A black and white postcard of the homes on Opera Drive. The front caption reads “Opera Dive and Brewery Gulch, Bisbee, Arizona. The message typed on the back reads: “WE TRUST you and your friends will accept this as a personal and cordial invitation to visit our store and inspect the wonderful and beautiful display of Holiday Goods. They are for every age. Genuine Mexican drawn and needle work is one of the features. The store is "brim full." Central Pharmacy Brewery” The postcard was postmarked Bisbee December 3, 1909 and was sent by Central Pharmacy Brewery Avenue to (name illegible) Lowell, Arizona. The postcard was published by United Art Publishing Company New York City.

Bisbee’s first residences were simple miners shacks assembled from the trees in the surrounding area. They sprang up around potential mining claims. As investment from the east poured in after viable ore bodies were found, the copper camp’s population rose dramatically leading to overcrowded wooden residences. These dwellings were vulnerable to flood and fire, especially those build lower in the canyon. The great October Fire of 1908 demolished most of these structures along Main Street in Bisbee. In the aftermath, many structures were rebuilt of brick and concrete. Many of Bisbee’s homes and boarding houses were built with porches that decades later were remodeled into sun rooms or mud rooms. After Phelps Dodge ended copper mining in Bisbee the population collapsed and houses went for cheap bringing in artists, hippies, and real estate speculators that permanently altered culture of the town. Today, many of the houses and other buildings in old Bisbee have been transformed into rentals, apartments, or otherwise including the former YMCA and more recently the Bisbee High School.

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