Swansea Historic Ghost Town is a well-preserved site in the Arizona desert near Parker, best known for its extensive copper mining ruins. The town includes notable remnants such as the 1917 miner barracks and a 1909 smelter. Founded in 1909, Swansea was abandoned by 1937 after the Great Depression forced the mines to close permanently.
At its peak around 1909–1910, Swansea had a population of about 500 residents. The operation included five mine shafts, a furnace capable of processing 350 tons of ore, and a 3.5-mile water pipeline from the Bill Williams River that delivered up to 400,000 gallons of water each day.
Hot gases and dust from the smelter were funneled through this dust chamber, allowing valuable fine dust containing metals to settle before the gases escaped through the stack. This salvaged dust was then processed further in a reverberatory furnace.
This is looking enigmatic. Memories of my Dad's brother's mine in the foothills of Rockies.Montana. As kids, we would go down the mine shaft and catch frogs. But try this on and look up ALTA UTAH. Four more mining history. CBC interviewed one of the involved last night on radio.
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