Located in Grant County, New Mexico in the United States, the town of Tyrone was not built just like any other town; there was a specific vision that backed its establishment. This was to make it the most magnificent mining community in the West. Mrs. Dodge of the great Phelps-Dodge Corporation was the person behind this idea who went ahead to fund the project.

With such an ambitious plan, Mrs. Dodge hired Bertram Goodhue – a renowned architect who designed the Capitol building in Lincoln, Nebraska and the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Diego. This was certainly an ambitious plan for the year 1915 at a time when not many towns or probably none of the towns built around that time went to that extent.

When Goodhue finally made his way to New Mexico for this project, the fundamental plan adopted for other projects he had worked on was adopted for the town of Tyrone. Various establishments were set up, which included palatial residences, a business section, a hospital, and a school.

All these were at a cost of more than one million dollars at the time. This is nothing close to what most towns built around that time became but it is actually an idea that backs most establishments today. The cost also is quite high and you will probably find that this is what is incurred today by various individuals in the establishment of some buildings, if what Mrs. Dodge incurred in setting up properties in this town was translated to today’s economy.

It might also not be surprising to find that it could be well above the actual cost of setting up some buildings today, depending on the materials used and the location of the building among other factors. Tyrone came into being after the discovery of copper in this area, which implies that mining activities were the major preoccupation of those who settled here.

When the project had reached completion in 1915, it was ready for occupancy. In the course of time, word went round that copper deposits in the region were not in abundance as had been imagine and what had just been a thought turned out a reality in 1921. This was the beginning of change for the city of Tyrone.

Soon thereafter, the price of copper dipped forcing mines in this region to close down and the population that once called this place home deserted the place, turning it into a ghost town. But what perhaps was the most significant change that this town experienced was the destruction of the townsite for the establishment of the Tyrone open-pit copper mine.

This was in line with Phelps Dodge’s development plan, which saw the mine commence its operations in 1969. What had never been imagined initially came to be; the town that was supposed to house magnificent establishments was no more even after spending so much on the same to the extent of even hiring an expert architect. As per the census record of 2010, the population of this town stood at 637.