Tag: architecture

Prison Series, No. 1.

All of the photos in this set are of the Yuma Territorial Prison, now a state historic park in Yuma, Arizona. The facility housed over 3,000 prisoners between 1876 and 1910. It was the unreached destination in Elmore Leonard’s famous short story, “Three-Ten to Yuma.” 

Fun Fact: The Yuma Union High School occupied the prison from 1910 to 1914. A rival high school derisively dubbed the Yuma school’s football team “The Criminals,” so of course the name was embraced by the students, with vigor. A scowling criminal is still the school mascot, though the school has relocated to less grim surroundings. My high school was in a brand new building, and our mascot was a mustang, but it sometimes felt like prison just the same. 

Erie Street, Lowell, Arizona.

Lowell hardly exists as a place. Most of the town was demolished during the excavation of the Lavender copper pit mine in the 1950s, and what remains today is a strip of storefronts on Erie Street. The scant remnants of the township are consolidated with Bisbee, Arizona. 

Erie Street, Lowell, Arizona.

Lowell hardly exists as a place. Most of the town was demolished during the excavation of the Lavender copper pit mine in the 1950s, and what remains today is a strip of storefronts on Erie Street. The scant remnants of the township are consolidated with Bisbee, Arizona.