In 1880, the rowdy town of Benson was born when the Southern Pacific Railroad Company recognized a market for transporting mining and ranching products to growing enterprises in the southeastern Arizona Territory. Leading up to the town's incorporation in 1924, nearly all railroads in the Southwest led to Benson, which by that time boasted several hotels, liveries, taverns, churches, and a smelter. By the 1940s, U.S. Highway 80 and State Route 86 junction brought weary travelers to enjoy Benson's clean air, artesian water, and mountain vistas, creating the core of a multiethnic city whose progeny continue to keep the town alive today as the "Gateway to the Land of Cochise."
