Throughout the early 1900s, the notorious saloons and gambling halls of Brewery Gulch kept Bisbee buzzing well after dark.
Now, the Cochise County seat is drawing attention for a different kind of nightlife.
Bisbee is the latest Arizona community to be recognized as an International Dark Sky Place for its starry views and its commitment to fighting light pollution.
The historic mining city about 100 miles southeast of Tucson joins 20 other certifiably dark destinations across the state, according to the experts in such things: the Old Pueblo-based advocacy group DarkSky International.
Bisbee’s new dark-sky designation covers the city’s entire 5.2-square-mile area, which is home to about 5,000 people.
The achievement marks the culmination of a 6-year effort led by astronomy enthusiast Bruce Syrett, who launched the Bisbee Dark Sky Initiative with other local night-sky admirers in 2018. Working under the motto of “Let’s keep what we have,” the group convinced the city to adopt new ordinances in 2022 to regulate lighting in future developments.
According to the DarkSky International website, Bisbee is now in the midst of a 5-year program to replace all of its publicly owned lighting in accordance with the group’s guidelines. That includes the lights at the historic Warren Ball Park, which was built in 1909 and claims to be the oldest continuously used baseball field in the U.S.
Southern Arizona has been a leader in the fight against light pollution for more than 50 years, dating back to the adoption of light-control ordinances by Pima County and the City of Tucson in the early 1970s to protect the views of research telescopes at Kitt Peak and other nearby observatories.
Starry skies are a vanishing treasure as light pollution washed away our view of the cosmos, threatening astronomy, disrupting wildlife and affecting human health.
Two local astronomers founded the International Dark-Sky Association in 1987 to expand that initiative beyond Tucson.
The indiscriminate use of artificial light can “disrupt ecosystems, impact human health, waste money and energy, contribute to climate change and block our view and connection to the universe,” according to the group’s website.
The organization, since rebranded as DarkSky International, launched its International Dark Sky Places Program in 2001 as a way to encourage communities, parks and protected areas around the world to preserve their night skies through environmentally responsible outdoor lighting, effective lighting policies and public education.
Flagstaff, home of the Lowell Observatory, was the first Dark Sky Place to be designated under the program. The list now includes more than 200 locations in 22 countries on six continents.
Among the official dark-sky destinations in Arizona are Chiricahua National Monument, Grand Canyon National Park, Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, Kartchner Caverns State Park, Oracle State Park, Petrified Forest National Park and Tumacacori National Historical Park.
Saguaro National Park won certification last year, and the town of Tubac joined the list earlier this year.
Earning such a designation is no easy task. DarkSky International requires illumination surveys, lighting retrofits and detailed plans for meeting and maintaining the organization’s standards.
“This isn’t something where you fill out a form and pay a fee,” said Josh Coddington, director of communications for the Arizona Office of Tourism. “It really takes some dedication to do it.”
In Bisbee’s case, the application alone covered 58 pages. To retain its certification, the community will need to conduct annual night-quality surveys and follow through with its ongoing lighting conversion work and community outreach efforts.
A composite image shows a sky full of stars above the small Arizona city of Bisbee, which was recently designated as an International Dark Sky Place.
Coddington said the dark-sky designation could help Bisbee draw in even more visitors, as the community continues its evolution from mining town to tourist destination.
The promotion of pristine night skies is “definitely something that’s growing — and of growing interest — as part of a reason to visit a place,” he said. “It can make a place you’re familiar with already new again.”
A year ago, Conde Nast Traveler magazine declared so-called “astro tourism” as the top travel trend for 2024, while a 2019 study by researchers at Missouri State University predicted a $5.8 billion boost in revenue for Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah from national park visitors drawn by the famously starry skies over the Colorado Plateau.
Coddington said Arizona has three key ingredients to help it capitalize on the trend: clear skies, well-established dark-sky stewardship practices and plenty of mountain ranges that are well suited for housing telescopes and blocking the light from cities.
‘We definitely promote dark-sky tourism as part of our national campaigns and even internationally,” he said.
A composite image shows a sky full of stars above Main Street in Bisbee. The Cochise County seat was recently designated as an International Dark Sky Place.
Coddington expects to see a little darkness creep into promotions and vacation guides for the “Queen of the Copper Camps” as well.
“This designation helps sell Bisbee as a place to go or as a place to go back to again,” he said.
