Johnson

Overview

A copper town under its own tailings

Johnson sat on the east side of the Little Dragoon Mountains, about 65 miles east of Tucson and a few miles north of today's I-10. Mining here began around 1881, when the Peabody, Republic and Mammoth claims started a camp called Russellville. It peaked at about 100 people. In 1883 the smelter moved to the Peabody Mine, and Johnson grew up half a mile from it as the Peabody company's headquarters. The camp was named for George J. Johnson, general manager of the Cochise Copper Company, according to the Arizona Daily Star.

Johnson got a post office in 1900 and had 317 people by 1902. Smelters and new shafts followed, and by around 1917 the town had a pool hall, a one-room school, stores and a picture show. The Republic-Mammoth was the district's best mine, producing about $5.6 million in copper and silver between 1905 and 1928. About 1,000 people lived here in 1925. Then copper prices fell, the mines cut back, and the post office closed in November 1929.

Mining never fully stopped. Zinc carried the mines through the 1940s and 1950s until they closed in 1957, and open pits arrived in the mid-1970s. Those pits and their tailings now cover much of the townsite. In July 2025 Gunnison Copper began leaching copper at the Johnson Camp Mine on new pads built over the past year.

Timeline

From Russellville to the Johnson Camp Mine

1. 1881The Peabody, Republic and Mammoth claims on the east side of the Little Dragoon Mountains start a camp called Russellville.
2. 1882A 30-ton smelter turns out about 4 tons of copper bullion a day from ore of up to 7.4 percent copper.
3. 1883Russellville fades after the smelter moves to the Peabody Mine, about three miles away, and a spring blizzard. Johnson grows up half a mile from the new smelter site, as headquarters of the Peabody company and its 150 men.
4. Apr 5, 1900The Johnson post office opens, with William De H. Washington as postmaster.
5. 1902Johnson has 317 people and has passed Russellville.
6. 1905–1928The Republic-Mammoth, the district's best mine, produces about $5.6 million in copper and silver.
7. 1909Arizona United Mines builds a 125-ton smelter. The Black Prince hits rich sulfide ore at 430 feet.
8. 1916The district's peak output year. The Cobriza company ships four cars of ore a day from the Republic and Mammoth.
9. c. 1917The town has a pool hall, a school, stores, a rooming house and a picture show.
10. 1925Nearly 1,000 people live in Johnson.
11. Nov 29, 1929Copper prices have fallen and the mines have cut back. The post office closes.
12. 1940s–1957Zinc keeps the mines going until low profits close them in 1957.
13. Mid-1970sMining returns with two open pits, the Burro and the Copper Chief.
14. Jul 18, 2025Gunnison Copper starts leaching copper at the Johnson Camp Mine, with first sales expected that September.

What's left

Foundations under the tailings

An undated listing says the ruins pictured in the old ghost-town books are gone, destroyed by later mining, with nothing left but foundations. The historic maps below show how it happened. On the 1943 and 1958 sheets Johnson is a tight cluster of buildings on a road below the Johnson Mine, with the Republic, Keystone and OK mines just south and a cemetery to the northeast. By 1985 the same spot sits on the rim of an open pit with tailings beside it, and the 1996 sheet puts the pit, tailings and ponds right up against the town point.

We don't know whether the cemetery on the old maps survives, or whether it can be reached without crossing mine property.

• Foundations (per an undated listing)
• Open pits
• Tailings and leach pads
• Cemetery on the old maps (not verified)

Historic maps

Johnson on USGS maps, 1943–1996

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.

19431:62,50019581:62,50019851:24,00019961:24,000

Map & directions

Getting there

Benson is the closest city. Both routes run east on I-10 and north on Johnson Road toward the mine. The townsite is inside the working Johnson Camp Mine, so there is nothing to visit. The routed path ends on unnamed mine roads; we haven't checked where public access stops.

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

Photos

Have photos of Johnson?

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

Visitor reports

Been to Johnson?

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 Johnson

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

• Cochise8.5 mi E · Cochise
• Tres Alamos16.2 mi W · Cochise
• Fittsburg19.9 mi SE · Cochise
• Bisbee20.2 mi SE · Cochise
• Cascabel22.5 mi NW · Cochise
• Contention City24.4 mi S · Cochise
• Dos Cabezas27.0 mi E · Cochise
• Tombstone27.0 mi S · Cochise

Sources

Sources and credits

1. ghosttowns.com, "Johnson": fact sheet fields (roads, climate, remains), post office dates, the 1925 population, the destroyed ruins.
2. Wikipedia, "Johnson, Arizona", retrieved October 2026: the 1900 post office and postmaster, the 1902 population, coordinates (GNIS).
3. William Ascarza, Arizona Daily Star, "1880s saw first ore flow from Johnson Camp Mine east of Tucson" (July 2013): Russellville, the 1882 smelter, the Peabody headquarters, the name, production figures, the 1957 closing and 1970s open pits.
4. Jeremy Rowe, Postcard History, "The Story of Johnson, Arizona" (April 2023): the 1902 and 1925 populations, the 1909 smelter and Black Prince strike, the 1916 peak, the town around 1917.
5. Gunnison Copper, news release (July 22, 2025): leaching began July 18, 2025, at the Johnson Camp Mine; first copper sales expected in September.
6. USGS topographic maps: Dragoon 1:62,500 (1943, 1958) and 1:24,000 (1985, 1996). Township and section: BLM PLSS (CadNSDI).
7. Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026. Status checked against the sources above on October 19, 2026.

Photo and map credits

• Area base map, topo and aerial imagery: USGS The National Map (public domain).
• Historic maps: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain): Dragoon 1943, 1:62,500; Dragoon 1958, 1:62,500; Dragoon 1985, 1:24,000; Dragoon 1996, 1:24,000.