Gleeson was first known as Turquoise because of the mining of turquoise. The post office from 1890 to 1894 was so named. The site of Turquoise was established by Indians who mined the gemstones in the area later to be called Turquoise Mountain. Later, Tiffany & Company acquired the mines, and the camp of Turquoise was established in 1890. The post office was discontinued four years later, to be r
eestablished in 1900 as Gleeson
John Gleeson later mined here and by 1900 the new post office opened under the name of Gleeson. The town suffered a devastating fire in 1912. An old newspaper clipping located at the Arizona Historical Society from June 8, 1912 describes the $1000,000 fire. Gales, making his rounds before retiring for the night, noticed smoke coming from a warehouse owned by B. Taylor, and gave the alarm by firing five shots as he ran to the building. The fire spread rapidly, taking every building in the block on both sides of the street. Some people, in view of the rapidity with which the fire spread were confident that oil and matches had been used judiciously at various locations. In 1938, Paramont Pictures filmed parts of the Zane Grey novel "The Mysterious Rider" here. Although white men discovered copper, lead, and silver in the area in 1870's, it wasn't until Courtland became a boom town, in 1909, that Gleeson really bloomed. The town was named for an Irishman, John Gleeson, who with his wife, had come to Arizona in the 1890's. Gleeson turned to mining in Pearce, and he did some prospecting. In 1896 he discovered a copper claim near Turquoise. The mine was a good producer. Water was in short supply, so the camp of Turquoise was moved closer to a more adequate source of water and re-named Gleeson, in honor of the claim locator. Several fires devoured Gleeson. The most devastating of them burned twenty-eight buildings in June 1912. But the town was rebuilt, and prospered, at least during the early years of the twentieth century. Today Gleeson the remains of a school, the Silver Saloon, "Kitty House" Yee Wee's Chinese Restaurant, a variety store, and the jail, a duplicate of the one in Courtland. Like the law enforcement officers in Courtland, those in Gleeson had their problems with lawbreakers. Prior to building the new jail, there had been a "jail tree", to which prisoners were chained. At one time in Gleeson there was a jail made of wood. A Mexican who had been incarcerated in it simply crawled out of the roof. The new jail proved to be extremely well built and still stands today.
