Old Dominion Mining Co. - Stock Certificate

Stock printed by Goes.

The Old Dominion Mining Company was incorporated in 1880, and ran "on a financial roller-coaster" for the next twenty years. In 1894, the mine was sold to the Lewisohn Brothers of New York. The arrival of the railroad in 1898 dramatically lowered shipping costs. In 1904, the mine was acquired by Phelps-Dodge, who appointed Louis D. Ricketts as general manager. From 1904 to 1908, Phelps-Dodge spent $2.5 million on expanding and modernizing the mine and plant. As the mine grew, so did Globe. World War 1 brought increased copper demand; the mine and town both prospered. 1917 was a year of labor unrest in the copper mines nationwide. A strike on the Globe mines was called on July 1, 1917. Federal troops were called in to restore order, miners began returning to work, and the mine was back to normal production by October.

In the postwar years, the Old Dominion never returned to its former glory. Neglected maintenance, declining ore grades, and flooding underground all took their toll. The mine closed during the recession of 1921–22, and the mine closed permanently in 1931. In its half-century of operation, the mine produce some 800 million pounds of copper, and returned gross earnings of $134 million to shareholders. It was the economic mainstay for the Globe community for most of this half-century.

The property was sold to the Miami Copper Company as a water supply in 1941, and continues to supply both industrial and domestic water to the area.