Hooper, Arizona Ghost Town: History, Status and Directions

Overview

A camp that moved down the road

Hooper was a small mining camp on the Senator Highway in the Bradshaw Mountains, about eight miles north of Crown King by road. It had a post office from 1899 to 1916, and in 1905 a business directory counted about 40 people. The 1903 USGS map shows it among mine workings south of the Tuscumbia Mill. Today the USGS marks the spot as a site, and an undated listing reports nothing left.

Hooper had a predecessor. Meesville, an 1880s camp nearby, is said to be named for James Mee, who found the Tuscumbia mine in 1880 and ran a mill there. It had a post office from 1881 to 1885 and appears on the 1887 USGS map. Local accounts say that when mining picked up again around 1900, Meesville's buildings were moved to Hooper. An undated listing files the two places together under Meesville.

Wikipedia adds a third name. Citing Arizona Place Names, it says the camp was first called Foresight, a misspelling of Foresythe, for a family whose John Foresythe served as postmaster. We found no Foresight post office in the postal records we checked, so we list the name with that caveat.

Timeline

Meesville, then Hooper

**Hooper among mine symbols below the Tuscumbia Mill, USGS Bradshaw Mountains sheet, 1903** · Map: U.S. Geological Survey, USGS catalog, Public domain

1880James Mee is said to have discovered the Tuscumbia mine.
Nov 28, 1881A post office opens at Meesville, the camp named for Mee. By one account it is also a stage stop on the road from Prescott to Alexandra.
Sep 2, 1885The Meesville post office closes.
1887The USGS Prescott sheet marks Meesville just southwest of Alexandra, which it spells Alexander.
1890sA photo in the Sharlot Hall Museum archives shows the Tuscumbia mine and mill, a silver and copper property in the Crown King area.
1899The Hooper post office opens.
1903The USGS Bradshaw Mountains sheet marks Hooper among mine symbols, south of the Tuscumbia Mill and west of Tuscumbia Mountain.
1905The Arizona Business Directory lists Hooper 30 miles south of Prescott, with about 40 people. James Roach is postmaster.
1916The Hooper post office closes.
1917The Mines Register describes the Tuscumbia as a silver lode worked through four adits to a depth of 300 feet.
1974The USGS Battleship Butte sheet marks "Hooper (Site)" on the Senator Highway.
Mar 2025The Forest Service closes the Senator Highway through the site for two weeks of wet weather.

Site map

Where the camps stood

The GNIS point for Hooper sits on the Senator Highway where it runs down a narrow valley, with Orr Spring just to the east and Tuscumbia Mountain beyond. Hooper Saddle, where the road crosses a divide, is 2.5 miles south. The site is in Prescott National Forest. Nobody we found has described anything standing here, and an undated listing gives no remains for either camp.

The historic maps below show the two camps in turn. The 1887 sheet marks Meesville just southwest of Alexandra, with Del Pasco Mountain to the west and Bueno to the north. Maps at that scale are rough, so we can't place Meesville exactly. The 1903 sheet shows Hooper with mine symbols below the Tuscumbia Mill. The 1947 Mt Union sheet shows the road and a benchmark but no name, with a margin note giving 7.6 miles to Crown King. The 1974 Battleship Butte sheet marks Hooper (Site), and the 1981 sheet shows Tuscumbia Mountain and, misspelled, Hopper Saddle.

USGS topographic map of the Hooper site on a road in a narrow valley, with Orr Spring to the east — **USGS The National Map, topo.** The Hooper label sits on the Senator Highway in a narrow valley, with Orr Spring to the east and Towers Creek to the northwest.

Aerial view of forested ridges with a pale dirt road winding down a valley through the middle — **Aerial imagery, same area.** The Senator Highway winds down the valley through the middle of the frame. Side roads branch off to the east.

Historic maps

Hooper on USGS maps, 1887–1981

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 Hooper, 1887 — **Prescott sheet, 1887, 1:250,000** · U.S. Geological Survey, public domain · catalog record

Map & directions

Getting there

Prescott is the nearest city. The direct way is the Senator Highway (Forest Road 52), about 29 miles of mostly dirt mountain road south past Palace Station and Goodwin, but our router doesn't use it. Both routes below instead leave AZ 89 at Kirkland Junction and follow Wagoner Road and Forest Road 362 past Minnehaha to Hooper Saddle, on the Senator Highway 2.5 miles south of the site. The last step comes from Forest Service road data. We haven't driven any of it, and we found no published description of the Wagoner approach. From Crown King, the site is about 8 miles north on the Senator Highway.

