Before the “Keystone Stairs” were built, the “Skyline Trail” was the transportation route that miners travelled to reach the mine shafts. Residents hiked the trail to access the downtown business district to and from their homes. As the population grew, employees increased, and more homes were built along the hillside, a more convenient mode of transportation was needed.
The “Keystone Stairs” have been an integral part of the Town of Miami since the stairs were built between 1910 and 1915. Over the years, the stairs provided access to thousands of underground miners; the Van Dyke Mine shaft located to the west of the stairs and the Miami Copper Mine shaft located to the east of the stairs.
The stairs also provided grocery, banking, and shopping access to many residents, who had built family homes on the steep hillside.
The original staircase consisted of 155 stairs, 12 ramps and had two “step-side” areas to rest, converse with a friend, enjoy the views, or maybe miners and residents of the early 1900s even stopped for a smoke.
The “Keystone Stairs” are an iconic piece of copper mining history in Miami. Miners that made the long trek up the stairs were pioneers of copper mining. There were very few enforced safety regulations as MSHA and OSHA weren’t established until the 1970s. There were no safety glasses, hard hat or steel-toed boot mandates in the early 1900s, but copper miners endured the hazards of the early days of copper mining to bring light to the world through their courageous work efforts in these underground mines.
As you ascend the stairs, you see breathtaking panoramic views of Miami and the surrounding copper mining activity. These historic stairs have been restored to ensure Miami’s early mining heritage is preserved, and they can be safely used by town residents, visitors, and tourists for decades to come.
MIAMI, AZ and the COPPER CORRIDOR
“Lighting the world and connecting the planet with the copper we produce.”
ASARCO – https://www.asarco.com/
BHP (Broken Hill Proprietary) – https://www.bhp.com/
CAPSTONE, Pinto Valley – https://capstonecopper.com/
Copper Fox Metals – https://copperfoxmetals.com/
Freeport McMoRan – https://www.fcx.com/
KGHM, Carlota – https://kghm.com/en/about-us/our-industry/copper-market
Resolution Copper – https://resolutioncopper.com/
