A colorized photo postcard of the El Paso & Southwestern Railroad Depot, circa November 3rd 1907. A railcar is parked on the right of the depot. Houses on Chihuahua Hill can be seen. Horse-drawn wagons are parked to the left of the depot. The front caption on the bottom left reads: “5848 Bisbee, Arizona. E.P. & S.W. Depot.” The writing in ink on the top front reads: “where you see the arrow.” The postcard was sent by Roy Tietsort to Miss Grace E. Murdoch, Bay Port, Michigan. The message on the back in ink reads: "Nov. 3, '07 Hello Grace, Here is where I landed with my heart in my mouth, and you would not wonder at it if you were to come to a place like this & not know a soul. My heart is normal again, however, Roy." The postcard was published by C.W. Barker Bisbee, Arizona as part of the PCK series. Lynn Nadeau Collection.

The expansion of the railways was pivotal to Bisbee’s development. For new arrivals into town the train provided a far faster, smoother mode of transport as compared to horse or mule drawn stagecoaches. It accelerated the flow of ore outgoing ore and incoming flow of people and product into town. The Copper Queen Consolidated Mining Company built their own railway that laid thirty-six miles to reach the town of Fairbank. The Arizona and Southeastern Railroad Company incorporated on May 24th, 1888 and Ben Williams served as its president. The main line was laid out by El Paso & Southwestern that laid 1,100 miles of train tracks. The train depot in front of the Phelps Dodge Mercantile Warehouse was the gateway for new visitors to Bisbee. In the area were the train depot once stood are three flag poles bearing the American, Arizonan and Mexican flags.

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