Volunteer revitalization group brings help, hope to San Manuel

Jul 28, 2023

The crusher, concentrator and smelter at San Manuel in 1971, after a $200 million expansion of the facility. The smelter got a second smoke stack. In the background, the company town of San Manuel got another 200 houses.

When the San Manuel Copper Mine closed about two decades ago, the community lost its identity and much of what made it operate.

From then on, San Manuel, about an hour northeast of Tucson, became defined by what it was missing: a hospital, a grocery store, a cemetery, a community swimming pool. Hope.

But a few years ago, a group of locals who took immense pride in their unincorporated community started itching for change. They reached out to other former mining towns to find out how they could rebuild their identity.

They started to see a future for San Manuel that wasn't just about everything the community lost when the mine closed, but about what the community could be.

They could not incorporate: becoming a town was too costly. But they could find ways to have a collective voice and meet the needs of their neighbors. They could bring in new businesses. They could rebuild a park.

They could put San Manuel back on the map, despite all it had lost.

They got some help from Local First Arizona, and the San Manuel Revitalization Coalition was born. And the signs of rebirth are all over the community, where the San Pedro River flows and the Galiuro Mountains create the scenic surroundings.

Off the main road through town, a tiny grocery store named Simply Something provides fresh produce and plants. The UTV rental place sits across the parking lot, a sign of the outdoor recreation potential of the area. New murals dot the brick buildings, including the revamped community center taken over from the county. Newly installed park equipment sits outside its doors. A chili cook-off brought in hundreds to the small airport, some who flew their planes in to hear live music and test chili recipes.

Weeds poke through the cool deck around the empty San Manuel pool.

San Manuel has some untapped gems: There's an old golf course that could be revitalized. There's an airfield for model airplanes and an airport for real ones, both unheard of in tiny towns. There are eight churches, but no bars. If you ask a local in San Manuel, they can rattle off a list of ideas to make the town better and whom they’re talking with to try to do it.

The collapse of a company town is a classic Western tale and one common to many rural Arizona communities. The mine provided everything, from jobs to food to health care. But once those mines ran out of ore or stopped making money, the mines closed and the companies left — but the people stayed. And without their major employer, they withered.

Becoming a town is out of reach for many of these communities because it would increase costs for residents too much. And beyond the costs, the idea of instituting a bunch of rules and guidelines doesn't sit right with people who chose the independent, unincorporated lifestyle for a reason. But without a town, they have no centralized voice. There's no one to go to when there's a problem.

If the model used by San Manuel works, other unincorporated areas could follow suit. Sure, a nonprofit does not have the same power or finances as a town. But they can get grants to fund local projects and come together to advance their area outside of a formal government structure.

San Manuel, like Ajo before it, put together a nonprofit board that oversees functions that a mayor or town would. The San Manuel Revitalization Coalition was established in 2020 after 200 community members came together to do something good for the place they call home, according to the group.

The coalition was formed after a year of conversations between community members and representatives of Pinal County, the Mammoth-San Manuel School District, Local First Arizona and the local nonprofit Copper Town Association. A nonprofit, the coalition is managed by a community-selected board and works to improve access to resources that are usually not found in unincorporated areas.

Unincorporated communities dot the Arizona landscape. If a nonprofit model could give a voice to these communities without breaking the bank in San Manuel and Ajo, it just might work for other places, too. Already, San Manuel, the new kid on the nonprofit block, sees their hard work realized. The residents hope they can become an example to others.

San Manuel is near Oracle and Mammoth, but Tucson is the nearest large city. San Manuel sprung up in the 1950s to house the workers at the new copper mine. Most of the block houses built by the mining company still look identical to one another, though a coat of paint here and some yard decorations there show a resident's flavor.

The San Manuel Copper Mine was once the "world's largest underground copper mine," Star archives show. It operated for 44 years, with its products leaving town via the San Manuel Arizona Railroad Company. Mining stopped in 1999 because prices fell and the amount of ore that could be mined declined. In 2003, the mine closed for good.

Though the mine closure reverberates in the community's blood, decades later, some residents wanted to move on.

And that all started with the CAT ladies, whose work had nothing to do with cats.

Before there was the revitalization coalition, there was the Community Action Team, a volunteer group of a few dedicated women who were fighting to literally clean up their community. Gilda Macbain moved to the area nine years ago to be closer to her grandkids and started getting involved about two years later.

