American Flag is a

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...

Pinal County, Arizona Pinal County is in the central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. According to the 2020 census, the population of the county was 425,264, making it Arizona's third-most populous county. The county seat is Florence. The county was founded in 187 ...

, five miles southeast of

Oracle An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination. Description The word '' ...

. The town was established in the late 1870s but shortly after 1890, the town had become abandoned.

History

American Flag was founded by

prospector Prospector may refer to: Space exploration * Prospector (spacecraft), a planned lunar probe, canceled in 1962 * ''Lunar Prospector'', a NASA spacecraft Trains * Prospector (train), a passenger train operated by the Denver & Rio Grande Western ra ...

Isaac Lorraine as the American Flag

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

and

mining camp Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

in the late 1870s. In 1881 the town was sold to the Richardson Mining Company of New York. The town was small and had a population of about forty on average. Little is known about the mining camp at this time. Eventually Isaac Lorraine would turn his attention to

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

, where he later built the American Flag Ranch. By 1884, the population was only fifteen so the post office closed a few years later and the town was left unoccupied. The post office was moved to the American Flag Ranch headquarters in 1880. The building still stands, and is the oldest surviving territorial post office building in Arizona. The building is now on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

, and is preserved by the Oracle Historical Society.American Flag Ranch
Oracle Historical Society

References

External links

Hike to American Flag Ranch
{{authority control Ghost towns in Arizona Former populated places in Pinal County, Arizona Mining communities in Arizona 1870s establishments in Arizona Territory Populated places established in the 1870s

History

See also

References

External links