Bisbee was founded as a copper, gold and silver mining town in 1880. High quality turquoise, known as Bisbee blue, was a by-product of their copper mining. By l950 boom times were over and the population dropped to less than 6000. Bisbee, however, did not meet the fate of so many other mining towns and experienced a rebirth in the early 70's as artists, hippies, and new wave folks discovered this lovely town.