The volunteer-run San Manuel Revitalization Committee started in 2020 to improve conditions in the unincorporated area and make life better fo…

"I thought, ‘I’m just going to start contacting people and networking,’" Macbain said.

She met a woman who was hosting outdoor movies at the San Manuel airport and invited her to join forces. The duo reached out to a third woman who was doing trash cleanup, and a fourth soon followed.

The so-called "CAT ladies" were formed. During their short tenure, the group was able to get a blighted property on Main Street demolished, then enlisted Pinal County to bring in staff to clean up overgrown vegetation on the median, which is now an annual event.

CAT lasted about two years before it ran out of steam. But Macbain kept going. She stumbled upon similar efforts in Ajo, an unincorporated community in Pima County about two hours west of Tucson. Ajo was years ahead on its revitalization plans.

The New Cornelia copper mine in Ajo closed in the mid-1980s, and many families left town following the loss of their jobs and homes. The mining company sold the remaining homes to seasonal residents. The economy stalled.

In 1993, members of the Tohono O’odham Nation and residents of Ajo and Sonora, Mexico, formed the International Sonoran Desert Alliance to focus on community, culture and the environment. The group, which is located in Ajo, works in desert conservation, cultural preservation and economic development.

Over the course of the next decade, the alliance worked with local residents and a group called Ajo Vision to come up with plans to improve their community and preserve the history of the town.

Saraya Dalton fights the breeze that is trying to strip part of her fry bread/chili tent of some of its sheets at the San Manuel Chili Cook-Off in San Manuel on April 23. Several canopies and displays fell victim to the day's gusty winds at the Ray Blair Airport, and Dalton was trying to prevent her own from taking flight.

The Curley School, a public school that no longer was in use, became the centerpiece of the revitalization strategy. With nearly $10 million raised by the alliance, the school's classrooms became home for 30 artists and artisans, who get affordable studios where they can live and work.

Since the Curley School Artisan Apartments opened in 2007, the alliance added a gallery, clay studio, woodworking shop, commercial kitchen and conference center. And the school campus wasn't the only project; the alliance purchased the town plaza in 2008. Now, both the school and plaza are on the National Register of Historic Places.

San Manuel and Ajo are not the same.

"There's a saying that if you've seen one rural community, you've seen one rural community," said Liza Noland, who worked in rural development at Local First Arizona and helped San Manuel's revitalization efforts.

But they shared enough similarities that Ajo could be an example. Both were unincorporated towns where a mine shut down and decimated the local economy. Both were rural. Both had enough locals with energy who wanted to make changes.

Local First saw potential in San Manuel because San Manuel saw potential in itself. Local First helped facilitate meetings with residents and get the revitalization coalition set up as a nonprofit with its own bylaws. Aaron Cooper, the Ajo alliance's executive director, was part of a team organized by Local First that worked with San Manuel residents to establish the revitalization coalition.

"They found it helpful to see that a lot of these things are doable. On the front end, it can seem pretty overwhelming," Cooper said. "The desire to see a huge shift can take 10 to 15 years down the road, so being able to see (what happened in Ajo) was helpful for them to be able to build morale and support."

Early in the process, San Manuel coalition members gravitated toward flashy redevelopment projects, but Cooper advised them to make sure the organizations they selected were plugged into the community and had the ability to gain momentum and trust. Start small and build from there.

Initially, most residents thought the goal was to incorporate the town. An early town hall meeting drew more than 100 people who were, at best, skeptical. They thought incorporation was on the table, or perhaps something like a homeowners association, Noland said.

Incorporation was never the goal. It couldn't be.

If San Manuel were to incorporate, the cost of taking over their own utilities, fire and law enforcement would bankrupt the community, San Manuel Revitalization Corporation board president Kennedy Ivy said. And while the town has a net worth of $10 million, most of it is held by the school district, Ivy said.

With a fire district, sheriff substation, airport and 3,700 residents all located within the unincorporated area's 1.5 square miles, the potential taxpayers couldn't afford to support incorporation, Ivy said.

Neighborhood kids use the new playground equipment under a sun shade in San Manuel city park.

