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1.
Chapel.
2.
Mens dorm.
3.
Dome.
4.
Owl lamp.
5.
Hallway.
6.
Dorms.
7.
"What a beautiful wasteland".
8.
Bethesda Pool.
9.
When the music's over.
10.
"I walk a Miracle Mile".
I remember once, when I was a kid driving with my family from Sierra Vista to Bisbee and passing by this place as we sped down the highway. The place was already empty at that time, fascinated by it I asked my Mom if she knew what the weird building with the rainbow dome used to be. She responded that she didn't know much about it, only that there was a cult there years ago and that people died there in a shooting. That memory lingered in my mind until I was old enough to investigate the place myself and learn what really happened there with the “Cult” that used to inhabit the series of building rotting alongside Highway 92.
The complex is called Miracle Valley and it’s history is more interesting than I ever would have guessed. The story of Miracle Valley begins with Mr. A. A. Allen, Asa Alonzo Allen was born in 1911 in Sulphur Rock, Arkansas. From an early age Allen was interested in theology and as a young adult would found his own ministry. Allen became involved in the early televangelism movement and became known for his “Miracle cures”. In 1958 Allen bought a massive tent (large enough to hold over 20,000 people) and toured the country, preaching and performing faith healing (for a price). During a stopover in Phoenix, Urbane Leiendecker, a rancher and devout follower of Allen’s offered him 1200 acres of land near the Mexican border. Allen used the property as the new headquarters of his ministry A. A. Allen Revivals Inc. Allen and his associates constructed the Miracle Valley Bible College, which included the domed church, classrooms, dorms, offices and a residential neighborhood called Miracle Valley Estates. The ministry made a large amount of money through its printing business as well as its television programs, ministry members would later confess that Allen had pocketed a vast amount of the church’s money for his own personal use. Allen maintained a luxurious home across from the Bible college that included an indoor pool with stained glass ceiling (the home still stands today as a private residence). Allen was a known alcoholic for most of his life and in 1970, at the age of 59 Allen was found dead at the Jack Tar Hotel in San Francisco in a suite “littered with empty liquor bottles and pills”. Allen was buried in the Miracle Valley Cemetery.
After Allen's death his second in command, the Reverend Don Stewart assumed control of the ministry and all property. Stewart renamed the ministry to the “Don Stewart Evangelistic Association”. Stewart never gained the following that Allen had and eventually leased the property to a Hispanic assembly for a dollar a year. The Spanish-speaking “Southern Arizona Bible College” lasted until 1979 when it closed due to bankruptcy. For the next three years the complex was used by a black church group from Chicago led by Frances Thomas. Locals started to claim that the group was preaching an “Anti-white doctrine”, after several confrontations with local law enforcement in 1982 a shootout took place resulting in the death of two church members and a deputy were killed. Immediately after this occurred Stewart took back control of the property soon after which, a warehouse and administration building burned down under mysterious circumstances. The facilities were insured for over 2 million and Stewart (who was accused of arson, something he denies) opted for a cashout and left with a cool million. Stewart continued his lease with the Spanish assembly which kept the property until they were foreclosed on again in 1995.
Miracle Valley was purchased by Harter Ministries in 1999 and continued to be used as a Bible college by the time it was foreclosed on a final time in 2009 most of the buildings had already been abandoned. In 2011 the property was purchased by the Langevin family, a Canadian couple who have attempted to rebuild the facility.
Miracle Valley today is a strange mixture of different time periods, pamphlets from Allens original ministry share dusty shelves with receipts from the Don Stewart ministry and religious texts written in Spanish. In one of the halls there are boxes of Christmas ornaments still untouched since the facility was closed in December of 2008. As I learned the true story of Miracle Valley I realized that there never really was a cult but that it was founded by a cult-like figure whose followers were so devout that they are still choosing to be buried there today. Was Allen really a spiritual man capable of healing the sick? or was he just another huckster in search of a quick buck? Miracle Valley hides it’s secrets well and perhaps we will never know.
Sources: Shootout at Miracle Valley by William Daniel (2008)
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Interesting history and nice photos! Thanks for sharing!
"It's important for the explorer to be willing to be led astray."
-Roger von Oech | |
Great write up!
http://www.flickr....otos/21618753@N05/ | |
Really like the owl in #4
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Cool place and interesting past. Thanks for sharing!
“You tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is never try.” - Homer Simpson | |
this looks amazing. do you know if there are any demo plans in the works any time soon?
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Actually when I went last I met the guy who bought the property. He was a pretty cool dude and he knows a ton about the history of the place, I guess he plans to turn the site into like a Bible summer-camp and church. He's already started cleaning and repairing the buildings and grounds he's cool with people going around and taking photos and he actually gave a tour of sorts and explained what the buildings were originally.
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Such a beautiful place. Thanks for the detailed history. I'm glad so much is known about it.
Jim Sullivan @placesthatwere
http://www.placesthatwere.com |
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