The Song of the “Peavine”

The Song of the “Peavine”. . Congress, Arizona was born as a gold mining camp on the side of the Date Creek Mountains where locally known prospector Dennis May claimed to have discovered gold in 1870, although his claim of discovery continues to be disputed. In 1887, May struck it rich when he sold the Date Creek gold claim to Joseph “Diamond Jo” Reynolds for $65,000. Reynolds established the “Congress Gold Company” with the help of Frank Murphy. The ore was hauled 70 miles to Prescott for further processing at the staggering cost of $17.00 a ton. Reynolds pushed for a rail line from Prescott, through Congress, to Phoenix to reduce shipping costs. On February 21, 1891, “Diamond Jo” died in his tent at the mine. , In 1892, Frank Murphy idled the mining operation and work on the “Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix” was started. Murphy used the miners to carve out the route, an arduous 197 miles through the canyons, which took four years to complete. Murphy’s line became known as the “Peavine” due to its torturous path from Prescott to the location where you are now standing, Congress Junction. The junction got its first train depot in 1894 and was connected to Phoenix in 1895, just as Reynolds had envisioned. The “Peavine” ran one passenger train and two freight trains daily until the the mine closed in 1911. In 1984, AT and SF Railroad built a new rail line called the “New Peavine Bypass” which not only eliminated the worst grades and curves of Murphy’s line, but also bypassed Prescott. The old tracks to Prescott may have been removed, but the history, spirit and perseverance of the pioneers of Congress, Arizona Territory will live on as long as we continue to hear the clack of the rails and the sharp screech of metal scraping metal known as... “The Song of the Peavine”