"It took a lot of convincing to show them there was no interest in incorporating the town and that we’re simply here to improve the lives of our community. It took a solid year," Ivy said. "A lot of people, you’ll hear them say, ‘We like San Manuel the way it is; we don't want it to change.’ I counter that with, `If you're not growing, you’re dying.’"

The revitalization coalition wrote its own bylaws. The initial proponents worked to win over skeptics. They made sure the 15-person elected board represented key parts of the population, including the senior center and a youth member.

CAT lady Macbain, for instance, is now a representative on the board of the revitalization coalition, acting on behalf of the Copper Town Association. Jessie David runs a local Facebook group. The mother of seven started going to meetings to share what was happening with the Facebook group and, like many, was skeptical at first. She eventually became the board's secretary.

"It worked. We listened to what people had to say and acted on it. Now we get calls from people around the county and state wanting to be a part of it," Ivy said. "It's a testament to doing the right thing."

Since the coalition started in 2020, the town has brought in several new businesses, including a marijuana grow operation and a grocery store supported in part by a thrift store. During the pandemic, they helped local kids get wifi access extended to the school parking lot. They organized a National Night Out, movie nights and prescription drug collections. They have cleaned up trash. They are rebuilding park equipment.

All of these improvements stemmed from what the community said they needed: They had a trash problem, not because people were unclean, but because trash collection costs were high. Families wanted more options for their kids and fewer drugs. They needed better internet access to work and go to school. They wanted to be able to work and shop in town.

On the last Saturday of each month, the board gathers at the community center, which was recently reopened thanks to the group's efforts. A newly painted mural on the building's exterior depicts a brightly colored desertscape with javelina, a tortoise and cacti in the center, flanked by a cactus wren on each side. In the foreground on the bottom are depictions of the area's most popular activities: UTVs and shooting, a nod to future hopes to make San Manuel an adventure destination.

Inside the March meeting, dozens of local residents listened as the board went through its agenda. Several in the audience piped up to share problems they’re having, like expensive sewer bills and encounters with stray dogs. They talked about carpooling to the Arizona Capitol to weigh in on a bill at a committee hearing. They looked for a DJ for the highly anticipated chili cook-off, set for a month later at the town's airport.

Deserted streets of San Manuel in November 1954 before mine workers and their families move in. Magma Copper Company worked with Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix to create Webb's first "master-planned community" in Arizona. M-O-W Aldon Construction of California was hired to build homes for 8,000 people.

To put it simply, the residents got a voice. Without a town, there's no central place to bring your concerns. Residents in San Manuel could call the county for help, but they had no centralized voice. Ivy told the crowd he was gathering testimonies and documents about the sewer bills to try to get improvements. As a whole, helping each other, they could maybe force a change.

Everything during the meetings is run by volunteers. The board members are not paid. They set up and break down chairs before and after the meetings. They plan events and community engagement, like helping local kids get prom dresses and organizing a chili cook-off, which is expected to be an annual event.

Since late April, a newly completed mural by Tucson artist Alejandra Trujillo has adorned the side of the community center, the second new mural in the area.

Another new mural, this one at Elks Lodge, was organized in large part by Macbain's granddaughter, Hannah Smallhouse. It tells the story of San Manuel in three frames.

Macbain said the community has improved leaps and bounds since her arrival nearly a decade ago, when the park was in shambles and there was no community center.

While much of the initial skepticism has worn off, the coalition still has big projects in mind and some hot-button issues to contend with. An empty swimming pool, for instance, remains a hotly contested part of San Manuel, with Macbain and others wanting to redevelop it to a destination aquatic center, similar to that in Oro Valley.

So far, Ivy and others on the revitalization committee are opposed, largely due to the expense, but it does not seem like the issue will be going away anytime soon. The empty pool stands out like a beacon. Most everyone has an opinion on the issue.

The "upper" mall in San Manuel is largely vacant, except for a few merchants such as Ace Hardware and Family Dollar.

James Mallot lived and attended school in San Manuel from fourth through 10th grade, moving away with his mother and returning to the area three years ago after meeting his wife.

"I very much enjoyed it when I was here, so I decided to buy a house here," Mallot said.

Mallot isn't as happy living in this version of San Manuel compared to that of his childhood, saying the school has gone "way downhill," with underqualified teachers. With a son in second grade, Mallot is hopeful that better teachers are a part of the community's future. He's also displeased with the school's refusal to repair the pool, which he says falls under its purview.

