Brick commercial blocks line narrow streets that run downhill, with hillside houses climbing behind.
What Old Bisbee looks like
Main Street runs through the district with two- and three-story brick fronts on both sides, and the buildings stand packed side by side. Brewery Gulch and O.K. Street run downhill toward Queen Avenue and Naco Road, and the hillside above them is scrub with houses set into the slope.
Most of the buildings date from 1895 to 1915, and the fronts are mostly brick with projecting cornices and pediments. The at 20 Main Street keeps its brickwork and cast iron columns, and the Muheim Block at 13 to 17 Brewery Gulch has a substantially intact exterior.
The at 1 Main Street is two stories of brick and concrete. The Copper Queen Library and Post Office at 6 to 8 Main is three stories of concrete and gypsum block. Farther along, the at 27 Main Street is one story with its entry set back under a marquee. The at 87 to 91 Main Street is three stories of concrete, faced with brick.
The stands on Howell Avenue, a four-story brick and stucco building with green balconies on its front. The Pythian Castle has an octagonal tower with a spire, and the Citizens Bank and Trust at 21 Main Street has a large arch over its recessed entry.
Frame houses climb the hillsides behind the commercial strip, and their gabled roofs show above the scrub. Strings of bulbs hang across Main Street, and overhead power lines cross most wide frames.
Shot in Old Bisbee
Main Street in the historic district stood in for 1860 Chicago in Lost River, a movie shot in 2007 about the Civil War aide Anna Carroll. The Travel Channel series Resort Rescue also made an episode about the Copper Queen Hotel on Howell Avenue.
Lost River, movie shot in 2007
Main Street in the historic district
Played a Chicago street, Chicago, Illinois, 1860
Crews took over Main Street in the historic district for a make-believe 1860 Chicago political parade, with horse-drawn carriages and political contenders coming down the block. The producer said the town still has the feel and look of an old 1800s town. Street View
Resort Rescue, Nude and Rude episode, 2015
Copper Queen Hotel
Hidden cameras in the hotel recorded its lobby and a busy lunch service for the Travel Channel series Resort Rescue. The host came in to help the hotel. Street View
What Old Bisbee can double for
Main Street in Jerome, Arizona
Jerome is a copper town on steep hillsides above the Verde Valley, and its downtown had brick buildings by 1900. That puts it in the same decades as these blocks and on the same kind of slope. The hillsides show in wide frames, so tighter street-level shots keep the slope and the open valley out of the picture. Try searching steep hillsides brick downtown now.
Main Street in Ouray, Colorado
The whole of Main Street in Ouray is a National Historic District, and most of its buildings date from the late nineteenth century. The town sits at the narrow head of a valley with steep mountains on three and a half sides, a setting close to this district's. Mountains rise above the roofline in wide shots, so tighter street-level frames keep the comparison convincing. Try searching steep mountain town main street now.
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