You know the movies which show Wyatt Earp getting on the train in Tombstone? Um...well, Tombstone's first railroad didn't arrive until 1903... two decades after the shoot-out at the O.K. Corral. Until then, if you lived in Tombstone and wanted to hop on the train, you first had to ride or take the stage to Fairbank. The town came into being with the building of the railroad in 1881 along the San Pedro river, and it provided many things for the residents of Cochise County. Because of the multiple railroad tracks into Fairbank, it provided travel to and from just about anywhere. The railroads also provided a central capacity for the shipment of ore and other materials from the several mills in the area. But because of its proximity to the San Pedro river, it also provided fertile agricultural land for growing food crops. If you ate vegetables in Tombstone, Bisbee, or Fort Huachuca in the early decades of the 1900's, chances are, they came from the Chinese farmers who tended the land around Fairbank.

The Fairbank schoolhouse was built in the 1920's and was open until 1944. The last residents left town in the 1970's. What you will find now is an historic park which includes a restored schoolhouse, some outlying buildings of varying vintage, picnic areas, its own "boot-hill" cemetery with a fantastic view, and access to miles of walking, hiking, and birding trails along the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area.

Though the schoolhouse is open only Friday through Sunday, the rest of the Fairbank Historic Site is open from dawn to dusk, every day of the year. See the Fairbank website for further information on this peaceful, shaded, and beautiful little corner of Cochise County.