USGS topographic map from Prescott south to the Bradshaw Mountains, with the routed approach along AZ 89 and Wagoner Road 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 Prescott57.2 miabout 2 h 57 min

From downtown Prescott, take Montezuma Street south onto White Spar Road (AZ 89), which becomes the Wickenburg-Prescott Highway.22.3 mi
At Kirkland Junction, turn left on West Wagoner Road. It becomes South Walnut Grove Road, then Wagoner Road again.22.6 mi
Continue on Wagoner Road, which becomes Forest Road 362, and follow it past Minnehaha to Hooper Saddle. The routed approach stops here.12.3 mi
From Forest Service road data: turn north on the Senator Highway (FR 52) to the site.2.5 mi

Google Maps directions Apple Maps OpenStreetMap

Road and safety notes

The Forest Service's motor vehicle map rates the Senator Highway at Hooper as maintained for high-clearance vehicles, open all year. An off-road guide updated in 2021 calls it mostly easy, with rocks and washouts, and says most stock SUVs with good clearance can do it. Overland Expo (2022) says any capable vehicle can, with some rough, rutted sections.
The Forest Service closes the Senator Highway from Poland Road south to Crown King and Horsethief Basin during wet winter storms and heavy monsoon rain. The last order we found ran March 14–27, 2025. Check the Prescott National Forest alerts page before you go.
In July 2022 the Forest Service warned that a washout between the Venezia site and Palace Station, on the Prescott end of the Senator Highway, made that stretch unsafe for low-clearance vehicles. We found no notice that the repairs are finished.
We haven't driven Wagoner Road or Forest Road 362 and found no published description of them. Turn back if the road gets worse than your vehicle can handle.
Crown King has a saloon, restaurants and lodging. Its lodging site warns there are no auto services between I-17 and town. Carry water, and expect winter snow to make every road here harder.

Photos

Have photos of Hooper?

We haven’t added more photographs of Hooper yet. If you’ve visited, share your photos and a field report below.

The Sharlot Hall Museum holds an 1890s photograph of the Tuscumbia mine and mill.

Visitor reports

Been to Hooper?

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 Hooper

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

Crown King4.9 mi SE · Yavapai
Bradshaw City5.0 mi S · Yavapai
Goodwin6.2 mi N · Yavapai
Minnehaha7.2 mi S · Yavapai
Cleator8.6 mi E · Yavapai
Fort Misery8.7 mi S · Yavapai
Venezia9.0 mi N · Yavapai
Wagoner9.4 mi SW · Yavapai

Sources

Sources and credits

ghosttowns.com, "Meesville or Hooper": fact sheet fields (roads, climate, best time, remains, location note). Its legal description, T12N R2E, doesn't match the Hooper site; we use the BLM survey grid instead.
Wikipedia, "Hooper, Arizona", retrieved October 2026: coordinates and elevation (GNIS 30097), the Foresight name citing Arizona Place Names.
AZGenWeb, Yavapai County "Ghost Towns" (an unsourced compilation): Meesville's post office dates, James Mee and the Tuscumbia mine, the stage stop, the move to Hooper.
Jim Forte Postal History, Yavapai County post offices: Hooper (1899–1916) and Meesville (1881–1885).
Northern Arizona Genealogical Society, "Post Offices 1905–1906", transcribing the Arizona Business Directory: Hooper's distance from Prescott, population and postmaster.
Sharlot Hall Museum Library & Archives, "Tuscumbia Mill": the mine's location and elevation, the 1890s photo, the 1917 Mines Register description.
USDA Forest Service, Motor Vehicle Use Map data and surface ownership data, October 2026: Forest Road 52's class and season, distances along it, and national forest land at the site.
Prescott National Forest, weather-related road closure, March 14, 2025: the closed stretch of Forest Road 52 and future closures.
Prescott National Forest, Senator Highway warning, July 8, 2022: the washout south of the Venezia site.
AZOffroad.net, "Senator Highway" (updated May 2021): Crown King to Prescott mileage, road condition and vehicle advice, 2 to 4 hours to drive the 37 miles, rocky and narrow sections.
Overland Expo, "Crown King Road and Senator Highway," January 2022: road surface and seasons.
crownking.com, "Directions" (a local lodging business, 2023): Crown King services, what to carry.
Prescott National Forest, "Prescott to Crown King" (updated February 2025): no drinking water on the route.
Crown King Saloon & Eatery, as of October 2026: opening time and closed days. Cleator Bar & Yacht Club, as of October 2026: hours.
USDA Forest Service, recreational drone use: FAA rules apply, and drones are banned in wilderness.
USGS Geographic Names (The National Map): Hooper, Hooper Saddle, Tuscumbia Mountain, Minnehaha, Wagoner and Kirkland Junction. Township: BLM survey grid via the Forest Service.
Prescott National Forest, alerts, checked October 19, 2026: no closure posted for this area.
Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query (about 5,338 ft) and GNIS (5,332 ft). Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026; not field-checked.

Photo and map credits

Hooper among mine symbols below the Tuscumbia Mill, USGS Bradshaw Mountains sheet, 1903: U.S. Geological Survey, USGS catalog, Public domain
Topo map, area base map and aerial imagery: USGS The National Map (public domain).
Historic maps: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain): Prescott 1887, 1:250,000; Bradshaw Mountains 1903, 1:125,000; Mt Union 1947, 1:62,500; Battleship Butte 1974, 1:24,000; Bradshaw Mts 1981, 1:100,000.