Next stop...the ghost town of SASCO.

Sasco is a ghost town located in Pinal County, Arizona, west of Red Rock.  Sasco stands for the Southern Arizona Smelter Company and was a company with a large smelter that served several mines.

After the completion of the smelter, in 1907, the town began to grow and soon became a residential neighborhood for 600 people.  There was a hotel, (The Hotel Rockland) a few stores, a jail, saloons...and of course a cemetery.  The town had financial problems in 1911 and by 1915 the smelter was bought out and the town carried on.  Then, in the winter of 1918 and 1919 the Spanish Flu hit Sasco and killed many of its residents, many of whom are buried in unmarked graves marked by white crosses in the Sasco Cemetery. 

In an attempt to protect the Sasco cemetery this sign was posted.  The cemetery is still in use...so please be mindful if you visit.  This barn is fenced off as well...private property.

By 1921 the post office closed and Sasco was soon to become a memory.  

Today, you will find the bones of the Rockland Hotel, the jail, old homestead foundations, the remains of the smelter and much debris of times past.  

CAUTION! BE AWARE...vandals have destroyed much of the area, including the smelter, which appears to be used for paintball.  There is loads of trash in the smelter area.  In addition, while we were there, a pick up truck arrived and two people with riffles began shooting for target practice...not at us, but still not the most comfortable feeling.  We found tons of bullets on the ground, mostly bullet casings and shotgun shells, but some we saw were unused.

What remains of Sasco

The Hotel then 

and

NOW

Smelter 

Sasco Jail

I would hate to be in this hot box jail during an Arizona summer! Torture!

Overall, Sasco is a cool and creepy place to see!

We give Sasco a ghost rating!