Allen, also known as Allen City 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), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by All ...

in Pima County in southern

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. It was founded fifty miles southeast of Ajo, c. 1880. By 1886, the post office closed and the town has been abandoned since.

History

Allen was founded by John Brackett Allen, he named his town after himself. The town was near Quijotoa, Allen is on the western side of the

Ben Nevis Mountain Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett or Benson, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben (in he, בֶּן, ''son of'') forms part of Hebrew surnames, e.g. Abraham ben Abraham ( he, ...

and Quijotoa is on the east. When American settlers began flocking to Quijotoa, General Brackett was among them who decided he wanted to build a hotel. So Allen's hotel was built six miles from Quijotoa and the town of Allen sprang up around it. The hotel, according to sources, served the best liquors in the territory and was also one of the more luxurious hotels on the frontier. The small settlement had the hotel, a half dozen houses, a few tents and a post office established in 1880. Allen no longer had a post office in 1886. Allen's population was 180 in 1890.

References

{{Pima County, Arizona Ghost towns in Arizona Former populated places in Pima County, Arizona