American Flag is a ghost town in Pinal County, Arizona, five miles (8.1 km) southeast of Oracle. The town was established in the late 1870s, but shortly after 1890, the town had become abandoned.
American Flag, Arizona | |
|---|---|
 American Flag post office | |
  American Flag Location in the state of Arizona  American Flag American Flag (the United States) | |
| Coordinates: 32°34′48″N 110°43′13″W / 32.58000°N 110.72028°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Arizona |
| County | Pinal |
| Founded: | circa 1870 |
| Abandoned: | circa 1890 |
| Founded by | Isaac Lorraine |
| Named for | The American flag |
| Elevation | 4,423 ft (1,348 m) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 0 |
| Time zone | UTC-7 (MST (no DST)) |
| Post Office Opened: | December 28, 1880 |
| Post Office Closed: | July 16, 1890 |
History
editAmerican Flag was founded by prospector Isaac Lorraine as the American Flag mine and mining camp in the late 1870s. In 1881, the town was sold to the Richardson Mining Company of New York. The town was small and had a population of about forty, on average. Little is known about the mining camp at this time. Eventually Isaac Lorraine would turn his attention to cattle, where he later built the American Flag Ranch. By 1884, the population was only fifteen, so the post office closed a few years later and the town was left unoccupied.[2]
The post office was moved to the American Flag Ranch headquarters in 1880. The building still stands, and is the oldest surviving territorial post office building in Arizona.[3] The building is now on the National Register of Historic Places, and is preserved by the Oracle Historical Society.[4]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: American Flag Ranch
- ^ Sherman, James E; Barbara H. Sherman (1969). Ghost Towns of Arizona. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-0843-6.
- ^ Oracle history
- ^ American Flag Ranch[permanent dead link], Oracle Historical Society