Greaterville

MinerDiggins FootPrint of Greaterville, Arizona is my favorite one yet. Not only is it great placer ground, but the area has a fascinating history. It is also one of the most beautiful places to prospect in Arizona.

The Greaterville placers were discovered in 1874. They proved to be the largest placers in Southern Arizona. This image was taken in one of the gulches near Greaterville. It looks very similar today. Most of the gold pulled from this area was done with rocker boxes like this.

The history of this area has all the elements of a classic western mining town. From the early years when Apaches were still around in Southern Arizona, people have been lying, stealing, cheating, fighting and killing to get a piece of this rich placer ground.

At the heart of the Greaterville FootPrint is Kentucky Camp which is now a forest service Heritage Site. This area was the headquarters of the Santa Rita Water & Mining Company who built an extensive pipeline to bring snowmelt from the mountains down to the dry gulches where the gold was just waiting to be harvested. The company failed, the owner died and the property was in probate for 22 years, ending up in the hands of the Tucson attorney. Not much mining has been done since.

This is the best placer land in Southern Arizona and it is now part of the Coronado National Forest, acquired by a lengthy and somewhat controversial land swap in the 1980's. This 3000 acres is withdrawn from mineral entry (no claims can be staked) which leaves lots of area open for the prospector.

The town of Greaterville itself is a couple gulches north of Kentucky Camp and is in private hands. Almost all of the land in the area is in the public domain.

Below is a link to the best document for prospectors on the area.

USGS Bulletin # 430-A - Contributions to Economic Geology 1909 - (pdf 3.5 MB)

Check out the general history of the area and learn about our Greaterville FootPrint.