ghost town
A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...
in
Pinal County
Pinal County is a county 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 est ...
,
Arizona
Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
, United States; it is mostly known for the large copper mine there. It was named after the nearby Ray mine, which was begun by the Ray Copper Company in 1882, after the sister of one of the miners, whose name was Bullinger.
The town of Kearny was founded by the Kennecott Mining Company in 1958 as a
planned community
A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...
to accommodate the populations of Ray,
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
and
Sonora
Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...
, which were about to be enveloped by Kennecott's copper mine. Relocation to Kearny began in 1958.
The
Copper Basin Railway
The Copper Basin Railway is an List of Arizona railroads, Arizona short-line railroad that operates from a connection with the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) at Magma to Winkelman, Arizona, Winkelman, in of length. The railroad also has a branch ...
ran through the town.
A newspaper, the Arizona Copper Camp, was published in Ray from 1910 to 1920.Arizona Copper Camp newspaper /ref>
Notable people
*
Edward Landers Drew
Ed Drew (August 22, 1865 – May 15, 1911) was an Arizona rancher, miner, and lawman in the final years of the Old West. He is most remembered for his family of pioneers and his death during a shootout near Ray.Tom Graeff, actor, producer, director, born in Ray
*
Gory Guerrero
Salvador Guerrero Quesada (January 11, 1921 – April 18, 1990), better known as Gory Guerrero, was one of the premier Mexican-American professional wrestlers in the early days of Lucha Libre when most wrestlers were imported from outside Mexi ...
, wrestler, born in Ray
* Jeanmarie Simpson, theatre and film artist and activist, born in Ray