The New Company Town
by Sam Oberter
portfolio special mention call 'URBANAUTICA INSTITUTE AWARDS 2020', 2020
Category: Anthropology and Territories
Research leads me to believe there are only two operational company towns in the United States, both copper mining sites in Arizona. Ironically, such communities are often classified as unincorporated, referencing their lack of municipal government- a confusing title considering these mining corporations own and manage all the town’s residential and commercial real estate, schools, health services, parks, and anything else falling within hazily-defined boundaries.
Only the meandering U.S. Route cutting through town is technically public, though I’ve been told the earth underneath the highway is company property.
To an outsider with a camera, quality of life, relative to this region, seems exceptional across many measures. The company subsidizes everything from housing rental rates to the the $1 any-size Starbucks coffee (it’s a licensed vs. corporate store).
However, unions were broken in 1986. It’s a place where you lose your home if you lose your job. Rising from an ugly history, a bubble of corporate rule persists, hauntingly whispering about an uncertain future well beyond this line of ore.