"They say it's because it’ll cost $10,000, but I don't see how that's too much of an issue for them to do," he said. "If they repair the pool and get it up and running, they can get that money back. I know people would love to go there. I would love to go there again."

Growing up, Mallot was a member of the swim and track team, both of which are no longer active.

"They should still do something for the kids that want to join, because it’ll get the kids active," Mallot said. "Those (teams) were a huge part of what got me through high school with my sanity intact."

Still, when it comes to the revitalization committee's efforts, Mallot has nothing but praise.

"They’re holding a lot of events that are bringing the community together, and I think that's a great thing," he said.

Board president Ivy is not a San Manuel native, but he might as well be, given his dedication to the town. Ivy grew up in San Diego, joined the Navy and moved to Arizona, eventually making his way to San Manuel.

"I fell in love with the town. There's a spirit here I haven't found anywhere else," Ivy said. "I took an interest in things here and decided to help people out in the way I knew how at the time."

He read up on local history. He started a construction business. He's raising his kids there. One day, a woman whom he was working for invited him to a meeting.

"I said, ‘Why not?’ A couple months later, I ended up as president of the coalition," Ivy said.

On a drive around town, the ponytailed young dad can point out any landmark — the old school buildings, the depleted strip mall — and tell you its backstory while sharing his ideas for how it could be part of San Manuel's future. He now works for Pinal County, where his connectedness with the local area pays off.

Kevin Cavanaugh, the Pinal County Supervisor whose district includes San Manuel, said he came to town while campaigning and saw an area "withering on the vine." But even in unincorporated communities, there's a de facto mayor. That was Ivy, Cavanaugh said. Over the past few years, he has seen San Manuel find its future. He helped the woman who started the small grocery store sketch out a business plan on her whiteboard. He worked to get permits quickly for the marijuana grow operation.

Josh Doucette plows his way through his pie, en route to a first-place finish in the kids division of the pie-eating contest at the San Manuel Chili Cook-Off, held at Ray Blair Airport.

"Things are getting done. People are getting motivated. They’re like, no more are we going to be a rundown community where drug dealers run down the streets, where people are parking on the sidewalks. Finally, people said, I've had enough," Cavanaugh said.

Cavanaugh's district will not include San Manuel anymore because of redistricting, but the Coolidge man sees other nearby areas that could operate on the same model.

Although the San Manuel model is different from Ajo's, which also includes a GED program, workforce development and more, Cooper, of Ajo, believes it could translate to other unincorporated areas.

When people are upset or skeptical about change, there's usually love for the community below the surface, Cooper said.

"And if you love a place," he said, the question becomes "what's important about the place and how do we curate that?"

Ivy wants San Manuel's success to translate to other unincorporated areas, too. He knows San Manuel has a lot more work to do — he wants people to be able to stay in town to work, get food and have fun — he doesn't want to stop at San Manuel.

"We don't want to pigeonhole ourselves into something that only works in our town, because when you get to that point, eventually it stops working," he said. "If we could work for other communities that are just starting out the way (Cooper) came out and worked with us, we could create this chain-reaction of communities building communities."

April 23 became a key date in the San Manuel Revitalization Coalition's dawning history: It was the chili cook-off, held on a sunny day at the San Manuel airport. Signs lining the highways pointed the way with a bright yellow arrow.

Vendors with tents sold soaps, art, knives. A live band played crowd favorites. People tasted chili from five cook-off teams and scored it on cards, with chili winners snagging a trophy with a chili pot on it and a tote bag that said, "You may call me the chili champ."

Jessie David, the board's secretary, helped pull together the new San Manuel's big event.

"I'm not from San Manuel, but my husband is, and I've always loved this little town and raising our seven children in it," she said. "I want to see it grow for my children but still be the same small-town feel."

At the festival, kids found something to do: They stuffed their faces in a pie-eating contest as their parents looked on, cheering.

As the wind whipped through the airport, causing some awnings to go flying, neighbors grabbed hold and helped each other stay grounded.

All told, a couple hundred people showed up to eat chili and tacos and spend time together outside.

For a maiden event, it was a great first step. Ivy wants to see even more in the future: more people, more things to do, more community.

