Established in March 1909, Courtland’s Post Office was one of the town’s most enduring features. It lasted until 1942 — about 20 years longer than the town itself.

Shortly after the turn of the century, surface conditions indicating a mother lode of copper had people flocking to a site 20 miles east of Tombstone. However, like so many other wide-eyed miners and their families, the people would discover how quickly even the most metropolitan of Western towns rises and falls in the desert.
By 1908, Courtland, Ariz., had a population of approximately 2,000, fed largely by four mining companies that established offices in the area: Calumet & Arizona, Copper Queen and Leadville. W.J. Young and his brother, town namesake Courtland, established the fourth, Great Western Mining Co., in 1909, on the southeast corner of the Dragoon Mountains. In short order, the companies developed more than 8,000 feet of underground mining shafts.
Two railroads served the community — the Mexico & Colorado owned by the El Paso & Southwestern and the Arizona & Colorado operated by the Southern Pacific.
The town was well on its way to rivaling the most cosmopolitan settlements of the time.
Courtland had a telephone and telegraph line, two stage stations, an ice cream parlor, a movie theater, restaurants, a mercantile shop, pool halls, a barber shop, a bank, a meat market and real estate brokers. Baseball games and horse races provided entertainment. A post office was established on March 13, 1909.
Courtland even boasted a car dealership called Southern Arizona Auto Company.
The exponentially expanding town’s growth couldn’t be stopped. The Courtland Arizonan described the town’s railroad depot platform as “far less than adequate to accommodate the madding throng which gathers several times a day to assess newcomers and deserters alike.”
Like other burgeoning frontier towns, Courtland also had its share of drunks, gunfights and mischief. The town’s most famous murder occurred when Mrs. Old shot and killed her husband Billy Old, an Arizona ranger. It seems the bonds of matrimony were nary enough for Billy, who reportedly still had an eye for the ladies. Mrs. Old attended Billy’s funeral in handcuffs.
A sturdy jail was constructed — which still stands today — after an inmate tried to escape the original ramshackle jail by setting all of his possessions on fire. The old building barely held, and the deputy sheriff discovered the daring would-be escapee unconscious from smoke inhalation the next morning.
By 1910, Courtland had a school, a Wells Fargo station and two hotels. A chamber of commerce formed in 1911, with the first item of business being supplying the town with water. Soon five miles of water pipes were installed by the Courtland Water and Ice Company.
In March 1916, the Guggenheim Foundation started a mining outfit, the Needles Mining Company. Ore prospects were so good at the time that companies fought over claims.
However, by 1918, the town’s luck began to run out. As shaft after shaft turned from producing high-grade ore to worthless limestone, the miners — and fortunes of the town — started moving on.
On Sept. 12, 1920, the Graham County Bulletin reported Western Mining showed a profit of only a few hundred dollars during the preceding year; the Calumet & Arizona broke even; other companies lost money.
The Courtland Arizonan closed its doors with its Dec. 12, 1920, issue; a mass exodus of citizens followed. Stores, hotels and the railroad shut down.
The post office remained in operation until 1942.
— Jane Eppinga. Photo courtesy of the Arizona Historical Society.
— Sources: Stevens-Duryea Museum. “Ghost Towns of Arizona” by James and Barbara Sherman; Courtland Arizonan newspaper.