Southern Arizona fort on list of nation’s most endangered historic places

A century-old adobe fort in southern Arizona has been flagged as one of the nation’s most endangered historic sites.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation put Camp Naco in Cochise County on its 2022 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places, which was released Wednesday.

“Through this year’s list we help broaden American identity through places that tell the stories that are profoundly important, but many of them have been historically overlooked or deliberately obscured,” Katherine Malone-France, the trust’s chief preservation officer, said in a press release.

“Once remembered and recognized, they enrich and deepen our understanding of ourselves as individuals and as an American people.”

The trust has been putting out the list for 35 years, and less than 5% of the sites highlighted have been lost, according to the release.

Camp Naco, also known as Fort Newell, was one of 35 military camps built along the southern border around 1919 during the Mexican Revolution. Segregated Black troops known as Buffalo Soldiers were among the regiments that used it.

The camps were decommissioned in 1923. Camp Naco is the only site that still has buildings standing, despite the effects of vandalism, erosion and fire.

The city of Bisbee is the latest in a line of the property’s owners and is taking part in preservation efforts.

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