Miami

An Arizona native told me recently that when he was growing up he thought Globe-Miami was the name of  a single town because they were always linked in weather forecasts. Miami is a little sister town to Globe. They both share the challenges that have come with the decline of copper mining in the region. 

That explains a lot about Miami's business district, which has a wealth of historic buildings but few merchants.  Too many buildings are boarded up and begging for renovation. That includes the two-story Traveler's Hotel  (below left) on Sullivan Street that backs up to Bloody Tanks Wash. 

The red and blue building (below right) was a Miami firehouse and later a hotel. Colorful downtown buildings have brightened up what would otherwise be a black and white historic district. 

The Bullion Plaza Cultural Center & Museum, 150 N. Plaza Circle, tells the stories of the Miami's mining history.

Another bright spot  in Miami is the Copper Miner's Rest bed and breakfast on Chisolm Avenue. It was the Soderman Building constructed from 1917-21 to replace a 1910 frame building, according to reports. The Sodermans operated the Wasa Bar, named for a region in their native Finland, on the ground floor, and a rooming house above it. Naturally, it included a Finnish sauna that operated in Miami until 1950. The Soderman Building has been a B&B for about a decade. 

Founded: 1907
Elevation: 3,411
Population: 1,774

This inn operates in a building that housed a bar and rooming house nearly a century ago.

The boarded up Travelers Hotel along Sullivan Street.

The view down Keystone Avenue to a red building that once was a firehouse.

A mid-1970s Chevrolet Nova is parked along Inspiration Avenue in a view looking north to some of Miami's hillside homes.