Ruby, Arizona, is an abandoned mining town.
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As one of the best-preserved ghost towns in the American Southwest, Ruby, Arizona, remains a reminder of the Wild West. With a mine founded in the 1870s that produced gold, silver, lead, zinc, and copper, Ruby officially became a town when it opened its first post office in 1910, according to Ruby Mines, Inc.
Wild West history buffs aren’t the only people interested in Ruby; true crime enthusiasts and nature lovers should also be fascinated with Ruby.
The town and the surrounding area were the sites of three horrific double homicides known as the Ruby Murders. According to Legends of America, these led to one of the largest manhunts in Southwest history.
“The crimes of which you have been convicted are perhaps the cruelest ever committed in Arizona,” Judge W.A. O’Connor reportedly told the accused. “Let the punishment that awaits you serve as a warning to others who may contemplate the commission of similar crimes.”
The mines are now home to an enormous colony of Mexican free-tail bats. The giant cloud of bats can be seen rushing from the mine entrances at sundown during the summer.
Officially abandoned in 1940, the remains of Ruby are now on private land, and it’s one of the best-preserved western towns in the US.
