Аризона штатындағы Свонси қаласының тарихы

Ghost town in La Paz County, Arizona

Swansea is a ghost town in La Paz County in the U. S. state of Arizona. It was settled circa 1909 in what was then the Arizona Territory. It served as a mining town as well as a location for processing and smelting the copper ore taken from the nearby mines.

Prospecting and mining in the area first began circa 1862, but the remote location and lack of transportation kept activity to a minimum. By 1904, the railroad was coming to nearby Parker, and local miners Newton Evans and Thomas Jefferson Carrigan saw an opportunity to develop the area. Within a few years, the two miners had built a 350 ton furnace, a water pipeline to the Bill Williams River, and hoists for five mine shafts. At its peak, Swansea boasted an electric light company, an auto dealer, a lumber company, two cemeteries, a saloon, theaters, restaurants, barbershops, an insurance agent, a physician, and of course the local mining and smelting facilities.

Swansea is located approximately 25 mile (40 km) northeast of both Bouse and the town of Parker at (34.1700198, 113.8460490). The site is remote, and is only accessible via rough, gravel roads.

US Census data placed the population of the town at 400 in 1910 shortly after it was founded, and 337 in 1920, shortly before it was abandoned. By some accounts, the town's population peaked at about 750 residents, though the rapid rise and fall of the town coupled with the timing of the collection of population data make that figure difficult to substantiate.