But they had to start somewhere. And attendees at the event, along with its planners, said they couldn't have seen something like this chili cook-off happening before the coalition got started.

Next year will be even better.

A pipe to carry concrete to the first 1,000 homes of San Manuel winds through a cholla forest in August, 1953. The first 1,000 homes were intended for "defense workers of San Manuel Copper Company," since a large chunk of money to build the town and the mine came from the federal goverment. Initially, residents could only rent homes for the first two years. Then they would have the option to purchase then.

A miner drills into rock that is part of the San Manuel copper ore body in December, 1955. Explosive charges were place in the holes to blast the ore free.

The sleepy operation, support buildings and Shaft #1 at the San Manuel copper mine near the town of Tiger, Ariz., in 1953, after an investment of more than $100 million dollars by Magma Copper.

San Manuel copper mine Shaft #1 at Tiger in 1953. The townsite, in in the background, was demolished.

The head frame of the shaft at the San Manuel copper mine in 1952, just after Magma Copper secured a $94 million loan from the Reconstruction Finance Corp to dramatically expand the mine operation. Workers had joined Shafts 1 and 2 with 18,000 feet of horizontal tunnels at 1,475-feet-deep.

A miner drills into rock that is part of the San Manuel copper ore body in December, 1955. Explosive charges were place in the holes to blast the ore free.

The sleepy support buildings and Shift #1 at the San Manuel copper mine near the town of Tiger, Ariz., in 1952, prior to an investment of more than $100 million dollars by Magma Copper.

Miners get ready to plunge hundreds if not nearly 2,000 feet below the surface at the head frame of the shaft at the San Manuel copper mine in 1952, just after Magma Copper secured a $94 million loan from the Reconstruction Finance Corp to dramatically expand the mine operation.

Miners in a drift (tunnel), 1475-feet underground in the San Manuel copper mine, unload shoring timber from mine cars in April, 1954.

The head frames of the two 2,950-feet deep production shafts into the San Manuel ore body in 1955.

San Manuel was once the largest underground copper mine in North America. Magma Copper began commercial underground mining in San Manuel in 1956, after sinking two 2,950-foot shafts into the San Manuel ore body in 1953.

Ore milling operations at San Manuel copper mine in 1955. The mine began commercial processing of ore in 1956.

Magma Copper managers interviewing a potential mine employee in 1955 as the company was adding a smelter operation.

Ore milling operations at San Manuel copper mine in 1955. The mine began commercial processing of ore in 1956.

Piers hold up an ore conveyor under construction at the San Manuel mine in 1954.

Mill concentrator building under construction in San Manuel in 1954. It was 700-feet long and 300-feet wide.

Huge ore storage bins atop the 185-foot tall head frames atop the 2,950-foot deep production shafts at San Manuel mine in 1955.

Magma Copper workers blast rock to make way for a 2,950 foot production shaft to access the San Manuel copper ore body in August, 1953.

Wesley P. Goss, president and general manager of Magma Copper, in 1952,

The new copper smelter at San Manuel in December, 1955. At bottom right is the casting wheel, which holds 22 anodes, each weighing 700 pounds. Above is the anode furnace and along the right side to the rear are three converters. Jutting out at left is the reverberatory furnace. The ladle hanging from the gantry crane in the background can hold 30 tons of molten copper.

Managers at the new control center for the San Manuel smelter complex in 1955.

Ore milling operations at San Manuel copper mine in 1955. The mine began commercial processing of ore in 1956.

A horizontal mine passage in the San Manuel copper mine in 1955.

Eight rod mills, right, and 16 ball mills in the 850-foot concentrator building at the San Manuel Mine operation in December, 1955. Steel rods and balls reduce the crusshed copper ore to granular consistency preceding the flotation process.

Thickeners are 300-foot basins in which processed concentrate is dried to a moisture content of seven percent. The concentrate averages 27-percent copper. It will be conveyed to the smelter for final reduction.

Rail line to the crusher, concentrator and smelter at San Manuel in 1955. The ore traveled nine mines from the underground mine to processing.

Ore cars are inverted at the top of the head frame, dumping the ore into huge storage bins that feed ore cars going to the crushers.

The new flotation process in the San Manuel copper mine. Finely-ground ore leaving the concentrators enters the flotation process, where it is mixed with water and reagents move the copper to the surface and tailings to the bottom, where they are carried off underground.

