Description

Congress Mining Camp.

Early Arizona trappers and explorers, Pauline Weaver and A.H. Peeples, in 1863, were two of the first notables to prospect the low mountains northeast of the town of Congress.

Prospecting in the Congress area began in the 1860's. It was then known as the Date Creek Mining District (and later the Martinez District). Despite early activity and successes in the district, the discovery of the Congress Mine occurred about 20 years later. The mine was located at an elevation of 3396 feet and its’ main commodities were gold and silver, as well as copper, lead and uranium.

Congress boomed in the 1890's with the arrival of the railroad just a few miles away at Congress Junction, and new investments in the mine. The Congress mine, also nicknamed “Queen of the Hills,” became for a time one of Arizona's largest gold producers. An article in the December 22, 1897 edition of the Arizona Weekly Journal Miner boasted: “A visit to the Congress Mine would convince the most skeptical of the mineral resources of the southern part of the county. The pay roll at Congress embodies 425 men and this number is regularly employed. The present mines have plenty of gold in sight…” The slag and tailings that appear in this photograph attest to that fact.

During the 1950’s, after the mine shut down, the town didn't last long and the post office was moved to the railroad hub at Congress Junction. Today, the town known as "Congress" is actually old Congress Junction, and little remains of the original town site.