire destroys 28 buildings. The town rebuilds.
9. 1914John Gleeson sells out.
10. WWIWartime copper demand brings Gleeson its best years.
11. 1930sCopper prices fall, the Depression arrives and the mines shut down.
12. 1938The county pulls the jail's barred windows for reuse in a new jail at Benson, by the restorers' account.
13. Mar 31, 1939The post office closes.
14. Sep 2008Tina Miller and John Wiest buy the derelict jail and 10 acres and begin restoring it.
15. Feb 2014The restored jail is sold to Joe Bono, whose family ran the town store. The last business in town, a rattlesnake-goods shop, closes the same year.
16. Mar 2026A travel guide lists the jail museum as typically open the first Saturday of the month or by appointment.

1910 to today

The Gleeson jail

Cochise County finished the jail in late April 1910 for $1,778. It's a squat box of concrete reinforced with steel, built to hold the rowdier residents of a busy copper camp. Courtland, three miles north, got a near twin the year before. Once the mines closed it sat empty. The restorers' history says the county took out the barred windows in 1938 for reuse at the new jail in Benson, and vandals did the rest.

In September 2008 Tina Miller and John Wiest bought the jail and 10 acres around it. They found the shell sound, repaired the roof, replaced beams in the front wall, rebuilt the barred windows and recreated the painted JAIL sign and 1910 date from an old photograph. In February 2014 they sold it to Joe Bono, whose family ran the Bono store in town.

The jail has served as a free museum of mining-era photos and artifacts, open on set Saturdays.

Which Saturdays depends on the source. A March 2026 Destination4x4 guide and a 2021 Cochise County tourism listing both say the first Saturday of each month, the county listing from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Arizona Highways says the first and fourth, and a travel listing says the first and third. Visitors in 2020 and 2022 found it closed. We couldn't confirm the hours with the owner, so ask through the town's website before you go.

What's left

Jail, store, ruins and a cemetery

The jail stands at the corner of Gleeson Road and High Lonesome Road. Nearby are the Bono store and saloon, which Arizona Highways says holds a 1982 mural of the townspeople, plus adobe ruins, the ruins of the hospital, the foundation of the school and a few occupied houses. The cemetery is just west of town on the road back to Tombstone.

The historic maps below show how much has gone. On the 1916 sheet Gleeson is a dense cluster of streets, and rail lines curl around the hills to reach it and Courtland. By 1958 the town is a scatter of small squares, the slope to the northeast is dotted with mine shafts, and the railroad, abandoned in 1932 by one account, is marked as an old grade.

• Jail (1910, restored)
• Bono store and saloon
• Hospital ruins
• School foundation
• Adobe ruins
• Mine shafts and dumps
• Cemetery

Historic maps

Gleeson 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.

19161:125,00019251:62,50019581:24,00019611:250,00019961:24,000

Map & directions

Getting there

Tombstone is the closest town, about half an hour away on Gleeson Road. From Tucson, the route runs east on I-10 to Benson and then south to Tombstone. Gleeson is the first stop on the Ghost Town Trail, which continues north on unpaved roads to Courtland and Pearce.

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

Photos

Gleeson in photos

The restored 1910 jail, 2015The jail when new, 1910Main Street, 1917The Bono store and saloon, 2010Adobe ruins, 2009The jail in 2010Gleeson cemetery, 2010Gleeson Road at the jail corner

Visitor reports

Been to Gleeson?

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 Gleeson

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

• Courtland2.8 mi NE · Cochise
• Bisbee8.8 mi NW · Cochise
• Fittsburg11.8 mi N · Cochise
• Tombstone14.1 mi W · Cochise
• Bisbee20.6 mi S · Cochise
• Fairbank21.1 mi W · Cochise
• Millville21.2 mi W · Cochise
• Lowell21.3 mi S · Cochise

Sources

Sources and credits

1. ghosttowns.com, "Gleeson": fact sheet fields (roads, legal description, climate, best time, remains, post office dates).
2. Wikipedia, "Gleeson, Arizona", retrieved October 2026: coordinates and elevation (GNIS), Turquoise post office dates, the 1912 fire, the 2014 closing of the last business.
3. Wikipedia, "Gleeson Jail", retrieved October 2026: completion date, cost and construction, 2008 purchase.
4. gleesonarizona.com, "Jail Restoration Project": 1938 window removal, 2008 purchase and restoration work, February 2014 sale to Joe Bono.
5. Legends of America, "The Ghost Town Trail" (updated July 2024): mines, John Gleeson's 1914 sale, remains, cemetery location, road notes.
6. Arizona Daily Star, William Ascarza, "Mine tales: Turquoise Mining District still operational": turquoise mining, late-1870s prospecting, John Gleeson, 1910 population, June 1912 fire.
7. Arizona Highways, "Ghost Town Trail" (undated): directions, jail open days, the Bono store mural, the higher population figure, travel advice.
8. Destination4x4, "Gleeson, Arizona" (March 2026): jail museum schedule, private land, 1932 railroad abandonment.
9. Explore Cochise, "Gleeson Jail" (event listing, 2021): first-Saturday hours, free admission.
10. Southern Arizona Guide, "Ghost Town Trail": Joe Bono's ownership of the jail and its museum.
11. Tripadvisor visitor reviews of Historic Gleeson Jail and Gleeson Ghost Town (2020–2024): closed jail, private-property and no-trespassing signs.
12. 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.
13. Old Pearce Preservation Association, historicpearce.com: the Pearce jail opens the first Saturday of each month from October to May, as of October 2026.
14. Trails and Tales of Cochise County: Gleeson history tour and Courtland–Gleeson turquoise mine trips, prices and booking terms, as of October 2026.
15. Circle K, 15 W. Bruce St., Tombstone: open 24 hours, gas and diesel, as of October 2026.
16. The Longhorn Restaurant, official site, and the Tombstone Chamber of Commerce listing: Allen Street location, oldest continually operated restaurant in town, opening hours, as of October 2026.
17. 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

• The restored 1910 jail, 2015: The Old Pueblo, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
• The jail when new, 1910: Cochise County Sheriff's Office, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
• Main Street, 1917: Unknown, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
• The Bono store and saloon, 2010: StellarD, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
• Adobe ruins, 2009: dedhed1950, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
• The jail in 2010: StellarD, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
• Gleeson cemetery, 2010: StellarD, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
• Gleeson Road at the jail corner: maarit u, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
• Area base map, topo and aerial imagery: USGS The National Map (public domain).
• Historic maps: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain): Pearce 1916, 1:125,000; Gleeson 1925, 1:62,500; Outlaw Mountain 1958, 1:24,000; Douglas 1961, 1:250,000; Outlaw Mountain 1996, 1:24,000.