Miami: Copper Mining and Historic Buildings

Miami is a destination where the history of copper mining can be seen in its stairways, bridges, Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, and exhibitions. Families traveling together can combine different interests: the Keystone Stairs offer mining history and panoramic views, the Bullion Plaza Museum and Cultural Center explores ore processing, while historic buildings provide further insights into the community’s development.

The Keystone Stairs and the History of Bridge Construction

The Keystone Stairs were built between 1910 and 1915. Over time, they provided thousands of miners with access to the shafts of the Van Dyke Mine to the west and the Miami Copper Mine to the east of the stairs. The original Keystone Stairway consisted of 155 steps and 12 ramps. Today, visitors and tourists can safely use the restored Keystone Stairs. As you climb, panoramic views open up over Miami and the surrounding copper mining operations.

The history of this route includes the Keystone Avenue Bridge. It was the first concrete arch bridge built in Miami and was constructed in 1918 as a direct route to the Keystone Stairs. In addition, five identical Luten arch bridges are still in operation today. They connect Live Oak Street, via Highway 60, with Sullivan Street in Miami’s historic downtown. A Luten arch is a patented concrete arch bridge design developed by Daniel B. Luten of Indianapolis, Indiana. These details make bridge construction a subject in its own right alongside the history of mining.

School History, Church, and YMCA

Bullion Plaza opened in 1923 during segregation as an elementary school for the community’s Mexican and Apache students. Today, the mining exhibits at the Bullion Plaza Museum and Cultural Center illustrate the various processes that ore undergoes to extract copper. This makes it possible to view the site’s history through both its social development and its economic foundation.

Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church is also one of Miami’s historic points of reference. Its solemn dedication took place on July 1, 1917, at 10 a.m. In 2008, the church was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The region’s Catholic history goes back even further: Catholic believers in the Miami and Globe areas were first officially served by Catholic missionaries in 1876.

The Miami YMCA was built in 1917 and completed in February 1918. It is one of only two surviving buildings in Miami constructed in the Neoclassical style. Historically, the YMCA served the growing copper mining community as accommodation, a place for socializing, and a venue for recreation. For visitors interested in architecture, this building adds another social dimension to the history of the school, church, mining, and bridges.

Copper Mining as an Engaging Experience

The mining exhibits show not only the importance of copper but also the individual processing steps. In open-pit copper mining, haulage vehicles are loaded with an average of 240 tons of blasted ore from the open pit. The ore is then crushed in several stages and treated with chemicals in the concentrator to separate the minerals. Such specific processes give the history of mining a technical dimension that can also be interesting for older children and teenagers.

When looking for a vacation rental in Miami, it is therefore worth deciding first what you would most like to focus on. If historic architecture is your main interest, the church, YMCA, and history of bridge construction can take center stage. If you are more interested in the development of copper mining, the Keystone Stairs and the exhibitions at the Bullion Plaza Museum and Cultural Center offer different ways to explore the subject.

Other Places for Orientation

If you would like to compare Miami with other places, the main page also features Payson, Globe, Young and Tonto Basin.

For the main travel overview: Gila County.