The head frames of the two 2,950-feet deep production shafts into the San Manuel ore body in 1955.

The head frame of the San Manuel Mine. Ore cars are brought up from the shaft and dumped into the storage bins feeding rail cars taking the copper ore to the crushers, the first stage of the copper extraction process.

Sparks fly from blast furnaces in San Manuel in 1975 as copper concentrate is smelted at 2,700-degrees, which turns other elements like iron into slag to be discarded. Beginning in 1975, Magma Copper recovered the sulfur dioxide emissions from the smelter and converted it to sulfuric acid.

Shown in 1975, molten copper as much as 99-percent pure emerges from the San Manuel smelter and poured into molds to create 700-pound anodes that were transported to a refinery to remove other impurities, like gold and silver.

In this photo, probably ca. 1950s, molten copper from the San Manuel smelter, right, is poured into molds which cool to make anodes (being lifted at right), which are further-refined to better-than 99-percent pure.

The completed crusher, concentrator and smelter at San Manuel in 1955. The company town of San Manuel rises in the background.

A Magma Copper handout graphic showing ore flow for the San Manuel smelter.

A miner standing in a tunnel more than 1,000 feet deep in the San Manuel, pauses after a electric ore cars carrying 185 tons of rock passed by in 1975.

San Manuel smelter at full tilt, probably in the 1970s.

The crusher, concentrator and smelter at San Manuel in 1971, after a $200 million explansion of the facility. The smelter got a second smoke stack. In the background, the company town of San Manuel got another 200 houses.

An electrolytic refinery to produce refined copper from copper anodes at San Manuel and was completed in December, 1971.

Townsite for the mining company town of San Manuel in Pinal County north of Tucson in 1953. Magma Copper Company worked with Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix to create Webb's first "master-planned community" in Arizona. M-O-W Aldon Construction of California was hired to build homes for 8,000 people. The first 1,000 homes were intended for "defense workers of San Manuel Copper Company," since a large chunk of money to build the town and the mine came from the federal goverment. Initially, residents could only rent homes for the first two years. Then they would have the option to purchase then.

Superintendent Robert Fleming of the Del E. Webb Construction Co. and engineer John Stephens stand on the site of the San Manuel business district in August, 1953. Magma Copper Company worked with Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix to create Webb's first "master-planned community" in Arizona. M-O-W Aldon Construction of California was hired to build homes for 8,000 people.

The caption is this bandout photo read, "How can engineers do surveying in a land like this?" Engineer John Stephens at the San Manuel townsite prior to clearing. The mining company town of San Manuel under construction in 1954. Magma Copper Company worked with Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix to create Webb's first "master-planned community" in Arizona. M-O-W Aldon Construction of California was hired to build homes for 8,000 people.

A map of the mining company town of San Manuel under construction in 1954. Magma Copper Company worked with Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix to create Webb's first "master-planned community" in Arizona. M-O-W Aldon Construction of California was hired to build homes for 8,000 people. The first 1,000 homes were intended for "defense workers of San Manuel Copper Company," since a large chunk of money to build the town and the mine came from the federal goverment. Initially, residents could only rent homes for the first two years. Then they would have the option to purchase then.

Pinal County supervisors Jay Bateman, left, Frank Williams, and Joy Spray, far right, meet with Del E. Webb general manager L.C. Jacobson at the San Manuel townsite under construction in 1954. Magma Copper Company worked Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix to create Webb's first "master-planned community" in Arizona. M-O-W Aldon Construction of California was hired to build homes for 8,000 people,

The mining company town of San Manuel under construction in 1954. Magma Copper Company worked with Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix to create Webb's first "master-planned community" in Arizona. M-O-W Aldon Construction of California was hired to build homes for 8,000 people.

A brochure for the mining company town of San Manuel under construction ca. 1954. Magma Copper Company worked with Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix to create Webb's first "master-planned community" in Arizona. M-O-W Aldon Construction of California was hired to build homes for 8,000 people. The first 1,000 homes were intended for "defense workers of San Manuel Copper Company," since a large chunk of money to build the town and the mine came from the federal goverment. Initially, residents could only rent homes for the first two years. Then they would have the option to purchase then.

