About 12 miles up the road from the Superstition Mountains Museum (visited in our previous Travelogues post) is another fabulous remnant of the rustic Old West. Tortilla Flat started out as a gold mining camp just like many other places did throughout Arizona during the second half of the 19th century. Unlike some of those other settlements, Tortilla Flat never completely faded away to become a ghost town.
While gold mining ultimately didn’t pan out, Tortilla Flat survived into the 20th century, becoming a shipping point for suppliers building the Roosevelt Dam which took six years to complete during 1905-1911. All construction materials had to be moved 97 long miles up the rugged Apache Trail and through the Tonto Basin to the dam site. It definitely took adventurous, determined and sturdy types of people to survive and work in such challenging climate and terrain.
Without a doubt, it was also quite the traveling adventure when Tortilla Flat became a stagecoach destination starting in 1904. From a 21st century standpoint it’s hard to imagine what it would have been like traveling – really roughing it in the relentless summer heat without air conditioning, over the unpaved Apache Trail bouncing around in a wagon, without shock absorbers, pulled by horses on what must have seemed to be endless miles.
Tortilla Flat probably never had more than 120 or so people at its peak around 1940. The one-room school house, which still exists had 14 students at the most! Today Tortilla Flat is believed to be the smallest town in Arizona to still have its own post office – with a current population of only six people! Still, this is a fun place to drop by and check out the general store and the restaurant with their unique money-papered walls.
The Superstition Saloon & Restaurant with real saddles for seating is a great stop for an ice-cold brew and a burger or chili. All kinds of treasures can also be found at the gift shop next door. Definitely check that out before heading home. For more information about this famous historic place, check out the official website: www.tortillaflataz.com.
