Built in 1910 to replace a tiny wooden jail that once stood nearby, the Gleeson jail was constructed entirely of reinforced concrete and has withstood a hundred years of weather, escape attempts, vandals, neglect, and pillagers, official and otherwise. It stands at the center of Gleeson, a primarily mining town whose population at one time exceeded one thousand residents and stretched north for over a mile and east-west along Gleeson Road as well. Gleeson’s fortunes largely rose and fell with the price of copper, and when the mines shut down in 1958, most of the town disappeared, leaving only a handful of residents and a few nearby ranchers. Renovation began in October of 2008, and the building now serves as a center for area research and community gatherings.