A brochure for the mining company town of San Manuel under construction ca. 1954. Magma Copper Company worked with Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix to create Webb's first "master-planned community" in Arizona. M-O-W Aldon Construction of California was hired to build homes for 8,000 people. The first 1,000 homes were intended for "defense workers of San Manuel Copper Company," since a large chunk of money to build the town and the mine came from the federal goverment. Initially, residents could only rent homes for the first two years. Then they would have the option to purchase then.

A food truck feeds workers clearing the site for the state's "newest city" of San Manuel in Aug, 1953. Magma Copper Company worked with Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix to create Webb's first "master-planned community" in Arizona. M-O-W Aldon Construction of California was hired to build homes for 8,000 people.

The mining company town of San Manuel under construction in 1954. Magma Copper Company worked with Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix to create Webb's first "master-planned community" in Arizona. M-O-W Aldon Construction of California was hired to build homes for 8,000 people.

Deserted streets of San Manuel in November, 1954, prior to rental to mine workers and their families. Magma Copper Company worked with Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix to create Webb's first "master-planned community" in Arizona. M-O-W Aldon Construction of California was hired to build homes for 8,000 people.

Avenue A in the mining company town of San Manuel under construction in 1954. Homes had masonry walls, "modern design" and landscaped yards. Magma Copper Company worked with Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix to create Webb's first "master-planned community" in Arizona. M-O-W Aldon Construction of California was hired to build homes for 8,000 people.

Tommy Blank was the first barber in the mining company town of San Manuel in 1953. He slept in the shop for a few months until his house was built. He raised his family in San Manuel, working as a barber for Magma Copper Company for 34 years until retiring in 1988. His wife, Helen, was a Harvey Girl at the Grand Canyon and went to work in healthcare for Pinal County. They watched San Manuel boom, and finally bust as the mine and refinery were closed in 2003. His granddaughter noted that Tommy served in the U.S. Navy in the South Pacific in WW II and survived a Japanese kamikaze attack.

A cul du sac is paved outside the rental office at the mining company town of San Manuel in December, 1953. Magma Copper Company worked with Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix to create Webb's first "master-planned community" in Arizona. M-O-W Aldon Construction of California was hired to build homes for 8,000 people.

Crews grade the streets of the mining company town of San Manuel under construction in 1954. Magma Copper Company worked with Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix to create Webb's first "master-planned community" in Arizona. M-O-W Aldon Construction of California was hired to build homes for 8,000 people, The mining company town of San Manuel under construction in 1954. Magma Copper Company worked with Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix to create Webb's first "master-planned community" in Arizona. M-O-W Aldon Construction of California was hired to build homes for 8,000 people. The first 1,000 homes were intended for "defense workers of San Manuel Copper Company," since a large chunk of money to build the town and the mine came from the federal goverment. Initially, residents could only rent homes for the first two years. Then they would have the option to purchase then.

Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy Cabral of Clifton, with son Marin in December, 1953, would be become some of the first residents of the mining company town of San Manuel. Magma Copper Company worked with Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix to create Webb's first "master-planned community" in Arizona. M-O-W Aldon Construction of California was hired to build homes for 8,000 people. The first 1,000 homes were intended for "defense workers of San Manuel Copper Company," since a large chunk of money to build the town and the mine came from the federal goverment. Initially, residents could only rent homes for the first two years. Then they would have the option to purchase then.

An electric substation under construction to supply power to the mine, smelter, and town of San Manuel under construction in 1954. Magma Copper Company worked with Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix to create Webb's first "master-planned community" in Arizona. M-O-W Aldon Construction of California was hired to build homes for 8,000 people.

Caitlin Schmidt is the Star's solutions reporter, focusing on potential approaches or solutions to social issues and problems. Contact her at 520-573-4191 or [email protected]. On Twitter: @caitlincschmidt

Arizona Agenda's Rachel Leingang can be reached at [email protected]

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]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;// ]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;// ]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;// ]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;// ]]&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;// ]]&amp;amp;amp;gt;// ]]&amp;amp;gt;// ]]&amp;gt;// ]]&gt;// ]]>

For information about San Manuel, visit sanmanuelaz.org/

To learn more about the San Manuel Revitalization Coalition, visit sanmanuelcoalition.org/

The Star's Caitlin Schmidt teamed up with Rachel Leingang of Arizona Agenda to report this story.

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