Mission

Vulture City Preservation Inc, a non-profit, 501©(3) organization, is dedicated to the restoration, preservation and public accessible cultural enrichment of historic Vulture City, Arizona’s largest gold strike and best restored authentic ghost town.  Vulture City Preservation focuses its money on both the continuous preservation of seventeen rare 19th century buildings as well as funds educational programs that provide an exciting interactive experience for visitors of all ages. The foundation staffs through a grass roots effort that relies strongly on volunteer efforts and where grant support would make a significant difference in number of tour guides and educational and arts related programs Vulture City can offer.      

Goals

Our main focus is to continue to preserve all restored buildings, artifacts, and to grow our educational programs. The real value of the vulture mine site is to help visitors to gain an intimate understanding of Arizona history. The broader perspective is to create a living museum. Not only touring the historic townsite established in 1863 but to travel back in time and understand what it was really like to live, work and survive in Vulture City, a Territory town. Our vision of a living museum includes workshops and classes where visitors and tours can participate in hands on classes and workshops. Where they learn, for example, the skills of blacksmithing, earn their certificate and take home the item/s they forged.

History

The Vulture mine began in 1863 when Henry Wickenburg, a prospector from California's gold rush,  discovered a quartz outcropping containing gold. Shortly after the mine was established a small mining town was developed. It was called Vulture City. The town once had a population of several thousand citizens with such amenities as a brothel, mess hall, post office and several saloons. 

The desert surrounding the Vulture Mine did not give much in the way of produce, so an enterprising individual by the name of Jack Swilling went into the Phoenix Valley and reopened the irrigation canals left by the native peoples. Agriculture was brought back to the valley, and a grain route was established. This grain route still exists today under the name of Grand Avenue. Phoenix, Arizona, grew up around the agricultural center spawned by the needs of the Vulture Mine.

In 1942, the Vulture Mine was shut down by a regulatory agency for processing gold. This was a violation at the time because all resources were to be focused on the war effort. The mine appealed the shut-down order and reopened, but with less vigor. A few years later, the mine closed for an extended period. The mine is in operation once again on a separate property but is no longer open to the public.