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Obed, Arizona

Ghost town
In Obed, Arizona
2.5 mi from Route 66

Obed is a ghost town near Holbrook, AZ, about 1.6 miles off the old road and a short way south of Joseph City. Latter-day Saint settlers founded it in 1876 as one of four colonies along the Little Colorado River. Fever, a poor choice of ground and dams that kept washing out drove everyone away by March 1877. It is a small lesson in how hard this dry country was to settle.

What is Obed?

Obed was a fortified camp more than a town. The settlers raised a square fort with walls about ten feet tall, bastions at two corners and gun ports cut through the walls. Around 123 people lived inside. They sawed cottonwood into lumber, opened a schoolhouse in January 1877 and started a church school a month later. Of the four river colonies, which also included Sunset and Brigham City, only Joseph City lasted.

History of Obed

George Lake led the church members who arrived in 1876. The spot was malarial and had been chosen against church instructions. Brush-and-log dams on the river kept failing, so the fields could not be watered. Chills and fever spread through the camp, and by March 1877 everyone had left.

Visiting Obed: tips

Obed is a short detour, about 1.6 miles off Route 66. No surviving buildings are described, so come for the story rather than for ruins. Pair it with the Jack Rabbit Trading Post, about 7 miles away, or the Wigwam Motel, about 9 miles off.