Charleston, Arizona
| Charleston, Arizona | |
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| Ghost town | |
Charleston, circa 1885
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 Charleston, Arizona
Charleston, Arizona
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| Coordinates: 31°38′9″N 110°10′21″W / 31.63583°N 110.17250°WCoordinates: 31°38′9″N 110°10′21″W / 31.63583°N 110.17250°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Arizona |
| County | Cochise |
| Founded | 1879 |
| Abandoned | 1888 |
| Named for | Charles D. Handy |
| Elevation | 3,989 ft (1,216 m) |
| Population (2009) | |
| • Total | 0 |
| Time zone | MST (no DST) (UTC-7) |
| Post Office opened | April 17, 1879 |
| Post Office closed | October 24, 1888 |
Charleston is a ghost town in Cochise County in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Arizona. It was occupied from the late-1870s through the late-1880s, and was located in what was then known as the Arizona Territory. Located on the west bank of the San Pedro River, Charleston's economy was based on milling silver ore mined from nearby Tombstone in the community of Millville, located directly across the river.
Charleston is located at 31°38′9″N 110°10′21″W / 31.63583°N 110.17250°W (31.635833, -110.1725), on the west bank of the San Pedro River, about 9 miles (14 km) southwest of Tombstone. Millville is located directly across the river, on the east bank.
Charleston was originally settled as a residence for the mill workers in Millville, on the opposite bank of the San Pedro River, where two mills were built to process ore from the silver mines of nearby Tombstone. The mills were constructed in Millville due to a lack of water, needed for refinement, in the immediate vicinity of Tombstone. The mills, one operated by the Tombstone Mill and Mining Company and the other by the Corbin Mill and Mining Company, processed or "stamped" the silver ore into fine powder in preparation for smelting. The mills began operations in 1879, and at their peak from 1881–1882, they processed almost $1.4 million in silver bullion in one year.
Once the future site of Tombstone's mills was established, the land that was to become Charleston was claimed by Amos Stowe on October 28, 1878, and planning for the town began immediately thereafter. The town consisted of twenty-six blocks with sixteen lots each, laid out in a grid. Due to an attractive leasing system set up by Stowe, businesses flocked to Charleston, and by May 1879, the town already housed approximately 40 buildings, including a post office which opened on April 17, 1879. Millville's post office opened shortly after Charleston's, on May 26, 1879, but shut down less than a year later on May 3, 1880 as it became clear that Charleston was to be the primary residence for the people of both towns. While Millville was named for its primary function as a milling location, Charleston took its name from its original postmaster, Charles D. Handy.
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