Superior: Changes Are Happening

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Superior AZ has seen its fair share of hard times. This small mining town was bustling in its heyday with its mines producing lots of minerals. When I first started photographing abandoned places in Superior in 2010, it had many buildings on its main street that were in deplorable conditions with fences surrounding them to keep people out for their safety. My favorite to photograph was the Magma hotels. The corner hotel was in worst shape and the tall brick hotels was showing signs of crumbling.



In 2016, Sharon and I took a trip back to Superior and Miami to see if some of our favorite abandoned structures had changed much. Well, the Magma Hotels did change, for the better. They both got a complete revitalization. The tall red brick hotel didn't look too different from the outside, but you can tell it was redone and reconstructed. The one on the corner had the most changes. It was completely remodeled and didn't even resemble the crumbling hotel I once laid eyes on. This was exciting to see that Superior was coming back to life.



We just recently visited the Bruzzi Vineyard/art store that opened up near the hotels. We ran into interesting artists that not only live there but sell their art there. More quirky shops are showing up as well. They have many events plan to draw in more people in to see what there are doing to improve this small community. We noticed that there are several small houses for sale with fantastic views. We are toying with the idea of buying one of them and turning it into an artist retreat. An hours drive to the east, and we can be at our own place where we can create without the daily grind getting in our way. Superior just might be the place for us.













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