There is an annual marathon in Bisbee where runners go up and down the 1000+ stairs in Bisbee. ” Bisbee’s Heritage Stairs One of Bisbee’s most magnificent architectural achievements are the countless concrete stairs that cling to the steep canyonsides Lack of flat land and the need for miners and bosses to reside near their workings led to the construction of hundreds of hillside homes beginning in the late 1870s. The owners and occupants of the irregularly shaped, sometimes nearly vertical, parcels had to develop dependable routes to reach their properties. The sturdy early Bisbeeite initially relied on precipitous trails featuring switchbacks. However, these winding inclines soon proved impractical as they were difficult to maintain and became slippery in wet weather. Next, the clever canyonside dwellers constructed a network of wooden stairs, often resembling ladders! The wooden stairs provided straight up-and-down access to the dwellings from the canyon floor. This, however, changed in the 1930s. Many of the major concrete stairways we still see today were constructed during the 1930s by the Works Progress Administration, one of the Federal Government’s back-to-work programs. ‘WPA’ was often pressed into the concrete or tagged on an embedded bronze plaque. It is still common for nice houses to be situated on a parcel that is accessible only by climbing 100 or 200 steps to reach the front door! Come explore our stairs…there are thousands of them!”