Eastern Mojave Vegetation Johnson, Cochise County, Arizona.
 
Gazetteer

Query: G.N.I.S.

See also: Little Dragoon Mountains.

Johnson Station and mining camp, on Dragoon branch railroad, east side of Little Dragoon mountains. Post Office established April 5, 1900.

Nestled on the eastern side of the Little Dragoon Mountains are the tattered, tangled remnants of Johnson, Arizona. Johnson more or less absorbed nearby Russelville. The town was named for a Mr. Johnson who was the general manager of the founding Peabody Company operations, which were established at the site in 1883. The population of Johnson that year has been estimated to be three hundred to five hundred.

The Lake Superior copper owners imported a Tombstone man to survey the town site and to "lay our street seventy feet wide". Ed Benson, also of Tombstone, initiated stage line service. Mrs. Kelly of Benson opened a school, and Johnson flourished as had hundreds of other mining camps.

Johnson was stung by the financial panic of 1907 but began to recover about two years later. The following years were good years, and the population of the camp burgeoned to about one thousand.

But with the drop of copper prices during the Great Depression, Johnson passed out of existence. From the postal register, its post office was closed in late 1929. Limited mining operations were carried on during Would War II and later; but for many years now, Johnson's skeletal remains have been "playthings of the wind." There isn't anything left of Johnson currently and the land is privately owned.


Elevation: 4977ft, 1517m.

Articles that refer to this location:

  • North Johnson Road, Cochise County, Arizona: at Johnson
  • Two occurrences of Desert Elkweed Swertia albomarginata (S. Watson) Kuntze Gentianaceae in the Mid Hills, Eastern Mojave Desert, San Bernardino County, California: in southeastern Arizona
  • U. S. Interstate 10: at Exit 322
   

Literature Referring To This Location:

Interesting Collections made at or near this location:

  Swertia albomarginata

    
    R. A. Darrow 3451

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Date and time this article was prepared:12:39:26 PM, 5/15/2008