Beautiful Downtown Clifton?

Beautiful is not the word to use to describe Clifton, Arizona. Colorful? Yes. A town with Character? Certainly. Historic? Definitely. But beautiful?

We've already shown you the old railroad station, now the office of the Chamber of Commerce ...

 ... and the County Courthhouse.

Now it's time to see more of Clifton.  Here's the city jail.

Actually, it not the current jail, it's the original jail, "blasted from living rock" to house the bad guys who swarmed to this area in the early days. Local legend says the first inmate was the same miner who built the jail!

The jail is actually more of a two-cell dungeon, mostly uinderground. The larger of the two cells has two "windows," the smaller has none.

Down we go!

Displayed next to the jail is the Copper Head, a 20-inch gauge steam locomotive once used to haul copper ore.

The Copper Head was retired in 1922, long before I was retired.

The heart of the original town of Clifton was a street called Chase Creek; the real creek called Chase Creek, now a dry wash most of the year, flowed just behind the buildings on the south side of the street. Today many of the old buildings are gone, either to fire or one of several early floods. Others are in sad shape.

But the Manager of the Chamber told us that certain individuals have been working in Chase Creek to renovate and re-purpose some of the buildings; the occasional coat of paint or renovated doorway show signs of hope.

Along Chase Creek is one of the town's very many pocket parks. This one is called Youth Appreciation Park.

Although disavowed by the Chamber Manager, we could see an opportunity to follow the example of Bisbee. Houses, many now abandoned, are built on hillsides, industrial or commercial buildings are abandoned or under-utilized.

The American Legion meets here. We had a splendid "Black Angus, Green Chile Cheeseburger here Sunday, complete with soda and chips, for $5!

And of course, there is the major downtown area of Chase Creek.

The soul of any community is often found in its its churches. Sacred Heart Catholic Church, built in 1917, stands facing Chase Creek, after replacing three other church buildings, one destroyed by fire and two by flood.

The church features leaded stained glass windows, a marble altar and porcelain statues, all imported from Italy.

And on that note, we thank you for sharing another episode of ... Our Life on Wheels. Come on back, ya hear?