Charleston, Arizona - History

History

Charleston was originally settled as a residence for the mill workers in Millville, on the opposite bank of the San Pedro River, where two mills were built to process ore from the silver mines of nearby Tombstone. The mills were constructed in Millville due to a lack of water, needed for refinement, in the immediate vicinity of Tombstone. The mills, one operated by the Tombstone Mill and Mining Company and the other by the Corbin Mill and Mining Company, processed or "stamped" the silver ore into fine powder in preparation for smelting. The mills began operations in 1879, and at their peak from 1881–1882, they processed almost $1.4 million in silver bullion in one year.

Once the future site of Tombstone's mills was established, the land that was to become Charleston was claimed by Amos Stowe on October 28, 1878, and planning for the town began immediately thereafter. The town consisted of twenty-six blocks with sixteen lots each, laid out in a grid. Due to an attractive leasing system setup by Stowe, businesses flocked to Charleston, and by May 1879, the town already housed approximately 40 buildings, including a post office which opened on April 17, 1879. Millville's post office opened shortly after Charleston's, on May 26, 1879, but shut down less than a year later on May 3, 1880 as it became clear that Charleston was to be the primary residence for the people of both towns. While Millville was named for its primary function as a milling location, Charleston was named after Amos Stowe's son Charles "Charlie" Stowe according to Edith Stowe. Charles D. Handy was the town's first lawyer and postmaster but was relieved of his postmaster duties shortly after for being intoxicated.

The 1880 United States Census recorded the population as 350 people, and the town's permanent population likely peaked at over 400 a few years later during the height of Tombstone's silver boom. At its peak, the town housed a post office, four restaurants, a school, a church, a doctor, a lawyer, a drugstore, two blacksmiths, two livery stables, two butcher shops, two bakeries, a hotel, five general stores, a jewelry shop, a carpenter, a brickyard, a brewery, and at least four saloons. One of the butcher shops in town was owned by noted frontier lawman John H. Slaughter.