Brewery Gulch

Every mining town had a street like this, and in Bisbee it was Brewery Gulch. In the early 1900s the Gulch packed dozens of saloons, gambling halls, and cribs into a narrow canyon, the rowdy counterweight to the company's orderly plaza below. It took its name from Muheim's Brewery, whose building still stands, and it housed the Bisbee Stock Exchange, so fortunes changed hands here in more ways than one. The St. Elmo Bar, opened in 1902 and still pouring, is the Gulch's last working survivor of a very thirsty era.

What the plaque says

Brewery Gulch. In the early 1900's the rough edges of Bisbee's mining camps could be found here in notorious Brewery Gulch with its dozens of saloons, gambling halls and crib houses. The street got its name from a common activity in Bisbee's early days, represented by Muheim's Brewery building, which still stands today. The "Gulch" was also the location of the Bisbee Stock Exchange, making it the center of activity in more ways than one. One of the popular spots was St. Elmo Bar, the oldest bar in Bisbee, which is still in business to this day.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Bisbee — steps away
  Queen of the Copper Camps — and the deportation it tried to forget
• Tombstone — 21 mi
  The silver strike named for a death that never came

More markers nearby

• Phelps Dodge General Office Building — steps away
• Copper Queen Plaza — steps away
• Bisbee City Fire Hall — steps away
• Votes for Women — steps away