Helvetia - Pima County

Where: Pima County in the Santa Rita Mountains

Operation Dates:  1889 to 1921. Post office established on December 12, 1899 and ceased business on December 31, 1921.

Noted Aspects of Town:

Helvetia – is an ancient name for Switzerland.  Switzerland's old Latin name Helvetia comes from the Helvetians, the first tribe settling in this central European region we have written historic records of. The Latin name Helvetia is still being used on Swiss coins and stamps.

(http://official-name-abbreviations-meaning.all-about-switzerland.info/) 

Helvetia was named by a miner, Ben Hefti, in honor of his native Switzerland. It is a word comparable to the English "liberty." (www.gvrhc.org/Library/Helvetia.pdf)

History:  The town of Helvetia started as a camp to support the mines in the Santa Rita Mountains and evolved into a small community with a few adobe brick and wooden buildings. The town consisted of the standard small town convinces including a store, saloon, school, and stage line to close by Tucson and Vail. At its peak the town comprised of around 300 occupants mostly of Hispanic origin due to its proximity to the southern border with Mexico once Arizona became a state in 1912.

Mining in the area was mainly copper and the Helvetia Copper Company of New Jersey acquired most of the claims in the area in 1891. This changed to the Helvetia Copper Company of Arizona in 1903 and a 150-ton smelter was built. The smelter did not prove to be successful with the low copper prices and was shut down within a couple years. Final closing of the mines was around 1911 with the low price of copper.

In the past few years there has been renewed interest in this area by a Canadian Mining Company Hudbay Minerals. The proposed name for the location on the eastern side of the Santa Rita mountains is Rosemont Copper. There was a camp on the east side of the Santa Rita Mountains called Rosemont about 4 miles SE of Helvetia. The newer mining processes and location to other mines in the area are driving the renewed interest. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in time.

Some of the early mine/claim names in the Helvetia-Rosemont District area included: Old Dick, Heavy Weight, Copper World, Mohawk, Leader, Isle Royal, Omega, and Tallyho.

People:  Bill Hart, John Weigle, Ben Hefti, L.M. Grover

What you will see today:  Today there is not much left of Helvetia other than a few deserted adobe walls and collapsed wooden structures. There is a small cemetery that remains and more information can be found on the Arizona Pioneer & Cemetery Research Project web site. (www.apcrp.org/HELVETIA/RESTORATION/Helvetia_Rest_Mast_121009.htm

Acknowledgement: Ghost Towns of Arizona (James E. and Barbra H. Sherman), Arizona Ghost Towns and Mining Camps (Philip Varney)