History
Prospectors Ed Williams and Jack Friday discovered what was to become the Contention and Grand Central mines when their mules broke free from a nearby camp one night. The mules, in search of water, dragged a chain behind them, which allowed Williams and Friday to track the animals the next morning. As they walked, they noticed the gleam of metal where the chain had scraped away the overlying dirt, and upon investigation, they found what would develop into a significant silver lode. The mules were tracked to the nearby camp of well-known prospector Ed Schieffelin, who had been prospecting extensively in the area, and who had staked claims to many of the Tombstone area mines. Unhappy that two competitors had discovered a claim in what he considered to be his territory, Schieffelin disputed the ownership of the claim. Eventually, the claim was split in two, with the upper end going to Williams and Friday, and named the Grand Central Mine, and the lower end going to Schieffelin, and named the Contention Mine after the disputed ownership that earned him the claim.
Contention City, named after Schieffelin's nearby mine, was originally established in 1879 on the bank of the San Pedro River as a milling site for silver mined from the Tombstone area mines including the Contention and Grand Central mines. Mills were constructed along the San Pedro River in Contention City as well as Charleston due to a lack of water needed for refinement in the immediate vicinity of the mines. The three mills in Contention City — Grand Central, Head Center, and The Contention — processed or "stamped" the silver ore into fine powder in preparation for smelting.
Once the mills were constructed, the town was surveyed and mapped out in September 1879 by D.T. Smith and John McDermott. The town site was north of the mills on the east bank of the river. Lots sold fast, and the town grew quickly to over a hundred people within a few months. The Contention City Post Office was established on April 6, 1880, and at its peak in the mid-1880s, the town was home to John McDermott's saloon, the Western Hotel, a blacksmith, a butcher shop, several general stores, and a Chinese laundry, and was a stop on two stage lines connecting the town to Tombstone and Tucson. In addition, a railroad depot was constructed in 1882.
The 1880 United States Census placed the population at 150, and the population was estimated to be 200 in 1884 at its likely peak.
Read more about this topic: Contention City, Arizona
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